Watches we are asked to find
These are the references we are asked about most. Each page says why the watch is hard to buy, what a Japanese search changes, and what we look at on the individual piece. We do not hold stock and we do not publish prices — the market moves too fast for a printed number to mean anything.
Current models you cannot buy at retail
In production, but allocated rather than sold. The route to one is the Japanese secondary market, and the work is telling a good example from a tired one.
- Rolex Cosmograph Daytona 126500LN "Panda" The 126500LN in white — the dial collectors call the Panda — is the single hardest steel Rolex to buy at retai…
- Rolex GMT-Master II 126710BLRO "Pepsi" The Pepsi GMT is the reference most people mean when they say they cannot get a Rolex. We find it on the Japan…
- Rolex GMT-Master II 126710BLNR "Batman" The blue-and-black GMT is a shade easier to find than the Pepsi and often the better buy. Tell us which bracel…
- Rolex Submariner Date 126610LN "Sub" The 41 mm Submariner Date is the most requested watch we are asked about and one of the more attainable of the…
- Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711/1A-010 "Blue Nautilus" The blue 5711 was discontinued in 2021 and there is no retail route to one. Everything now trades on the secon…
- Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding 15510ST "Royal Oak" Steel Royal Oaks are allocated, not sold. We work the Japanese secondary market, inspect the case finishing th…
- Omega Speedmaster Silver Snoopy Award 50th Anniversary 310.32.42.50.02.001 "Snoopy" Not a numbered limited edition, but production is controlled tightly enough that it behaves like one. We sourc…
- Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight 79030N "BB58" The BB58 is the sensible answer to a vintage-proportioned diver: 39 mm, in-house movement, and available witho…
- Cartier Santos de Cartier Large WSSA0018 "Santos" The steel Santos is available at retail in most markets, so our role here is condition and price rather than a…
Watches you can only buy in Japan
Japanese domestic models and boutique-limited releases that never had an export allocation. If it was never listed abroad, no proxy service can bid on it for you.
- Grand Seiko Heritage Ginza Limited Edition SBGH297 "Ginza Limited" This is a watch you cannot buy outside Japan. 260 pieces, sold only through five Grand Seiko boutiques in Toky…
- Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Collection SLGH005 "Shirakaba" The White Birch is a regular production model, not a limited edition — we will not pretend otherwise. What Jap…
- Seiko Mechanical (JDM) SARB033 "Seiko Black" A Japanese domestic model, discontinued in 2018, that never had an official export version. Everything abroad…
Vintage references worth the inspection
Fifty years of wear, parts that were replaced without being disclosed, and dials that were reprinted. These are the references where looking at the watch in person changes the answer.
- Seiko 5 Sports Speed-Timer 6139-6002 "Pogue" Colonel William Pogue wore one on Skylab 4 in 1973, which makes this the first automatic chronograph worn in s…
- Seiko Diver 6217-8000 "62MAS" Japan's first diver, and the reference that every modern Seiko diver refers back to. It is also one of the mos…
- Seiko Diver 6105-8110 "Captain Willard" The cushion-cased diver Martin Sheen wore in Apocalypse Now. The case shape is the value: once it has been pol…
Ask us to find this one
Tell us your ceiling and how much condition matters to you. We reply within one business day, Japan time, and we say no when a search is not worth your money.