Once upon a time, there was a gorgeous vintage (1968) Grand Seiko 61GS that I owned – and loved – for quite a while. I’d had it lovingly restored to virtually NOS condition, but circumstances sadly meant that I had to let it go. In fact, it went to a friend, but he also found that he had to move it on some months ago. That might have been the end of the story.

It wasn’t, however, and with a little help I tracked it down to it’s then-current owner. Weeks of correspondence followed but my persistence paid off and culminated in the watch being handed back to its “rightful” owner yesterday.

Losing this one was without doubt my biggest watch-related regret. The 61GS was probably Grand Seiko’s finest vintage hour (pun intended) save for the Very Fine Adjusted, which was based on the same engine anyway. It houses a gorgeous 36,000bph high-beat movement in the most classic of case/dial combinations, with sumptuous applied indices and logo on a sunburst dial.

To say I’m overjoyed would be an understatement.