8. november 2014

Ricoh World Timer GMT

Vintage japanese watches at eBay seems to be a minefield of aftermarket parts, clever paint jobs, heavy polishing, "NOS", western middlemen with cooked up watches, deliberately vague descriptions and smeared pictures.

However this Ricoh World Timer is very nice indeed.
Width without crown: 43 mm (one says 44 mm)
Lug to lug: 51 mm (one says 52 mm)
It has an internal and external bezel. Seems inspired by a lot of European watch designs from the time. Like a Super Compressor with GMT-bezel added.

Ricoh - best known for copiers, cameras etc. - started selling watches in 1962 when they acquired a smaller manufacturer Takano, founded in 1938. More facts here.

I found this interesting picture at a sellers forum. It reads "WARLD TIMER" on the back case. An original error or a copy gone wrong? Source.

UPDATE MAY 2015:
I have been following ads for Ricoh World Timers on eBay for the past year and have only seen a few specimens and some of them totally beaten up. But then a few months ago things changed drastically. Now eBay seems to be flooded with Ricoh World Timer's. And they are all in perfect condition. The sellers are very frank and promotes them as "refurbished" and with "repainted" dials. It smells fishy - but it's difficult to say what is going on...

One way to distinguish original dials from the new "repainted" is to look for the word Japan and a number. The new dials seems to be missing this detail. Furthermore "World Timer" on the new dials seems to be in a thinner font than the original:


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19 kommentarer:

  1. Ricoh world timer watch9. januar 2016 kl. 07.15

    Ricoh world timer

    SvarSlet
  2. Unknown3. marts 2017 kl. 05.33

    At the moment, there are three concurrent ebay auctions for pristine looking Ricoh World Timers, which is fishy enough in itself.They are missing the text and numbers you refer to. In each case, their date of manufacture is in the 2000-2009 range. I haven't placed a bid. Thanks for your helpful post.

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Large Vintage Watches11. marts 2017 kl. 03.50

      Hi Roy. Thanks for your comment. There seems to be a steady stream of these world timers an eBay...

      Slet
  3. Unknown24. januar 2018 kl. 11.48

    I know they are refurbs but they are lovely looking vintage watches. They totally look the part and was thinking of buying but the current selling price compared to other ricoh vintage watches is a bit high. I think most of the vintage ricoh watches have repainted dials anyway.

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Large Vintage Watches15. februar 2018 kl. 13.02

      They are indeed lovely looking. I have come to the conclusion that they are not "refurbished" - rather it seems to be a newly produced batch. But why somebody somewhere has decided to reproduce an unknown model like the Ricoh GMT beats me. Thank you very much for your comment.

      Slet
  4. Anonym1. marts 2018 kl. 05.13

    Good morning, I am curious about the Ricoh GMT World Timer watch. I understand the use of the outer bezel with the city names, but without a 24 hour hand, I can't see how the 24 hour inner bezel functions as a GMT watch. I'd like to buy a GMT watch with 24hour hand and day/date display. Can anyone explain to me please the World Timer function of this watch? Is it simply the outer bezel with the city names. Thanks very much.

    SvarSlet
  5. Unknown10. december 2018 kl. 14.55

    My source says "Warld Timer" is an original error. You will only see it on the 1st edition Ricoh World Timers. It will always be engraved not screened.

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Large Vintage Watches14. december 2018 kl. 03.12

      Thanks. Yes, agree. "Warld Timer" is found on some of the original models.

      Slet
  6. mybroga28. december 2019 kl. 14.09

    All the others listed at Ebay are fakes
    I'm selling mine original at ebay
    https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F124020851996

    SvarSlet
  7. mybroga28. december 2019 kl. 14.11

    Thanks for all

    SvarSlet
  8. mybroga12. juni 2020 kl. 11.42

    All the others listed at Ebay are fakes
    I'm selling mine original at ebay
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/124152818849

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Large Vintage Watches2. juli 2020 kl. 04.44

      Hi mybroga. Yeah, your watch sure looks authentic. A bit of advice: Maybe you should add some more pictures to the listing to give a better impression of the watch from all angles.
      One day I'll make a more complete guide to help in determining a fake from the original. E.g. with the shape of the hands that differ, and the text on the rotating bezel.

      Slet
  9. Anonym21. december 2020 kl. 14.33

    Now I have this rare ricoh for sale
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/124395705893

    SvarSlet
  10. Anonym21. december 2020 kl. 14.34

    thanks

    SvarSlet
  11. Anonym29. marts 2021 kl. 15.40

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/124658626635
    another original one with green dial

    SvarSlet
  12. Anonym15. august 2023 kl. 15.39

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/125568857909
    Original Ricoh for sale

    SvarSlet
  13. Anonym17. oktober 2023 kl. 00.59

    Hello,
    I have one of those watches with the word SPACIAL on it.
    I always thought it was genuine, but could it be a copy?
    Otherwise it has the text Japan with the numbers as it should and the text World timer lokks good.

    SvarSlet
  14. Anonym30. december 2023 kl. 14.30

    "Spacial" was added to the Ricoh watches sold in Latin / South America. You will find it on world timers + others sold into this market.

    SvarSlet
  15. Anonym7. marts 2024 kl. 02.39

    ı have the geniue one that include upper pointer bezel and I did not see the same one. If I had chance to share I would do it

    SvarSlet

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