My last acquisition of 2014 arrived on Christmas Eve – shipping from Japan was quicker than much of UK domestic mail 😉  – and it’s turned out to be rather nice. With a limited budget I saw a Deluxe on Yahoo Japan, but with not so good pictures it was hard to see just what condition it was in. So I took a gamble and got the piece for a low price, only to find that the seller’s pics hadn’t done it justice:

The Deluxe was Citizen’s first really successful watch, with sales worth over ¥100,000 million following its launch in 1958. I went for this 19 jewel version because it is in a stainless steel case, whilst many of the examples for sale are gold plated or gold filled.

Despite the low price I paid it is running perfectly, with no time re-setting needed for days so far. The movement is in good condition, and the notch on the balance adjuster is just about centred, indicating a movement that is running well:

The inside of the back is marked, so the watch has been serviced – at some time:

The serial number is stamped inside the back and gives a production date of September 1961:

This is a nice example, running very well and doing just what a good watch should do – telling the time accurately. More information on the Deluxe here: https://sweep-hand.org/the-deluxe/