Seiko VFA 3823-7001
Seiko catalogs of the 70’s listed a hierarchy of available watches with the best and most expensive at the top of the list. This was a spot usually reserved for Grand Seiko’s, but in 1972 a special luxury catalog was published which featured a new brand name – “V.F.A”. Watches branded as V.F.A. featured at the top of the catalogs in 1973, 1974, and 1975. So what was V.F.A and what was its importance in the Seiko line-up?
This article follows my acquisition of a Seiko V.F.A 3823-7001 which is a quartz watch, but let’s examine some of the back history which includes mechanical watches.
V.F.A stood for Very Fine Adjusted (1) and first appeared in mechanical Grand Seiko watches in 1969. The Grand Seiko’s had evolved from their introduction in 1960 and a long journey of excellence punctuated by Chronometer Certification from Bureaux Officiels de Controle de la Marche des Montres, then Switzerland’s official chronometer testing agency. The Swiss standard was -5 to +10 seconds per day accuracy.
After a dispute with the Swiss, Seiko developed their own “Grand Seiko Standard” of -3 to +5 seconds per day in 1966. That remains the Grand Seiko standard to this day but towards the end of the 60’s an even more stringent standard was introduced. The “Grand Seiko Special Standard” delivered a mean daily rate of between -3 and +3 seconds per day; and the “Grand Seiko Very Fine Adjusted Standard”, achieved a mean daily rate of between -2 and +2 seconds per day. Not only that, but VFA watches were guaranteed to be accurate to within one minute per month for the first two years of ownership.
The result was some incredibly accurate mechanical watches and VFA versions of Grand Seiko’s attract very high prices on vintage markets today.
Then in 1969, Seiko rocked the watch world with the introduction of the Seiko Astron, the first production quartz watch. The Astron re-wrote the accuracy standards of wrist watches with its 35A movement that became the 3502 in 1970 and by 1971 evolved into the 3823, the subject of this article. Clearly Seiko decided these incredibly accurate watches also deserved the V.F.A. branding.
In 1974, when the Seiko catalogue featured just the two 6186 day-date mechanical VFAs priced at ¥110,000, there were no fewer than seven quartz VFAs offered at prices ranging from ¥94,000 to ¥141,000, which at the time represented two month’s salary. By 1975, Seiko had improved the quartz movements to such an extent that they were offering “Quartz Superior” references that were accurate to an incredible +/-1 second per month. It is unsurprising that the brand, “Grand Seiko” was retired that year. Grand Seiko was re-introduced in 1988, ironically with some stunning quartz powered versions to accompany mechanical watches.
The V.F.A. watch featured in this article is a quartz watch ref 3823-7001. The 3823A movement was launched in the Autumn of 1971 and fitted to watches that were produced with no expense spared: the 7-jewel movements adjusted in 6 positions and temperature compensated; anti-magnetic covers fitted front and rear; hand-applied metal minute markers on the dial; and anti-reflection coating applied to the Hardlex glass. The futuristic case design was considered space inspired.
My 3823 was made in 1975. It is in very good condition and appears to be keeping time as originally specified. The bracelet is not original although it complements the watch nicely. There are a number of features that identify this as a quality offering.
- The second hand hits the markers every time. Modern quartz watches, even quite expensive ones, often struggle to lineup the second hand with the indices on each tick.
- The indices, both minute and the more substantial 5 minute ones, are highly polished and easily read, even in low light conditions. They look like they were installed yesterday, much less 47 years ago.
- The watch feels substantial. It holds more weight than its size might suggest.
- The dial is simple but beautifully done and appears either white or ivory depending on the light source. This is a very easy watch to read.
As noted above, this V.F.A. sold for the equivalent of two months wages when it was released. The average wage in Japan today is around A$4000 per month, so we are looking at an A$8000 watch in today’s money. Very Fine Adjusted Seiko’s were certainly a significant development and deserved their place at the top of the catalog lists of the early 70’s. The fact that they are still performing reliably 50 years later is very fine indeed.
(1) https://www.grand-seiko.com/uk-en/special/10stories/vol3/2
References:
https://adventuresinamateurwatchfettling.com/2019/02/05/seiko-3823-7001-quartz-vfa/
https://reference.grail-watch.com/movement/seiko-3823a/
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