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An Introduction to Credor: I am astonished!

Jul 31, 2018,19:17 PM
 

Credor is a brand managed by Seiko, using movements and cases created in the usual workshops, using GS techniques but more hand work, more decoration, jewels, cloisonne, enamel, ceramic, maki, and other fine art techiques to "kick it up a few notches" over other brands.

I have had a few Credors over the years, and currently own 5. From left to right we have a mechanical automatic movement, automatic Spring Drive, manual Spring Drive, manual chronometer, and a manual skeleton. 

I thought there might be a dozen watches in the Credor line-up. Boy, was I wrong!


I always thought Credors were a bit nicer; more dressy; clean but a bit more stylish than Grand Seiko; but on about the same level technically. And above all the other Seiko brands (maybe Galante is up there too).

HISTORY

I didn't know the brand was launched 44 years ago. The name implies Crest of Gold, or pinnacle of gold. It was originally a collection of all Seikos cased in precious metals. The logo represents mountains reaching up to the stars in the sky.


PHILOSOPHY

Credor is intended to represent:

"Originality that is world-class"
"Aesthetic sense unique to Japan" 
"A universality beyond culture and time" 
"Harmonious proportions" 
"Accurate detail with careful attention to detail"


I should have known better than to give myself ONLY a month to research a Seiko subsidiary brand (sub-brand or in this case, super-brand)!

In an effort to get this introductory article finished while I am still in the month of July, I restricted my research to watches over 1 million yen (about $9000 US). 
Thinking that would give me only a handful, I was wrong. Here's what I found:

SUMMARY OF CURRENT CREDOR MEN'S WATCHES (Priced above 1 Million Yen)


Credor Men's Watches available in Japan 2018

Model Number

Collection

Size

Case

Movement

Dial

Band

Units

Price










GBAQ961

Masterpiece

37

white gold

6870 thin manual

Ando Cloisonne "Basteille" shows  dial pattern through translucent enamel 

Crocodile

no limit

1,900,000

GBAQ963

Masterpiece

37

white gold

6870 thin manual

Ando Cloisonne "Basteille" shows  dial pattern through translucent enamel 

Crocodile

40

1,800,000

GBAQ970

Mens

37

pink gold

6870 thin manual

white dial, pink gold markers

Crocodile

no limit

1,300,000

GBAQ971

Mens

37

white gold

6870 thin manual

white dial, white gold markers

Crocodile

no limit

1,400,000

GBAQ976

Mens

34

yellow gold

6870 thin manual

UTD=Ultra Thin Dress

Crocodile

no limit

1,200,000

GBAQ977

Mens

34

white gold

6870 thin manual

UTD=Ultra Thin Dress

Crocodile

no limit

1,250,000

GBAQ984

Masterpiece

36x26

yellow gold

6870 thin manual

UTD=Ultra Thin Dress

Crocodile

no limit

1,200,000

GBAQ985

Masterpiece

36x26

platinum 

6870 thin manual

UTD=Ultra Thin Dress

Crocodile

no limit

1,200,000










GBAR021

Mens

36

white gold

8J81 Quartz

octagon

white gold

no limit

2,300,000

GBAR022

Mens

36

yellow gold

8J81 Quartz

octagon

yellow gold

no limit

2,200,000










GBAT039

Mens

37

white gold

8J80 Quartz

octagon diamond bezel

white gold

no limit

2,800,000

GBAT040

Mens

37

yellow gold

8J80 Quartz

octagon diamond bezel

yellow gold

no limit

2,700,000

GBAT943

Mens

32x32

platinum

8J80 Quartz

TV shape, texture; 43 diamonds

platinum

no limit

4,100,000

GBAT945

Mens

32x32

platinum

8J80 Quartz

TV shape mother of pearl; 87 diamonds

platinum

no limit

4,500,000

GBAT949

Mens

33

platinum

8J80 Quartz

round textured dial

platinum

no limit

3,200,000










GBBD961

Mens

38

white gold

6899 thin manual

engraved skeleton & mother of pearl

Crocodile

no limit

4,400,000

GBBD963

Mens

38

white gold

6899 thin manual

Hokusai wave on skeleton engraved

Crocodile

30

4,800,000

GBBD981

Mens

41x34

platinum

6899 thin manual

skeleton engraved

Crocodile

no limit

3,400,000

GBBD985

Mens

35

platinum

6899 thin manual

skeleton engraved

Crocodile

30

2,500,000

GBBD986

Mens

35

yellow gold

6899 thin manual

skeleton engraved

Crocodile

30

2,050,000










GBBF902

Mens

35x26

yellow gold

4J80 quartz

yellow gold

yellow gold

no limit

1,900,000

GBBF903

Mens

35x26

white gold

4J80 quartz

white gold

white gold

no limit

1,800,000










GBBY989

Masterpiece

40

platinum

6890 thin manual

engraved mother of pearl 16 diamonds on markers

Crocodile

8

9,500,000










GBCC996

Masterpiece

40

pink gold

6830 tourbillon, engraved

pink gold w/black shell inlay

Crocodile

no limit

11,000,000

GBCC997

Masterpiece

40

white gold

6830 tourbillon engraved

white gold w/blue shell inlay

Crocodile

no limit

12,000,000

GBCC999

Masterpiece

40

platinum, white/yellow gold + 48 sapphires

 6830 tourbillon decorated and engraved

Kiyoshi Terai engraving.  Kazuyoshi Tamura lacquer. Satoshi Hiraga  masterpiece, Kosuhiro Kosugi (Nobuhiro Rinshi) is dealer


8

50,000,000










GBLP996

Mens

38

pink gold

7R87 spring drive manual wind

white with moon texture

Crocodile

no limit

2,000,000

GBLP997

Mens

38

white gold

7R87 spring drive manual wind

gold with moon texture

Crocodile

no limit

2,100,000










GBLQ998

Masterpiece

43

pink gold

7R06 sonnerie spring drive manual wind

No dial. bell striking every hour or every three hours; silent

Crocodile

no limit

16,000,000

GBLS998

Masterpiece

43

pink gold

7R11 repeater spring drive manual wind

No dial; decimal repeater ie to sound 1 hour 59 minutes it strikes hours × 1; 10 minutes×5; minutes x 9

Crocodile

no limit

35,000,000










GBLT998

Masterpiece

39

pink gold

7R14 spring drive manual wind

white porcelain

Crocodile

no limit

4,300,000

GBLT999

Masterpiece

39

platinum

7R14 spring drive manual wind

white porcelain

Crocodile

no limit

5,700,000










GCAR974

Mens

38

pink gold & stainless 

8J81 quartz

EAU DE VIE whiskey brown dial with baguette diamond markers 

Crocodile

80

1,000,000










GCLP989

Mens

38

stainless steel

7R87 spring drive manual wind

Maki and mother of pearl


120

1,000,000


NOTE: when I say "no limit" it means that they will make a watch to order but doesn't necessarily mean you will find them anywhere you look. When I did a search on eBay, I found over
  •  100 Galante watches for sale, from $2500 to $9000
  •  400 Credor watches for sale, from $85 to $8500
  •  1000 Grand Seiko watches for sale $70 to $20,000

My intention was to illustrate the whole list presented in this table, but in the interest of space and desire not to bring our imaging solution to its knees, I will include a few select large images.

LADIES WATCHES

You may not have noticed, but my table includes only the men's watches (hence the blue divider rows). The pink rows go on even farther than the men's so I will save them for another post. Here's a teaser anyway.





Now back to an assortment of men's watches...

MENS RECTANGULAR ULTRA THIN DRESS WATCHES
 

MENS ROUND THIN SKELETON DRESS WATCHES

MENS DIAMOND SET WATCHES




MENS TOURBILLON WATCHES





DECORATED DIALS




THE CHIMING WATCHES




MOVEMENTS

Please let me know if you want to see more!

Cazalea










More posts: Grand Seiko

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Comments: view entire thread

 

Wow, I've never seen those neither...

 
 By: patrick_y : July 31st, 2018-20:09
A brand that gets on by without any marketing because it already has enough clients to absorb its production... Oh, and you're one of those culprits who absorb production. You have FIVE Credors! You probably need a garage for your watches now!

A great post, our SEIKO Guru!

 
 By: KIH : July 31st, 2018-20:10
Credor may sometimes seen as “lower” level brand than GS. But those two were created by completely different concept: Grand Seiko - The world’s best practical watch. Credor - The world’s best dress watch. So, naturally, less mechanical watch (more Spring ... 

I thought Credor strives for High Horology aesthetics.

 
 By: jomni1 : July 31st, 2018-20:30
GS is more for high end tool watches.

That's a good description

 
 By: cazalea : July 31st, 2018-20:53
We can ponder this a bit more. They are not to everyone's taste, but the multitude of models means someone both Japanese and wealthy must be buying them. Cazalea

Great Article!!

 
 By: Spencer Karrington : July 31st, 2018-21:21
I have always felt that Credor is a VERY underappreciated brand that should have more recognition for all of the beautiful watches it creates. I would love to know more about the brand as it is difficult to get information because it is all in Japanese!! ... 

Thanks a lot for this interesting introduction, I was only vaguely aware of Credit before your article and now you've made me quite curious about the brand!😁 [nt]

 
 By: FabR : July 31st, 2018-23:28

...and my spellchecker was apparently not aware of *Credor* at all, sorry!😂 [nt]

 
 By: FabR : July 31st, 2018-23:30

Never seen a report like this. Not mine, I think it is more for the asiatic market, but very interesting what they do. Thanks! [nt]

 
 By: Walter2 : August 1st, 2018-00:09

You're missing one Credor: GCBK981

 
 By: Signo : August 1st, 2018-08:59
...  

Yes - what a great cavalcade of photos you provided

 
 By: cazalea : August 1st, 2018-09:42
I think perhaps there are several dozen more models I need to review, but I couldn't get everything into one post, so I will keep working away at Credor. Here's one I used to own, And my Seiko Flightmaster that uses the same 6S37A movement as your Credor....  

Love it.

 
 By: InHavenPro : August 1st, 2018-11:19
My pick would perhaps be one of the elegant, decorated dials with time-only function. I have to think more of it . Thanks Mike, much appreciated, Filip

Please tell and show us more about Credor

 
 By: Watchlover78 : August 1st, 2018-15:06
Best, Baxter

Thank you for this great post.

 
 By: Gnkt : August 2nd, 2018-17:03
You have a nice collection. Please keep posting about Credor.

Oh most certainly!

 
 By: KMII : August 3rd, 2018-01:02
This is a morning fantasy post The UTD rectangular is something I have never seen before, for instance and so many others. The more the better

Very nice post especially for those who want to know more about Credor

 
 By: Teacher Yang : August 4th, 2018-09:59
I like the rectangular ones. Take care Cazalea

Thank you

 
 By: cazalea : August 4th, 2018-14:55
Likewise.

Great job!

 
 By: Wineboy : December 7th, 2018-13:50
Thank you for the hard work and thorough research. As a new Credor owner (GCLP993), I found this fascinating. ...  

 
 By: Meadia : May 5th, 2024-10:01
Beautiful! I'm still sadly looking for one of these..

 
 By: Meadia : May 5th, 2024-10:03

Appreciate your effort in introducing Credor line to us

 
 By: Watchlover78 : December 7th, 2018-15:49
Watchlover78

Thanks for such an exposition!

 
 By: halkcb : December 7th, 2018-17:41
For me ,Credor signifies elegance---that's what brought me my first and only Credor Love it's simplicity And the movement finish ain't too bad Once again,thanks for your comprehensive Credor post. best henry ...  

Thank you from a fellow seikoholic!

 
 By: T J : May 8th, 2024-04:03
Credor is my brand of choice when it comes to pure elegance and case finishing. You should really present their latest collections, the Kuon and Goldfeathers as those represent the future of the brand essentially. I was absolutely blown away to smithereen...