Ricoh Mechanical Automatic Wristwatches
Japanese electronics manufacturer Ricoh produced their first automatic wristwatches during the 1960's and 1970's. Their distribution was global, and they were a major player in the general watching making market during this period. Ricoh men's wristwatches from that particular era are now prime for vintage watch collections, and eBay offers a multitude of these watches, whether they are a standard wristwatch, a chronograph, diver, or otherwise.
What is a Mechanical Automatic Wristwatch?
Automatic watches, also known as self-winding, are mechanical watches that function and keep accurate time over a long period of time, as they usually get regular wear.
- The mechanism activates by the movement in the wearer's arm while it is on their wrist.
- If you do not wear the watch for a while, you can hand-wind the watch, and the movement of the mechanism restarts by turning the small knob, or crown, on the side of the watch face.
What Are the Features of Vintage Ricoh Watches?
As is to be expected, the look, the overall aesthetics and the materials in Ricoh Watches have a distinctive 1960's to 1970's vintage vibe. The Ricoh brand of watches at that time came out in models with designs for men in sturdy looking styles for casual to semi formal wear.
- Shape: The shape of the cases is usually quite large and round or square with stainless steel surrounds measuring 32 to 40 millimeters in diameter. Rectangular casings were also common productions for Ricoh.
- Colors: The colors on the dial of the watch faces vary from solid block colors to two-tone shading and contrasting colors under the markings and hands.
- Dials: Faces have Roman numerals, numbers or sticks. Some models featured small luminous dots on the hands and next to the markings to assist with reading the time in the dark or under limited lighting, and openings with date indicators.
- Straps and Bracelets: Original bands were often linked or stretched bracelets, or leather two-piece straps.
- Materials: Ricoh cases from this period comprise of stainless steel and silver.
- Glass: The glass on these Ricoh watches is usually acrylic or mineral crystal. Mineral crystal is made of glass, while the acrylic crystal is a type of plastic.
- Jewels: This number refers to the quantity of synthetic jewels that work as bearings or gears in the mechanics of the watch. These Ricoh watches usually have 21, above the minimum of 17 expected for a good quality watch.
Have Ricoh Made Other Types of Watches?
When you are buying a Vintage Ricoh watch, try to ascertain that the watch came from Japan, as many replicas tend to originate in India.
During the early 1960's, collaboration with the Hamilton Watch Company in the US resulted in the Ricoh-Hamilton Electric Watch. These days, Ricoh only make a rechargeable analog quartz watch (REQ) for the international market.