Ricoh Riquartz 591109: Blue Sunburst, Signed Bracelet, Japan Quartz (Close to NOS Condition)
A Ricoh Riquartz 591109 is a mid-1970s Japan quartz dress watch: blue sunburst dial, date at 3, stainless case, signed bracelet. The caseback is stamped RIQUARTZ, STAINLESS STEEL, 591109, RICOH JAPAN. The clasp is signed Ricoh.
Ricoh before the quartz dial
Ricoh is the camera company. The watch arm is less remembered. After the war the firm took over Takano and, from the early 1960s, sold watches as Ricoh Watch. Mechanical lines such as Crystal sat under Seiko and Citizen in the home market — about 3 percent of Japanese watch sales in 1970, against Seiko near 60 percent and Citizen near 28 percent. The watches still left Japan. Some overseas brands used Ricoh movements. Then quartz arrived.
What Riquartz was
Seiko sold the Astron, the first commercial quartz wristwatch, in December 1969. Ricoh’s answer was Riquartz. Early modules drew on American electronics, including Hughes circuits, and Ricoh also fielded an early Japanese LED. By the mid-1970s the analog line was its own: 570-series watches from about 1973, then the 590 family from about 1976, a 32,768 Hz quartz with a sweeping seconds hand and a date. Reference 591109 belongs to that 590-series case list. It is not a Seiko or a Citizen. It is the other Japanese quartz, the one catalogues skipped.
More Information About This Ricoh 591109
Blue sunburst, applied baton markers, RICOH at 12, RIQUARTZ and the crystal logo under the hands, date window at 3. The blue shifts with the light and has kept its colour. The steel case is the compact dress size of the period, brushed top, polished bezel, integrated-look bracelet. The clasp is signed. The caseback engraving is still sharp.
Specification
Maker: Ricoh
Model: Riquartz 591109
Era: mid to late 1970s
Case: Stainless steel, dress profile, case is in amazing condition close to NOS
Dial: Blue sunburst, applied batons, date at 3, there is no aging at all on the dial
Bracelet: Steel, Ricoh-signed clasp, no usage mark on the bracelet
Caseback: RIQUARTZ / STAINLESS STEEL / 591109 / RICOH JAPAN
Movement: Riquartz 590-series quartz, 32,768 Hz, date, New battery changed and serviced
A vintage Ricoh Riquartz 591109 is the Japan quartz listing that is not Seiko and not Citizen. Same decade, blue dial still alive, bracelet still signed to the brand that made the camera.
Shown on the original bracelet.
