Saytoko
Grand Luxe
A distinctive 1970s Swiss Saytoko Grand Luxe mechanical digital watch with a blue dial and oversized asymmetric case.
- Year
- 1970s
- Case
- Chrome-plated case with steel back
- Condition
- Excellent
- Gender
- Men / Unisex
- Acquired
- 2026
Condition
Excellent vintage condition. Large asymmetric silver-tone case with brushed and polished surfaces, blue dial and metal bracelet. The dial is signed "SAYTOKO GRAND LUXE," "ANTIMAGNETIC" and "SWISS MADE." The seller describes the watch as a manually wound mechanical watch with a lever escapement. Exact movement caliber has not yet been confirmed.
Why I bought it
This is one of those 1970s watches I bought primarily because of the design. The huge asymmetric case, blue dial, unusual arrangement of the displays and integrated-looking bracelet give it a very distinctive appearance. It is strange, excessive and unmistakably 1970s. I have plenty of watches from this period, so simply being another mechanical digital isn't enough anymore. This one caught my attention because it looks genuinely different.
The Saytoko Grand Luxe is a Swiss mechanical digital watch from the 1970s, a period when manufacturers experimented extensively with alternative ways of displaying time.
This example has a particularly distinctive design. Rather than placing the display conventionally in the center of the watch, Saytoko concentrates the indications into a relatively small rectangular blue area surrounded by an unusually large asymmetric case.
The dial is clearly signed "SAYTOKO GRAND LUXE," together with "ANTIMAGNETIC" and "SWISS MADE."
The display uses separate numerical indications rather than conventional hour and minute hands, together with a small central hand. The seller lists the watch as a jump hour, but the exact operation of the hour indication should be confirmed mechanically before describing its behavior in more detail.
The seller describes the movement as mechanical, manually wound and using a lever escapement. The exact caliber has not yet been established, so I prefer to leave the movement identification blank until the watch can be opened and inspected.
The listing describes the case as chrome with a steel back and dates the watch to the 1970s. Its broad brushed surfaces, polished bevels and strongly geometric shape are very characteristic of the experimental watch design of that period.
What makes this watch interesting to me is not a prestigious movement or famous manufacturer. It is the design itself.
By the 1970s, many Swiss companies were producing mechanical digital and direct-read watches, and a large number followed fairly similar formulas. The Grand Luxe takes a much more extreme approach. The enormous case almost overwhelms the actual time display, turning the watch into a piece of period design as much as a timekeeper.
That is why I added it to the collection. At this point, being an old mechanical digital watch isn't enough on its own. It needs to bring something different, and this Saytoko certainly does visually.