When a sporty chronograph with a deep-green fir-tree-pattern dial flashed on the screen at the always well-attended Baselworld Seiko press conference, many seasoned watch enthusiasts in the room did a double take. The watch, one of five new Grand Seikos for 2016, is not the first chronograph in the primarily dressy Grand Seiko collection, but with and all-black case, re-designed pushers, new ceramic GMT bezel and that fir-tree motif dial (inspired by the Onbashira festival held every six years near Seiko’s Suwa studio), the watch instantly and boldly underscored the global success story of the Grand Seiko collection.
Since its expansion to points outside Japan in 2010 Grand Seiko has generated outsized enthusiasm among collectors. The collection’s fully in-house manufacture has long demonstrated a distinctive personality and legendary technical prowess that includes numerous prizes for accuracy by Swiss (and other) observatories and testing organizations. Indeed, Seiko’s own internal accuracy tests are more stringent than even the chronometer standards used by many Swiss watch companies. Yet because Seiko couldn’t make enough Grand Seiko pieces to officially distribute them overseas, that accuracy remained primarily for domestic Japanese consumption until Seiko’s decision to expand Grand Seiko globally
six years ago.
This year’s newest Grand Seiko pieces include four 46.4mm Spring Drive Black Ceramic Limited Edition models and a 43mm platinum Spring Drive eight-day model with a stunning diamond-dust dial. The Black Ceramic Limited Edition pieces include the above-noted green-dialed example (SBGC17) and a black-dialed chronograph GMT (SBGC015) plus two GMT models with power reserve indication (SBGE015 and SBGE017).
The Black Ceramic watches replica each feature a five-piece case built for both strength and lightness. The inner case is made from high-intensity titanium and the outer shells and bezel are a particularly hard zirconia ceramic. Seiko says this combination of materials makes the case 25% lighter than stainless steel and virtually
impervious to scratches. While the black case color for these models, and the fir tree pattern on one example, are new to Grand Seiko, the clear ridges on the facets of the case and the diamond-cut hands and markers clearly mark the watches as Grand Seiko.
The new Spring Drive Eight-Day Power Reserve (SBGD001) is the first Grand Seiko watch to have been created at Seiko’s Micro Artist Studio in central Japan. Known primarily for its Credor Spring Drive Minute Repeater, Sonnerie and Eichi watches, the Micro Artist Studio with this watch has developed a special Spring Drive manual-wind caliber with eight-day power reserve by combining three barrels and a one-piece bridge to deliver precision equal to plus-or-minus 10 seconds per month. Seiko says the unusual bridge reduces shock and also ‘ensures the precise positioning of each wheel in the gear train and maximizes the efficiency of the transmission of power from the barrels.
That bridge is not simply large. Its form traces the outline of Mt. Fuji while its polished rubies and tempered blue screws evoke the lights of the city of Suwa near the Studio’s home. The case is made of a special alloy of platinum that can be polished to a sparkling mirror finish using the Zaratsu technique, a steel blade polishing method that Seiko has adapted for working with platinum.
These newest Grand Seiko watches replica expand the collections offerings just one year after it debuted a limited edition chronograph in celebration of the collection’s 55th year. In addition, last year marked the launch of eight re-created versions of the Grand Seiko
62GS, the first Grand Seiko automatic watch that debuted in 1967. Below we show you these as well a several other historic Grand Seiko models.
