Category: grand seiko

Baselworld 2018 – Grand Seiko Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Calibre 9S with Three New High-Beat Limited Editions

While the inaugural timepiece made by Grand Seiko dates back to 1960 – a watch that was recreated last year, with a faithful re-edition – another extremely important date in the history of the brand is 1998. Indeed, twenty years ago, Grand Seiko introduced caliber 9S, an entirely new movement designed from scratch to deliver high precision and excellent durability. Today, the entire Grand Seiko mechanical collection is built around this movement. For its 20th anniversary, the brand launches three special movements, a new case and a unique dial. Meet the Grand Seiko Hi-Beat 36000 Calibre 9S 20th Anniversary ref. SBGH265 – SBGH266 – SBGH267.

7 years ago

Hands-On – Grand Seiko SBGW252, Recreating the First Ever GS Watch

2017 was an important year for the Seiko Group. Indeed, we’ve seen many impressive watches being released by the Japanese manufacture, and new trends coming – including some vintage-inspired pieces, such as the 62Mas reedition or the Enamel Presage collection. This year was also noticeable because Grand Seiko watches won’t have Seiko anymore written on their dial, as GS is becoming a brand on its own. To mark this evolution, the newly-introduced brand presented a recreation of the first ever Grand Seiko watch, and today we look at the yellow gold version, a.k.a. the reference SBGW252… And what a watch it is!

7 years ago

The Superb Grand Seiko Spring Drive 8-Day Now in Rose Gold & Sparkling Black Dial (Ref. SBGD202)

In a recent personal piece, our editor-in-chief Frank gave credits (no to say it was a love letter) to the superb Grand Seiko Spring Drive 8-Day, of course based on the platinum / white dial version that Grand Seiko (don’t call them Seiko anymore, as GS is now a brand on its own) introduced in back in 2016. This was certainly one of the rare times a watch without classical balance was featured on Monochrome, but this was properly deserved. Well, today we do it again, as there’s a new kid in town: the Grand Seiko Spring Drive 8-Day Now in Rose Gold & Sparkling Black Dial (Ref. SBGD202).

8 years ago

Frank Geelen’s Baselworld 2017 Top 10 and Musing about the Fair

Back in 2008 the world faced a new challenge. The worldwide financial crisis began with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The following year the watch industry was kind of nervous and saw a small drop in sales. And while the financial crisis went on, on a global scale (we’re still recovering from that), the big crisis in the watch industry didn’t really come through… yet. Last year was the first year that brands and luxury groups published numbers that showed serious signs of the crisis, and this year’s numbers are actually more than worrisome. This year the crisis could also be felt in the novelties as presented by the brands, not only during the SIHH in January, but also at the 100th edition of the Baselworld Watch & Jewelry show that has just come to an end. Still, it was possible to list ten watches that got me exited! However first some musings about this year’s edition of Baselworld…

8 years ago

Grand Seiko: Already Big In Japan And Getting Bigger Near You (Archive)

Seiko’s story is much more complicated than most people might think. This is a manufacturer that doesn’t follow trends, but has created a few of its own, capitalizing on various types of expertise and knowledge that were the mother of necessity for a manufacturer located so far away from the established centers of watchmaking in Europe. Grand Seiko is the most appealing line to connoisseurs of fine watchmaking, and we look at it in some depth here.

8 years ago

Grand Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph SBGC001 Watch Review

I’ll start with what I acknowledge is a bold statement: the Grand Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph SBGC001, in its entirety, as it is out of the box, is exactly the package of design, movement, functionality, technology, accuracy, and value that one or more major Swiss brands should at least be trying to offer.

8 years ago

The Amazing History & Functionality Of The Seiko Spring Drive Movement

The Seiko Spring Drive watch movement technology is one of the most unique, ingenious, efficient, and accurate calibers ever designed and is in a class of its own among modern mass produced movements. We will begin with looking at how Spring Drive works for the simple reason that we need a good understanding of how the system functions and is constructed before we can talk about the fascinating story behind it all.

8 years ago