Editor’s Note: For all that the watch industry speaks about timelessness and classic design, it rides the winds of fad and fashion just like any other consumer-focused business. But that’s not always the case; there are some models that remain impressively unchanged, and pure to their origins. Watches like this simple and sophisticated Grand Seiko Automatic Hi-Beat 36000. The story in a second: Grand Seiko’s limited edition Hi-Beats are hot property, but the regular production SBHG005 is, not to overstate things in any way, a masterpiece of understated excellence. Most high-end watches are instantly recognisable as luxury objects. Your watch makes a statement about who you are and what you value. Rolex says one thing, IWC another. This is, of course, the point. Most people, upon spending thousands of dollars on a watch want you to know you’ve spent thousands of dollars on a watch. And then there’s Grand Seiko. Grand Seiko is the Japanese watchmaker’s premier line, and for years it was quite difficult to get your hands on outside of Japan. This rarity, combined with the line’s often-conservative style and the ubiquity of Seiko’s more accessible offerings meant that the statement you made wearing one was about rejecting the usual…
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