Grand Seiko’s famous ‘Snowflake’ has been with us for quite some time now (it was first released, as the SBGA011, in 2010), and it’s quickly earned a reputation as an exemplary everyday watch that manages to combine functionality and beauty in equal measure. Smartly, Seiko knew enough to leave one of the cores of the Grand Seiko collection well alone … until this year. The ‘new’ Snowflake is the SBGA211, and, thankfully, it’s virtually identical to the original — except for the dial. At the start of this year it was announced that Grand Seiko would be fully independent from Seiko — a move well overdue. The most obvious symbol of this change was that the characteristic (and idiosyncratic) Seiko/Grand Seiko double branding disappeared from Grand Seiko dials, resulting in cleaner, less confusing dials. In the case of the Snowflake, this simpler design is a big improvement, giving a more balanced look that allows the wonderful texture of the Snowflake to shine. While this impossibly rich and subtle dial texture is what initially (and continually) wows people about the Snowflake, I actually don’t think it’s at the heart of the model’s success. I’ve worn watches with incredible dials before, and…
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