Grand Seiko launches the SLGH017 Night Birch, a darker sibling of the award-winning Grand Seiko White Birch from 2021. With similar size and technical characteristics as the earlier Birch model, the new design will display a vertically patterned deep black dial and will be cased in titanium rather than steel.
The original Hi-Beat 36000 80 Hours SLGH005 White Birch, which launched Grand Seiko’s new Evolution 9 series, was awarded the Men’s Watch Prize at the 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
This new Night Birch edition will not only serve as a darker version of the original, but is the first in the Birch series to be built with Grand Seiko’s proprietary High-Intensity Titanium alloy. The watchmaker says its titanium alloy offers a brighter appearance than is seen on other titanium watches while also offering a greater hardness.
As its name implies, the Night Birch features a black and gray dial that portrays the white birch tree forest at night, more specifically during a moonlit night. Grand Seiko artisans press the dial multiple times to create its unusual depth.
Inside Grand Seiko fits its excellent caliber 9SA5, first seen in 2020. The ten-beat (36,000 vph) movement boasts eighty hours of power reserve and a precision rate of +5 to -3 seconds a day. It incorporates three Grand Seiko technical features: a Dual Impulse Escapement, a free-sprung balance and a horizontal gear train. Available in August for $10,400.
Specifications: Grand Seiko SLGH017 Night Birch
Movement: Caliber 9SA5 Hi-Beat 36000, automatic with 80-hour power reserve, Accuracy from +5 to -3 seconds per day (when static), free-sprung balance, dual-impulse escapement, twin barrels, 36,000 vph.
Dial: Black and gray, vertically patterned, baton markers.
Case: 40mm by 11.7mm high-Intensity titanium, box-shape sapphire crystal, Zaratsu polished, distortion-free mirror finish and delicate hairline finish, see-through back, screw-down crown. Water resistance to 100 meters.
Strap: High-Intensity Titanium with clasp.
Price: $10,400.
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