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Watch Of The Day

Grand Seiko Adds to 60th Anniversary Celebration

Grand Seiko continues its yearlong celebration of the first Grand Seiko collection it debuted six decades ago with a new Heritage Collection Automatic Limited Edition powered by automatic Caliber 9S65, the impressive technical upgrade of the Caliber 9S55.

Grand Seiko Heritage Collection Automatic Limited Edition

The dial and layout of the steel-cased watch echoes the 60th anniversary models presented earlier this year, with their blue dials and historically referenced hands and markers. Here, however, Grand Seiko adds a standard-beat automatic model to the anniversary lineup (the previously announced example features a Hi-Beat 36000 caliber).

Caliber 9S65 beats at a more traditional 28,800 bph and delivers a power reserve of 72 hours and a precision rate of +5 to –3 seconds a day.

Oxidation blue

The automatic caliber here is also marked on its visible rotor with a special shimmering blue color, created using an oxidation process that both echoes the blue dial and is meant to mirror light seen in the morning through the windows of the new Grand Seiko’s Shizukuishi and Shinshu studios.

The Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi.

Grand Seiko has applied the blue hue to the titanium sections of the oscillating weight, adding anniversary text and date and the Grand Seiko logo. All of this, framed in a red ring (to recall the “red of the morning sun”) is visible through the watch’s sapphire crystal caseback.

Caliber 9S65. Grand Seiko has significantly enhanced the basic performance of this caliber, and has also redesigned the way in which the oscillating weight winds the mainspring.

This new Grand Seiko Heritage Collection Automatic Limited Edition watch is offered as limited edition of 2,500. Price: $5,200.

Specifications: Grand Seiko Heritage Collection Automatic Limited Edition (SBGR321)

Movement: Caliber 9S65, 28,800 vibrations per hour (8 beats per second) Accuracy (mean daily rate): +5 to –3 seconds per day. Power reserve: 72 hours.

Dial: Blue with date and red-tipped seconds hand.

Case: 40mm by 13mm
steel case and bracelet, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, see-through screw case back, rotor with blue color and grand Seiko lion logo, screw-down crown. 
Water resistance to 100 meters. Magnetic resistance: 4,800 A/m

Bracelet: Three-fold steel clasp with push button release.

Price: $5,200 (Limited edition of 2,500)

 

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Featured News

Grand Seiko on Display at Special NYC Exhibit

Watches of Switzerland and Grand Seiko invite collectors to check out, online or in-person, the largest collection of Grand Seiko timepieces in the world at an exhibition space on Spring Steet in New York’s Soho neighborhood, just a few blocks from the Watches of Switzerland Soho boutique.

The watchmaker and the watch retailer have teamed up to launch the Nature of Time Experience, a gallery style display of new and rarely seen Grand Seiko watches alongside eight immersive and educational areas where guests (online and in-person) can learn about Grand Seiko craftsmanship.

The gallery, at 119 Spring Street, displays all Grand Seiko boutique collections, including the recently released Watches of Switzerland exclusive Toge Special Edition GMT, the complete Grand Seiko Nature of Time Collection, limited edition sixtieth anniversary pieces, and – in a U.S. exclusive ­– rare Grand Seiko watches made exclusively for the Japan market. All watches showcased at The Nature of Time Experience are available for purchase.

The Grand Seiko Watches of Switzerland exclusive Toge Special Edition GMT.

With special high-tech exhibits, the Nature of Time Experience will offer visitors the chance to learn how Grand Seiko designs and manufactures its mechanical, quartz, and Spring Drive movements.

Four ‘seasons’ from of the Grand Seiko Heritage collection.

“We’re extremely proud to open The Nature of Time Experience for Grand Seiko clients and all watch enthusiasts in the heart of New York City,” says Brice Le Troadec, president of Grand Seiko Corporation of America. “We are passionate about ‘redefining retail’ by creating this immersive, personalized, and safe experience for the watch collecting community.”

Grand Seiko explains that it designed the Nature of Time Experience to recall “the fleeting beauty of the “sakura” cherry blossoms. Based on the ancient Japanese philosophy of mono no aware – appreciate the beauty of ephemeral things – sakura season inspires celebration as well as contemplation.“

The exhibit’s Takumi Lounge, open later this summer.

Later this summer visitors will also be able to visit a bar at the exhibit called the Takumi Lounge, which Grand Seiko designed in true Ginza-style.

The gallery is at 119 Spring Steet and now displays all Grand Seiko boutique collections,and much more.

The exhibit space is located at 119 Spring Street in SoHo and is open through the end of September. The Nature of Time Experience is open to walk-in visitors, but reservations are highly encouraged due to limited capacity. Masks and social distancing will be required.

 

Overview: Grand Seiko Nature of Time Experience

Dates: Now through September 30, 2020

Hours: Monday – Saturday 11 am – 7 pm; Sunday Noon – 6 pm

Address: 119 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012

Organizer: Grand Seiko Corporation of America

Partner: Watches of Switzerland

Website: https://grandseikonatureoftime.com

Phone Number: +1 646-693-0893

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Watch Of The Day

Grand Seiko Debuts Autumn-Themed Special Edition

Grand Seiko this week debuts two new U.S. Special Edition watches designed to celebrate the end of Autumn (or sōko in Japanese).

The two models of the new Grand Seiko Soko U.S. Special Edition.

The 39mm steel watches, each powered by Seiko’s hybrid Spring Drive caliber, feature a bamboo-themed dial with a vertical textured pattern, a green seconds hand and a green power reserve hand.

While both watches utilize he same textured dial that is meant to recall stalks of bamboo within Japan’s famed Arashiyama bamboo forest in Kyoto, particularly as seen at the end of Autumn during the first frost.

Grand Seiko’s incredibly skilled artisans have once again created beautifully rendered dials. In addition to the unusual texture throughout each dial, the applied markers and the hands are skillfully facetted, adding eye-catching depth to an already inspired design.

One model features a dark grey dial (SBGA429), representing shadow, while the second model offers a brighter silver color (SBGA427), representing light. The green seconds hand and power reserve hand are brighter green on the darker dial, enhancing their contrast while also underscoring the natural theme of both these Soko U.S. special editions.

Grand Seiko will deliver each watch with a steel bracelet and a crocodile leather strap with green stitching that matches the watch’s green hands. 

Hand-adjusted

Inside, Seiko fits its Spring Drive 9R65 Caliber, made at the watchmaker’s Shinshu Watch Studio. Spring Drive, as a reminder, is Seiko’s own highly accurate (to one second per day) spring-driven movement with an electro-magnetic regulator that functions with only a mechanical mainspring driving a gear train.

Grand Seiko Spring Drive Caliber 9R65.

Grand Seiko adds the watches to its Heritage Collection.

Price: $5,000.

 

Specifications: Grand Seiko Soko U.S. Special Edition, Grand Seiko Heritage Collection

Movement: Caliber 9R65
 Spring Drive, accuracy ±1 second per day / ±15 seconds per month/average, power reserve is 72 hours.

Case: 39mm x 12.5mm stainless steel case, dual-curve sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, screw-down see-through case back

Bracelet: Stainless steel and (second strap, supplied) crocodile leather with three-fold clasp push button release.

Price: $5,000

 

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The Watches

Grand Seiko Debuts Racing Green GMT

Grand Seiko and The Watches of Switzerland Group have together developed a new watch within Grand Seiko’s acclaimed GMT series. The new Grand Seiko Toge Special Edition combines influences from both entities in the partnership, notably classic British Racing Green that has been sensibly placed onto Grand Seiko’s beautifully textured Mount Iwate dial.

 

Grand Seiko derives the name of the GMT watch from Tōgè, or a mountain pass. Grand Seiko says the color and texture of the dark green dial, “subtly evoke the image of a drive over the many ridges of Mount Iwate in Northern Japan.”  

Inside Grand Seiko places its excellent Caliber 9S66 (tested to -3 to +5 seconds per day) with its MEMS escapement and a 72-hour power reserve.

Using a 39.5mm case designed Grand Seiko Chief Designer Nobuhiro Kosugi, the new watch displays a crescent moon-shaped profile with curved lugs that Grand Seiko polishes using the Zaratsu technique.

The watch’s green dial nicely complements the prominent gold GMT hand, both of which echo the brown leather strap with green stitching. Note that the textured dial pattern takes a break along the 24-hour track to ensure the track is clearly visible.    

The new Grand Seiko Toge Special Edition (SBGM241) will be offered in July exclusively at Watches of Switzerland boutiques and select Mayors locations in the United States, as well as Watches of Switzerland stores in the United Kingdom. It will also be sold online at www.watchesofswitzerland.com and www.mayors.com. Price: $5,200.

Those who prefer to see the watch on the wrist prior to making any purchase decision can take advantage of a new Augmented Reality (AR) experience that allows consumers to ‘try on’ the Grand Seiko Toge Special Edition at home through an Instagram and Facebook filter. To use the Instagram filter, click here.

Specifications: Grand Seiko / The Watches of Switzerland Group Toge Special Edition: (SBGM241)

Movement: Grand Seiko Caliber 9S66, mechanical GMT with 72-hour power reserve, accurate to +5/-3 seconds per day (when static)

Case: 39.5mm by 13.7mm steel with box shaped sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, see-through case back

Dial: Green textured ‘Mount Iwate’

Strap: Crocodile leather with three-fold clasp push button release

 

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