It’s a big year for Grand Seiko, with the Japanese manufacture celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Spring Drive movement. Naturally, a new Spring Drive model is among the Grand Seiko Watches & Wonders 2024 novelties. However, the manufacture takes it further than anniversary celebrations, speaking to the very nature of time with an innovative complication sitting alongside a timepiece that hearkens back to the good ole days of mechanical watchmaking.
Herewith, the Grand Seiko Watches & Wonders 2024 novelties you need to know about.
SLGW002 & SLGW003 High-Beat Dress Watches
Grand Seiko throws it back to the good ole days of watchmaking with a new manually wound mechanical timepiece. “The ritual of winding a watch is one of life’s pleasures,” the brand says in a press release. “The simple act of turning the crown taps into the senses to forge a deeper connection with time’s natural flow.” It’s positively poetic.
To celebrate the meditative act of winding a watch, Grand Seiko has released its first new hand-wound high-beat movement in over half a century. While a manually wound movement mightn’t seem like anything noteworthy, during the 1960s and ’70s, the Japanese manufacture was competing with the best of the best in Switzerland in a bid for improved accuracy and reliability.
The new calibre 9SA4 is a high-beat (10 beats per second) manually wound movement that boasts 80 hours of power reserve when fully wound, courtesy of an efficient double barrel dual impulse escapement. Careful attention was paid to tactility, with the movement designed to elicit a visceral reaction during winding; the movement’s click and the click spring have been tailored with feel and sound in mind. The click is in the shape of a wagtail, a bird sacred to the city of Morioka, close to the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi. The bird-like pecking motion is visible through the sapphire glass caseback, which shows off the beautifully decorated movement.
The calibre 9SA4 makes its debut in the SLGW003, a dress watch that sits within the Evolution 9 collection. The hand-wound dress watch features a titanium case and clasp, with the dial inspired by the white birch trees located in northern Japan, near the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi. There’s also a limited edition variant, the SLGW002, which sees the same movement and dial dresses in rose gold.
Price: €49,500 (SLGW002), €11,700 (SLGW003)
Models: SLGW002 and SLGW003
Case size: 38.6mm
Movement: 9SA4 (manual winding)
Limited edition: SLGW002 limited to 80 pieces
Kodo Constant-Force Tourbillon SLGT005
Two years ago, Grand Seiko made a dramatic entrance into Watches & Wonders 2022, debuting its first true mechanical complication in the release of the Kodo Constant Force Tourbillon. The Chronometry Prize-winning timepiece made horological history combining a tourbillon and a constant-force mechanism as one unit on a single axis — a feat that had never before been achieved. The Kodo Constant-Force Tourbillon SLGT005 represents the continuation of that story. It’s essentially the same watch, but where its predecessor showcases an interplay of light and shadow to convey evening twilight, the latest iteration uses it to evoke daybreak. The movement features silver-toned componentry which lend the timepiece a bright, airy feel which complements the intricate skeletonisation. The Kodo Constant-Force Tourbillon SLGT005 also marks the first time Grand Seiko has used blue sapphires as the jewels in its movements, with the pale blue sapphires intended to recall the sky at dawn.
The 43.8mm case continues to play with light and shade through a combination of materials; platinum is used for the watch’s inner case, while titanium forms the outer case. Elements of the case employs Zaratsu polishing which lends it a mirror finish. The timepiece is presented on a leather strap, which is hand-coated with layers of white urushi lacquer for an intense sheen and unique texture.
Price: €385,000
Model: Kodo Constant-Force Tourbillon SLGT005
Case size: 43.8mm
Movement: 9ST1 (manual winding)
Limited edition: 20 pieces
Spring Drive Chronograph GMT SBGC275
As with many Grand Seiko releases, the Spring Drive Chronograph GMT SBGC275 looks to nature for inspiration; with the dial inspired by the summer Shinshu sunrise reflecting off the Hotaka mountain range in Japan. The sun reflecting off the landscape at dawn transforms from pink to orange as the mountain progresses. Here, Grand Seiko employs a new colour-changing technology to convey the view over the mountains at dawn; with a patented dial-coating method that employs physical vapour deposition processes to create several layers of nanoscale film, which creates an effect wherein the dial appears a different hue depending on the angle at which you view it. The resultant dial shifts from bright orange to deep red and even showcases flashes of magenta at certain angles.
The 44.5mm titanium case of the Spring Drive Chronograph GMT SBGC275 takes on an angular design inspired by the lion, a symbol of the brand since its inception. The uniquely shaped brushed lugs provide a sharp contrast against the smooth Zaratsu-polished surfaces. The timepiece is powered by the Spring Drive Chronograph GMT Calibre 9R96, part of the 9R Spring Drive movement series which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
Price: €14,000
Model: Spring Drive Chronograph GMT SBGC275
Case size: 44.5mm
Movement: 9R96 (automatic)
Limited edition: 700 pieces
Albert Review will be covering Watches & Wonders 2024 as it unfolds. For more novelties, horological news, and new releases, check out our Watches & Wonders coverage here.
Words by John Deckard
