Grand Seiko: A watch for every mood
Adored by collectors around the world, the Grand Seiko timepiece range becoming available in New Zealand sings a sweet tune for luxury watch enthusiasts around the country. Without a doubt, Grand Seiko is one of the most disruptive brands in the entire luxury watch industry. The Remix team recently explored their five core collections, and we can understand why. Each Grand Seiko watch is instantly recognizable because of its simplicity of form and its understated elegance. The brand is known for its highly innovative Japanese manufacturing and accuracy of movement. Watch experts will agree that all Grand Seiko watches are known for their high accuracy. So, what does that even mean? Essentially a collector can buy any Grand Seiko without any knowledge of movements, and end up with a watch that’s extremely accurate. In fact, they’re so intricate the testing and adjustment of a Grand Seiko mechanical movement takes 17 days. As a fully integrated business, technology and craftsmanship sit at the forefront of every Grand Seiko design and while their functionality is clearly impressive, it’s their intricate designs and fine finishes that caught our team’s attention. The majority of Grand Seiko watches have thoughtful nature-inspired details that tell a story of its design. If you really want to understand Grand Seiko, you must first appreciate the story that goes into every watch. These are some of the signature styles we love that provoke a kind of magical winter wonderland – we’ll let you decide which style suits the story of you...
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THE CLASSIC COOL
Elegance Collection Omiwatari SBGY007
Like most Grand Seiko watches, this style has a windy winter tale behind its intricate design. During winter in Japan, the water of Lake Suwa freezes over and often a long ridge appears in the ice from one side of the lake to the other. Tradition has it that this is where the Gods walk out over the ice – known as 'Omiwatari’. This legend inspired the craftspeople at the nearby Shinshu Watch Studio to create a dial of exquisite subtlety for this hand-winding Spring Drive timepiece. A watch fit for the gods, it has the colour, feel and texture of Lake Suwa's snow-covered ice. It's not just beautiful, but performative too – the movement is Spring Drive Caliber 9R31 which has the Dual Spring Barrel that delivers a power reserve of 72 hours when fully wound.
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THE ORIGINAL TRAILBLAZER
Grand Seiko Heritage Collection SLGH013
In 1967, a new uniquely Japanese character watch was added to the Grand Seiko Collection that was destined to become one of its defining creations. It was the 44GS, the first watch to embody the Grand Seiko style, a design aesthetic based on sharpness and sparkle. The dial on this modern interpretation is light blue and
has a texture of snow that starts to melt in spring on Mt Iwate – the imposing 2,038-metre-high peak that overlooks the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi, where all Grand Seiko mechanical models are made. One feature we love about this watch is how the 12 o’clock index is twice as wide as the others to make the time easily legible whatever the reading angle which results in a radiantly sparkling dial. Its functionality matches its sparkle, with the very latest Grand Seiko movement, Calibre 9SA5, which offers the enhanced precision that only a hi-beat
movement can deliver with a power reserve of a remarkable 80 hours.
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THE EVERYDAY ESSENTIAL
The Evolution 9 Collection GMT Titanium SBGE285
This “go-anywhere” Spring Drive GMT watch looks as good at the office as it does at home. What’s special about this one is its dial that was inspired by the landscape in which it was created. Its delicately textured surface pattern echoes the morning mist that envelops the mountains of Nagano, the home of Spring Drive, in winter. Made of high-intensity titanium, it’s light on the wrist yet yields a powerful combination of practical functions. The GMT hand allows a second time zone to be read at a glance while the 9R66 calibre delivers a power reserve of three days and, like all Spring Drive watches, the seconds hand moves in perfect, silent glide motion like time itself. With 10 bar water resistance, a see-through case back, an anti-reflective coating on the inner surface of the sapphire crystal, this is a GMT watch for every occasion.
THE ELEGANT SNOWFLAKE
The Heritage Snowflake Dial STGF359
Find yourself captivated in a snowstorm? This is the watch your heart yearns for. If you’ve ever noticed the beautiful phenomenon when snow is sashayed across a mountain by the wind, this natural effect is what inspired the Grand Seiko Snowflake’s subtly textured dial – something that takes place on the surrounding mountains where this very watch is made in Japan. The blued-steel second-hand stands out clearly against the pure white, enhancing the legibility of the time and inviting your eye to dwell on the clean expanse of the snow-like dial. It’s a versatile watch that tells the tale of daily elegance on one's wrist.
Grand Seiko is available at Partridge Jewellers.
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