Just a little greater than 20 years in the past, the Spring Drive know-how made its debut in a Grand Seiko watch. That now-classic calibre remains to be the premise for the 9R sequence that powers all Grand Seiko Spring Drive watches. To rejoice this milestone, Grand Seiko busted out a brand new Spring Drive Chronograph GMT, impressed by the mountainous panorama in summer season. This watch incorporates a novel “dial-processing” know-how that captures the Japanese appreciation for the fragile transition of time, mirrored within the altering colors of summer season mornings on this particular place. In different phrases, that is Grand Seiko placing its interpretation of nature onto a dial.
To be extra particular, the reddish hue is what the watchmakers see on summer season mornings, for simply half-hour earlier than and after dawn, when the solar illuminates the peaks of the Hotaka mountain vary in
a novel means. The color-changing dial of the watch represents this second, made potential by a patented “Optical Multilayer Coating” course of; savvy collectors will recognise this as an indicator know-how of the Seiko Epson watchmaking facility the place one can see the Hotaka mountain vary gentle up. Layers of nanoscale movie come collectively to create an impact the place the dial reveals completely different hues relying on the viewing angle <having seen the watch in particular person, we are able to report that that is certainly very cool, so long as one doesn’t anticipate the colors to vary radically.
The brand new SBGC275 options the beefy and angular Tokyo Lion design. This lion’s presence is obvious within the angular case and claw-like, hairline-finished lugs, which distinction with the Zaratsu-polished surfaces. Water resistant to 200 meters, the watch is technically a go-anywhere-do-anything sort of piece, with caveats. The hour and minute fingers are designed for enhanced legibility, and the large indexes additional enhance the superior readability for which Grand Seiko is famend.
The case and bracelet are fabricated from high-intensity titanium, about 30 % lighter than stainless-steel, and brighter as well. The bracelet is crafted for consolation, with thick, H-shaped hyperlinks that promise simple conformity. The hour and minute fingers, in addition to the hour markers, are coated with green-glowing Lumibrite, whereas the GMT hand and the numbers on the bezel glow blue, enhancing legibility at midnight.
The timepiece is powered by the Spring Drive Chronograph GMT Caliber 9R96, a riff on Caliber 9R86. Caliber 9R96 provides an accuracy of ±10 seconds per 30 days, or ±0.5 seconds per day, in contrast with the well-known ±15 seconds per 30 days accuracy of Caliber 9R86.
Motion: Spring Drive Calibre 9R96 with chronograph and second-time zone; 72-hour energy reserve
Case: 44.5mm in titanium; water resistant to 200m
Strap: Bracelet
Value: USD 13,400; restricted version of 700
This story was first seen on WOW’s Summer season 2024 Problem.
For extra on the most recent in luxurious watch information and releases, click on right here.