December « 2013 « AZ Fine Time Blog

With 2013 coming to an end, we are bringing you our final watch review of the year, and probably one of the most anticipated releases collectors have anxiously been awaiting… The new, hand made, radio controlled and tough solar, Metal Twisted G-Shock MT-G MTGS1000D-1A!

The Metal Twisted G is something that is not necessarily a 1st for Casio, having had the premium range of G-Shock’s (Mr. G) available in Japan for sometime now. The new MT-G series is similar in traits of quality of construction with a larger, bolder, and with even more advanced technology. This new, luxury, Metal Twisted G-Shock is crafted at Casio’s Yamagata factory (which also produces the Mr. G, Protrek Manaslu, and Oceanus line), and is manufactured completely in house, which is something shocking (no pun intended) to consumers, but also something Casio should be tremendously proud of.

To start, the MT-G lives up to the durability of the classic G’s, having all the major characteristics that make them so indestructible. The construction is built to withstand shock, centrifugal gravity, and vibration thanks to its elaborate Core Guard Structure composed of stainless steel on both case front and back with resin sandwiched between. The case is secured with tension screws and Casio’s proprietary Alpha Gel (an insulator gel composed of silicone and other materials) which ad substantially to the shock and vibration resistance. The Alpha Gel can be found surrounding the movement, but also near the lugs and bezel. Another note on durability is that the hands are meticulously calculated to be balanced and stay secure under the harsh conditions G’s are built for. The MT-G also uses sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, something rarely seen in most G’s.

The bracelet is made to be extremely durable, but is also very well finished. The combination of brushed and high polish finish give great detail, while the back side of the bracelet is lined with a fine resin, not only giving it a classic G-Shock feel and added shock resistance, but is also soft and cool, due to its low-thermal conductivity. The connection from the case to bracelet are cylinder shaped lugs rotating the bracelet, which looks impressive from a design stand point but also hug the wrist making for good shape and keeping it comfortable.

The dynamic design of the case is complimented by a deeply recessed, dual layered dial in dark grey with a diamond like texture. The dial displays centralized 3 hand time, day of the week while in time keeping mode and other mode functions when adjusted to the specific mode. There is also a 24 hour counter synced with the main clock displayed between 10:00-11:00, and a secondary time zone displayed at 3:00 (word time) with an AM/PM indicator on the lower left side, date below 4:00, and indicators for successful radio control reception around 11:00. The indexes run very steep from the top of chapter ring to the lower portion of the dial, and give a 3 dimensional look. The indexes have a vertical brushed finish with Neo-Brite that glows in green at the top, while the hands glow a cool blue adding a nice contrast for night time legibility.

Now we get into the awesome functionality of this timepiece. Casio’s proprietary Smart Access technology comes into play in the 5369 module, utilizing an electronic crown to control the setting of timezones. The centralized time or “home time” is set by unlocking the crown, pulling it out two clicks and then turning until the second hand points to the desired timezone’s city code located on the inner portion of the bezel. There are 29 timezones to choose from. The secondary timezone (sub dial at 3:00) or your “world time” is adjusted by pulling out the crown one click as opposed to two, and doing the same. Both of these adjustments will need to be done in timekeeping mode, which can be recognized by the when the mode hand at 7:00-8:00 is pointing at the day of the week. The home time and world time can easily be swapped between the 2 displays by pushing and holding the upper right button for about 3 seconds.

The lower left hand button is used to change modes. Pushing it once from standard timekeeping mode will engage the 1/20th of a second chronograph. The chrono is displayed with the 1/20th of a sec at the “mode” sub dial at 7:00-8:00, and the seconds and minutes at the 3:00 “world time” sub dial. The upper and lower right button are used to start, stop, and reset as with any other chrono. Pushing the lower left button again will engage the countdown timer. The timer can be set anywhere from 1 minute to 120 minutes and an alarm will sound once complete. The timer is displayed at the 3:00 sub dial, and can be set using the electronic crown out at the 1st click. The pushing the lower left button again will be for your alarm. The alarm is also displayed at 3:00, and can also be set via the electronic crown out one click, and can be turned on or off by pushing the upper right button with the crown closed. The audible alarm will sound ten times once it hits the set time.

The build is quite large at a 53.5mm diameter, but really probably wears more like a 48mm due to the protruding parts on the case sides. The watch is not incredibly heavy at 188g, but has far more heft than a typical resin G-Shock. The MT-G is both Tough Solar and Multi-band 6 (atomic) meaning it is powered by light (going up to 5 months in the dark before needing to be recharged) and will connect to radio control towers automatically at night or manually, in order to correct accuracy. This particular model retails for $900. There is also a black ion-plated version (MTGS1000BD-1A) available now at $1,000 and a Limited Edition model (MTGS1030DB-1A) slated for delivery sometime in Jan. 2014 at $1,100.

This new series of MT-G is going to be extremely limited to retailers and without a doubt has already been a tremendous success here at AZFineTime.com. Since G-Shock’s launch in 1983, the brand has maintained its reputation as one of the most durable timepieces in the industry. It’s amazing to see that 30 years later, they have introduced a piece under the same strict guidelines, that has new a new refinement to appeal to watch collectors of all sorts, and even to the generations who grew up wearing G-Shocks, that are now looking for something more professional.

This MT-G MTGS1000D-1A can be purchased directly on the AZ Fine Time site HERE. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 1-800-486-3996.

Thanks for reading!

See our video review below…

See more pictures below…

Ahhh, the wonders of the Grand Seiko Spring Drive. We have here the 9R65 caliber, produced at Shinshu watch studio in Japan. This movement, and its variants, are truly special in many ways. Not only the worlds most accurate movement driven by a mainspring, but completely in-house manufactured and assembled by hand at Shinshu in Suwa, a part of the Nagano prefecture. The Japanese alps surrounding the studio are expressed in the top plate of the movement, which is one of many subtle attributes to Grand Seiko that collectors admire. Last Friday, Dec 13th 2013, Arizona Fine Time was fortunate enough to share the tremendous skill it takes to build a Grand Seiko Spring Drive movement during our 4th annual Grand Seiko Roadshow featuring Master Watchmaker Junya Kamijo!

Mr. Kamijo assembled the 9R86 Spring Drive Chronograph movement here in our retail store, which consists of 416 parts and 50 jewels. Customers watched in amazement as Mr. Kamijo built the 9R86 right in front of their eyes, making it appear easy. As one of only 3 watchmakers actually assembling the chronograph GMT movement, you could imagine his qualifications are far above standard.

The party was a tremendous success with customers visiting from all over the country just to see the “behind the scenes” magic that is Grand Seiko. We couldn’t have asked for a better turn out and sincerely appreciate everyone who attended the event.

Customers who made purchases during the event received autographs from Mr. Kamijo. I have to say… He gave out a lot of autographs that evening!

Another great aspect of the night was the presentation table, where you get to see Grand Seiko’s parts, literally under a microscope. Here’s a shot of the integrated circuit that is used to translate the frequency of the quartz oscillator to the electro-magnetic brake, which regulates the glide wheel, providing the supreme accuracy and smooth gliding motion of Spring Drive. A lot of technology in a tiny little piece.

And a slightly less close up of the IC.

The quartz oscillator itself.

Below is theglassy metal core of the coil which is 18 layers of 25 micron thick amorphous. The coil wound around the core is perfectly aligned wound around the coil block an amazing 25,00o times. This along with the difficult to manufacture amorphous core is what makes Spring Drive so efficient when it comes to electrical energy.

The 9R65’s mainspring is made of an in-house developed alloy called Spring 510, giving it an impressive 72 hour power reserve off of only one barrel.

The shots below are of the 9R65 caliber, from many different angles, giving you a slightly better idea on placement of parts as well as quality of finish.

A close up shot of the 9F62 high accuracy quartz movement. This rarely seen movement boasts a +/- 10 second a year accuracy rating due to thermo-compensation of the quartz crystal (which it checks and corrects 540 times a day), 50 year service life internally due to its “super sealed cabin”, increased toque to drive heavy metal hands and still maintain a 3 year battery life due to its twin pulse motor, has a backlash auto-adjust to ensure the hand stops exactly on the marker with no vibration, and even a “pacing switch” to manually adjust accuracy. This movement is also made at Shinshu.

Next we get into the insides of the 9S mechanical movements made at Shizuku-Ishi Watch Studio in Morioka Japan. First is the 9S65 Mechanical Automatic with a rate of 28,800 bph.

The mainspring utilized is the same Spring 510 alloy used in Spring Drive. This ultra resilient alloy also allows for a 72 hour power reserve on the 9S65.

The hairspring used is also labeled as Spron, but the 610 instead of 510. The alloy is so durable, we actually saw it stretched to its limits at last years Roadshow and it recoiled perfectly flat, where as other hairsprings become completely uncoiled and deformed.

Here is the 9S85 Hi-Beat caliber. This 36,000 bph movement brings the highest accuracy in a purely mechanical watch, while still maintaing its durability.

The hairspring on this model is the same Spring 610 utilized in the 9S65, but swings much faster.

The escapement system all by its lonesome. Truly incredible technology has allowed for the immaculate construction of the pallet fork and escapement wheel. The use of MEMS (Micro Electrical Mechanical Systems) allows the manufacturing of parts that are 10 times the durability of traditionally machined parts.

The mainspring used is the Spron 530 alloy. This material provides a 55 hour power reserve on the higher torque, higher frequency movement.

Below you will see the case assembly for the SBGH001 9S85 Hi-Beat. The mirror finished polish is thanks to the very few craftsmen who spend an abundance of time polishing by hand.

The bezel is also finished in the katana blade hand polishing technique called “Zaratsu”.

Seiko also manufactures the sapphire crystal in-house. A good majority of this ultra clear, distortion free crystal is thanks to Seiko’s optics division Seiko Optical Products Co. LTD.

The case back of the SBGH001 (as well as many others) use sapphire crystal with a very subtle hologram of the Grand Seiko lion logo.

The hands of Grand Seiko’s are also polished by hand and brought to the mirror Zaratsu finish. The 5 facet diamond cut hands provide greater legibility at night, catching the slightest bit of light, and making it glimmer like a diamond.

a close up of the dial of the SBGH0o1, which uses the same multi-faceted, Zaratsu finish technique to add to legibility on the indexes. The dial process itself is incredibly elaborate, with 12 steps to complete its unique silvery radial sunburst finish.

Towards the end of the night, Seiko gathered a group of people in the room and Regional Vice President Rick Rowlands started to make a speech. Much to my surprise, the boys from Seiko awarded me with the new Seiko Astron GPS Kintaro Hattori Limited Edition for “outstanding support”. The watch was presented to me by Mr. Shunji Tanaka, who from what I understand is in charge of global sale of Astron. All I can say is that I am still surprised, incredibly honored, and truly grateful! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU SEIKO for this wonderful gift!

The picture below is with Mr. Tanaka, Mr. Yosh Kawada (President of Seiko USA), myself, and Mitchel Hirsh (owner of AZ Fine Time). If you can’t tell, I’m incredibly excited with that huge goofy grin on my face!

We’d sincerely like to thank all of Seiko for putting on such an amazing event. A very special thank you to all the great guys from Seiko who attended the event (from left to right) Mr. Keith “Don Kiki” Oda, Mr. Rick Rowlands, Mr. Yosh Kawada, Mr. Junya Kamijo, Mr. Shunji Tanaka, Mr. Shu Yoshino, and Mr. Kinya Iwami. All of your hard work is truly appreciated!

We’d also like to thank our friends Jessica from TimeZone.com and Paul Hubbard from ABlogtoWatch.com for attending the event. Always a pleasure!

Most importantly… I would sincerely like to thank all of our customers who attended the event, participated in the event online, and who have supported us over the years… Your support and friendship means the world to us!!!

Staying “ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE REST”!!