9R65 « AZ Fine Time Blog

Grand Seiko 9R 10th Anniversary Spring Drive Limited Edition SBGA109

2014 marks the 10 year anniversary of the revolutionary Spring Drive movement in Grand Seiko. The appearance of the 9R caliber truly pushed the envelope for accuracy not just in any mainspring driven watch, but then combined with the fit, finish and build quality of GS, started a whole new level of watchmaking. To pay tribute to the introduction of Spring Drive into Grand Seiko in 2004, Seiko has released a limited edition model dubbed the SBGA109.

Grand Seiko 9R 10th Anniversary Spring Drive Limited Edition SBGA109

The SBGA109 will be in the same 41mm titanium case and bracelet as found on the now iconic “Snowflake” model, as well as the hands and indexes. The dial will also be a pure white, yet the texture is completely different. Both the second hand and power reserve hand are in blue steel, with a different power reserve display texture as compared to the Snowflake.

Grand Seiko 9R 10th Anniversary Spring Drive Limited Edition SBGA109

You can see the texture is a weaved square texture exposing little frames which contain small “GS” logos. They, of course are very subtle, and at different angles of light become more noticeable. The weaves condense from the 12:00-6:00 portion of the dial as well as from 9:00-3:00, creating smaller rectangular frames, without GS logos. This gives the dial a far more complex look and reduces the amount of logos, creating a very interesting look. The railway track type minutes and seconds counters at the outer edge of the dial is a great touch as well.

Grand Seiko 9R 10th Anniversary Spring Drive Limited Edition SBGA109

Grand Seiko is know for their subtle details and the SBGA109 is no exception. Some may recall last years 9F 20th Anniversary model SBGX103 with small GS Lions found scattered throughout the dial, with the lion at the 20 minute marker facing the opposite direction as the rest. The SBGA109 is similar, but with only one lion, located at the frame nearest the 10 minute marker. This, of course, will signify the 10 year anniversary of the 9R Spring Drive caliber.

Grand Seiko 9R 10th Anniversary Spring Drive Limited Edition SBGA109

The movement featured in the SBGA109 is one that we are quite excited to see more of… The high accuracy Spring Drive 9R15. This will have the same +/- 10 second a month accuracy rating as the new “Self-Dater” Limited Edition models. A notable difference in the 9R15 vs. the 9R65 is the 18k gold GS Lion medallion on the rotor and instead of having radial sating finish on the rotor, it is coated in striping.

Grand Seiko 9R 10th Anniversary Spring Drive Limited Edition SBGA109

The 9R 10th Anniversary Grand Seiko Spring Drive SBGA109 is slotted for delivery this fall, and has an estimated retail of $7,000. There will be 700 pieces made for the world with less than roughly 3% of production coming to the US market.

Grand Seiko 9R 10th Anniversary Spring Drive Limited Edition SBGA111

The 109 will not be the only anniversary model for 10 years of the 9R movement. The slightly smaller 40.5mm stainless steel SBGA111 will also be released this fall. The case is slightly more faceted, has oyster type bracelet and the 9R65 movement as opposed to the 9R15. While we did not see this piece hands on, this will provide a chance to be a part of the 10th anniversary of the 9R Spring Drive, at an MSRP of $5,000. This model will be limited to 1,500 pieces for the world.

Both models are currently available for pre-order at AZ Fine Time. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-486-3996 or submit an inquiry through AZFineTime.com.

Thanks for reading!

Grand Seiko has slowly been increasing their quantities of available models for the US market. Originally expected as a Japanese Market only models, a new 39mm wide Spring Drive appeared on the availability list, making not only for the smallest case size for Spring Drive in GS, but also one of the best price points. Today, we review the SBGA083 with beautiful champagne colored dial.

The champagne dial is the most elaborate to manufacture in the GS line up. The subtle characteristics of this dial take 12 steps to manufacture, starting with the base metal plate. The plate is then cut, smoothed, and mirror polished. After those steps are complete, a thick silver plating is applied. The special sun ray finish labeled as “F-17” is then executed, followed by a light color gold plating and clear coating. After the clear coat, the dial is then polished again, then cut for the date, and finally another mirror polish is applied. From there, the print is done for text, seconds and power reserve display in both black and clue colors, followed by applying the indexes. As you can see, a lot of work goes into the dial, it has a beautiful spectrum of color ranging from silver to gold, and its beauty can only be justified in person.

Hands and indexes are a vital part of what make Grand Seiko ultimately legible. The Zaratsu Katana blade finish is applied to all of the hour indexes, as well as the hands. The indexes are diamond cut on multiple surfaces in order to reflect light, even in low light conditions. The hands are brought to razor sharp edges, meticulously diamond cut at 5 angles to also guarantee legibility in low light. A dual curved anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal is manufactured in-house, to show no distortion, even when looking at low levels.

Another outstanding trait of GS is the finishing on the case and bracelet. The Zaratsu finish is trusted in only a very few craftsmen, and brings each Grand Seiko case to a gorgeous mirror finish that shows no distortion. The curved surface of the case goes through this hand polishing technique and is extended to the lug of the case smoothly, again, showing no distortion. The case dimensions on the stainless steel SBGA083 is 39mm wide, 12.3mm thick and weighs in at 148g. The bracelet is actually their 3 piece satin finished oyster type bracelet, with screw caps on each side of the links, and a free floating pin in between.

The movement used is the immaculate 9R65 self-winding Spring Drive caliber. Hand made and manufactured in-house at Shinshu watch studios in Japan, the 9R65 has the amazing accuracy rating of +/- 15 seconds a month. Spring Drive is solely powered by a mainspring, but unlike most mechanical watches, uses a unique Tri-Synchro Regulator system as opposed to a tradition escapement. The mainsprings power is converted to electricity powering a quartz oscillator, integrated circuit, and electro-magnetic brake in order to control the unwinding of the mainspring with quartz like accuracy and a smooth gliding second hand unlike any other in the industry. All components for this movement are made in-house including the IC, electro-magnetic brake, alloys for the mainspring. Even the quartz crystals are grown in-house!

The MSRP on the Grand Seiko Spring Drive SBGA083 is $4,750, which is currently the least expensive option in GS for a Spring Drive model in their current production. This model (along with its black dial counter part SBGA085) also have a closed case back, which is something not before seen in the US line up.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 1-800-486-3996 with any questions or submit an inquiry through AZFineTime.com.