Seiko made its first watch in 1913 and has been on a roll ever since. In 1956 they made their first automatic watch and introduced their proprietary shock resistant system called Diashock in 1958. Their next technological innovation was in 1959 when they invented the magic lever spring winding mechanism and was followed in 1964 by the in-house production of balance springs with their own specially created alloy. In 1967, Seiko manufactured Japan’s first hi-beat caliber and in 1969 they created the world’s first automatic chronograph with vertical clutch and column wheel systems.
For over a century, Seiko has been pushing the technological envelope of it’s purely mechanical watchmaking skills. Today, they have taken the wraps off a new global collection of purely mechanical powered timepieces dubbed Presage.
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.
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