Japan’s main luxurious watchmaker Grand Seiko turned 60 years previous in 2020 and celebrated accordingly, with an all-new motion, new worldwide boutiques, and a powerful roster of commemorative timepieces. Dad or mum firm Seiko marks its personal milestone this 12 months — 140 years since its founding by the legendary Kintaro Hattori in 1881 — and thus, the festivities for the model’s collectors proceed roughly uninterrupted. Among the many 2021 Grand Seiko fashions unveiled earlier this week, one of the crucial noteworthy is the limited-edition timepiece we cowl right this moment, which provides yet one more organically impressed design to the elegant Heritage Assortment.
The dial of the Heritage Assortment Seiko a hundred and fortieth Anniversary Restricted Version, in keeping with Grand Seiko, is designed to evoke “the pure great thing about tree rings,” with “a collection of delicate and natural traces [that] echo the intricate rings that denote annually’s development.” A visible illustration of Grand Seiko’s “Nature of Time” motto and of the expansion through the years of each Seiko and Grand Seiko, the dial’s multi-textured, nearly tactile look options refined however seen variations within the depths of the wooden grain impact.
Executed within the new Collection 9 fashion that guarantees to be an indicator of Grand Seiko fashions going ahead (and likewise used within the watchmaker’s most up-to-date nature-inspired particular version, the “White Birch” mannequin), the watch has a 40-mm curved case with huge lugs and a mixture of distortion-free mirror-polished and delicate hairline-brushed finishes on its numerous sides. The case materials right here can be notable: 950 platinum, a treasured steel used solely seldom by the Japanese maison for its most unique items. Additionally indicative of the Collection 9 fashion are the grooved, distinguished hour markers and the wide-volume palms that align meticulously with them. The markers, the “GS” utilized brand at 12 o’clock, the body for the date at 3 o’clock, and the three-fold push-button clasp on the sturdy crocodile leather-based strap are all manufactured from stable white gold, as subtly symbolized by the utilized star at 6 o’clock on the dial.
Grand Seiko has outfitted this unique timepiece with its latest and most praiseworthy mechanical motion, the Hello-Beat Caliber 9SA5, launched to nice fanfare final 12 months. Beating behind a sapphire caseback, it combines a 36,000-vph frequency with a prolonged 80-hour energy reserve, and a precision fee of +5 to -3 seconds per day. Among the many improvements on this self-winding caliber are in-house-developed dual-impulse escapement that transmits energy on to the steadiness for elevated effectivity; a newly developed free sprung steadiness that’s extra proof against shock and friction than its predecessor and makes use of an overcoil somewhat than a flat hairspring to enhance isochronism; and a brand new horizontal gear prepare that allows the general motion to be 15 p.c slimmer than earlier Hello-Beat calibers.
Just like the dial’s natural motif, the motion’s high-end ending takes inspiration from the pure great thing about Japan. The motion’s bridge has a a gently curving define impressed “by the shapes of Mt. Iwate and a bend within the Shizukuishi River,” which runs close to the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi, the watchmaking atelier the place the caliber is made. The watch, restricted to solely 140 items, will likely be priced at $59,000 and accessible worldwide at choose Grand Seiko retailers in July 2021.
