GRAND SEIKO SBGZ001

About Grand Seiko SBGZ001

Grand Seiko Elegance Collection Limited Edition

The 20th anniversary of Spring Drive marked with a new manual-winding thin dress series

The 20th anniversary of Spring Drive is celebrated in a new series within the Grand Seiko Elegance collection that presents an even more refined and slim profile.
All offer one-second-a-day precision and a long power reserve, thanks to the dual mainspring design of both calibers, and share the understated refinement and sparkle of quality that exemplify Grand Seiko’s uniquely Japanese sensibility continuous flow of time.
The dial features the celebrated “Snowflake” pattern which is inspired by the beauty of the snow in the Shinshu region. The dial’s silver finish complements the delicate hand carving on the platinum case.
As the glide motion seconds hand sweeps across the pure white snow-patterned dial, the wearer will feel the natural flow of time in winter and the beauty of our natural world in its purest, pristine state.
The hour and minute hands and hour markers are made of 14k white gold to ensure that their brilliance endures for decades. The Grand Seiko name, the minute markers and all the other markings are etched into the dial.
The Micro Artist Studio made its first contribution to Grand Seiko with the 8-Day Power Reserve Spring Drive watch that was greeted at Baselworld 2016 with great acclaim. This same elite team of watchmakers now presents Caliber 9R02, a new movement that has two mainsprings set in parallel within a single barrel and uses the unique Torque Return System* to deliver a power reserve of 84 hours. The power reserve indicator is visible through the sapphire crystal case back, next to the barrel whose shape echoes that of the bellflower that is the symbol of Shiojiri, where the studio is located.
If the owner prefers, this plaque can be replaced with one that carries his or her name.

Limited Edition of 30 pieces.

About Spring Drive

Spring Drive is Seiko’s exclusive movement that achieves an unprecedented level of accuracy (+/- 15 seconds per month on average, equivalent to +/- 1 second per day) by regulating a spring-driven watch with state-of-the-art electronic technology that functions without batteries or other external power source.

As in conventional mechanical watches, the sole power source of Spring Drive is a mainspring that can be wound by the motion of an oscillating weight or by winding the crown. And just as in mechanical watches, the mainspring drives a series of gears that rotate the hour, minute and second hands. A rotor, connected to the end of these gears, generate a small electrical charge that activates an electronic circuit and quartz oscillator.

The Tri-synchro regulator is a unique speed controller for Spring Drive that replaces the escapement, which is a mechanical speed control device used in almost all conventional mechanical watches. The Tri-synchro regulator moves the second hand in a smooth motion, without ticking and with extreme accuracy.

Some 80% of the components in a Spring Drive caliber are the same as those in a luxury mechanical watch. Spring Drive is a movement powered by a spring, just like a mechanical watch, with a different kind of regulator and combines the long-lasting autonomy of a mechanical watch with the precision that, until now, only electronic watches could provide.

To ensure reliable and accurate operation, all these parts need to be manufactured to the highest standards of precision, and assembling them requires superior craftsmanship.

The development of the Spring Drive movement caliber 9R was made possible because Seiko is one of the very few manufactures with expertise in both mechanical and quartz watches.

Since the first Grand Seiko Spring Drive in 2004, new movements have been created with even more complex mechanisms–including the GMT in 2005 and chronograph with GMT in 2007. Showing that with the Spring Drive caliber 9R, time never loses momentum.