Grand Seiko SBGW231: Calatrava Alternative

The Grand Seiko SBGW231 is very similar to Patek philippe Calatrava 5196G, same 37mm, albeit with the central second instead of sub-second. Particularly the very nice creamy, yellowish egg shell dial...which not only give stroing vintage look, but also provide good contrast with hands and markers, far better than silver hands on silver dial. With the MSRP of GS less than 1/4 of the Calatrava, you get a classic, hand wound dress watch, with perfect 37 mm. Bonus is 70 hours power reserve. Winding is very smooth and crisp. The finishing of the dial, hands and case are no less compared to Calatrava, I dare to say. The zaratsu polishing really something you must see to appreciate. One weakness is the supplied strap, which is really make me wonder what Seiko is thinking. The black croc is really cheap looking and cheap feeling, with too matte finish, too thin and feels "hollow" . It looks and feel like a strap from a $200 seiko . That is why I quickly change it with a very high quality brown croc strap from Cartier Tank Louis....as you can see, it elevates the classic and dressy looks drastically. Overall I am very satisfied and to me it worth every penny, and even a very good value, considering other high end GS with same caliber, cost way lot more than this. I think it has been discontinued also, replaced by new models with much pricier tag. Thanks for looking. Have a great day.