Hmm, good question!

Taking into account what Lehippi said about Zaratsu on Ti and the “orange peel” effect, which I just learned about (Tks Lehippi!) I’d say that the GS does mitigate the orange peel effect a bit better, vs the Citizen. Based on this Deployant artlcle on the Citizen, it appears both use similar methods to create their Zaratsu surfaces.

The OP effect isn’t visible on normal inspection to me, but under brighter sunlight and with a loupe, it’s definitely there on both watches at certain angles. The OP effect on the GS does seem a tad less obvious though, comparing across all 4 lugs and bezel, vs the Citizen.

Pity I no longer have my SBGW047 to compare with, otherwise it would have been nice to compare steel zaratsu vs Ti zaratsu head to head and compare the OP effect.

Thanks everyone - great discussion!

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Zaratsu polishing on Titanium

By: NT931 : July 9th, 2022-12:35

I thought it would be interesting to examine Zaratsu polishing on titanium watches, rather than on steel which is more common. Here we have a Grand Seiko SBGA413 "Shunbun' above, and a Citizen Chronomaster AQ4030-51L below. The GS has a Spring Drive, whil...

A very interesting post, and excellent photos in tow.

By: Lankysudanese : July 9th, 2022-14:06

Titanium, supposedly, takes polishing (and re-polishing) very well.

Thanks for the interesting comparison

By: singingbee : July 9th, 2022-15:11

To my untrained eyes, the GS does seems a tad better. I didn’t know the Citizen uses Zaratsu finishing too. Do you think they are equal in their application?