Horological Meandering

SJX
[Purist]
8540

• Show profile
• Show other posts

Why Grand Seiko is exceptional in my humble opinion

Hi Olivier,

Here is why I think GS is exceptional as an owner of several as well as having seen both factories.

1. Case work is excellent, especially on the cases with contrasting polished/brushed finishes; the edges are sharp and carefully done. The models you shown are entirely polished. Seiko also has an in-house titanium alloy that can be polished to a shine which is unusual.

2. The dial and hands are exceptional. The hands and indices are diamond cut, hence the super sharp edges and bevels. The dials are printed with Seiko's in-house printing equipment, resulting in thick and sharp lettering. The dial and hands are probably the greatest visible quality of GS in my opinion.

3. The movement finishing of functional parts, especially in the escapement and balance, is truly extraordinary. The teeth of the pinions are polished, for instance, which is Geneva Seal standard. The decorative finishing on the other hand is mechanically applied.

4. Also the quiet innovation in the watch. For example the SPRON alloys for the hairspring and main spring. The new mainspring allows for 72 hour power reserve (against 50 something before) with the same barrel, and the new hairspring is less sensitive to temperature and magnetism. Also, the inhouse pallet and escape wheel that are made using etching technology like that to etch silicon. These have perforations cut in them for lightness and special profile of the teeth on the escape wheel for retention of lubrication.

GS quality is exceptional, especially for this price range. There are no watches in this price range that are comparable, especially for dial and hand work, and movement finishing.

- SJX