BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
A short while back, Grand Seiko unveiled the SBGY007, a Spring drive powered watch featuring a stunning dial inspired by the frozen waters of Lake Suwa that brought a big smile to the faces of Spring Drive enthusiasts. Why so? you might ask. Well, because the SBGY007 is the first widely available non-limited Grand Seiko powered by the Caliber 9R31, a Spring drive movement, that is not only better finished than a regular Spring drive movement but also features the power reserve indicator on the movement side, making the dial look cleaner when compared to regular Spring drive watches that feature the quirky power reserve indicator on the dial itself. Now, Grand Seiko has revealed the new SBGY008, a new elegant wristwatch fully clad in gold and diamonds featuring yet another nature-inspired dial.
Like the SBGY007, the SBGY008 features a beautiful textured dial which this time around is white and is inspired by “Shizuri-Yuki”, a time during the winters when snow spills down from the branches of trees and creates a shimmering cascade of light. The dial exhibits snow-like texture and having seen the much-loved Grand Seiko “Snowflake” in person, I can assure you that this dial would look even more gorgeous in person as compared to in pictures. Sitting on top of the dial are faceted and polished applied rose gold hour indices and the applied Grand Seiko logo at 12. The text as well as the minute track has been presented in black to offer a high contrast to the white background. Time telling is made possible using the razor-sharp dauphine style hour and minute hands and a stick style seconds hand. And as I just mentioned before, the dial is now clean and crisp without the power reserve indicator.
Moving to the case, what we have here is a 38.5mm elegant and curvaceous case that has been crafted from 18k rose gold. The case also maintains a thin profile coming in at just 10mm in height and should sit comfortably on a wide variety of wrists, given a short lug to lug distance of just 43.7mm. But that’s not all, the case on the SBGY008 intends to offer the wearer a luxurious experience, and to do so both sides of the case have been embedded with diamonds which are set by hand by highly skilled craftsmen at the brand’s Shinshu Watch Studio. The diamonds are also arranged by size to follow the lines of the case and give a nice flowing effect.
Visible from the sapphire crystal on the rear of the watch is the hand-wound caliber 9R31. This movement has a refined industrial finish and features flamed blued screws and a power reserve indicator with a blue hand. Like other Spring drive movements, the 9R31 offers a power reserve of 72 hours and is accurate to ±1 second per day.
The new Grand Seiko SBGY008 come attached to a brown crocodile leather strap. The watch is limited to just 60 pieces and would be available to purchase for EUR 38,000 starting January 2022.
Visit Grand Seiko here.
