BY DHANANJAY PATHAK
If you are one of those who feels that all quartz movements are ugly, chances are you haven’t yet made eye contact with a Grand Seiko quartz movement. But today is your lucky day as the new Grand Seiko SBGP017 is here to change your perspective. Celebrating the 55th anniversary of the 44GS style case, this new watch features a textured blue dial and is powered by a high-quality decorated quartz movement that can be enjoyed in all its glory through an exhibition case back.
Like any other Grand Seiko, the SBGP017 immediately draws attention through its captivating sky-blue dial. Inspired by the sea of clouds around the brand’s Shinshu studio, the dial features an intricate abstract pattern that gives the watch a distinctive identity and makes it stand out from the crowd. Laid on top of the dial are applied indices that have been finely polished to enable some nice light play. The sword hour and minute hands look as sharp as ever and are perfectly proportioned to easily read time at a glance. There is a date window at 3, and the thermally blued second’s hand brings an additional burst of color and contrast to the dial. Placed underneath the double marker at 12 is a blue applied GS logo and just above 6 is a golden star which indicates that this watch is powered by a quartz movement.
Crafted from stainless steel, the case features the familiar and attractive angular 44GS design. It is beautifully finished and exhibits a nice mix of finely brushed and mirror-like Zaratsu polished surfaces. It measures 40mm in diameter, has a wearable lug-to-lug distance of around 46.2mm, and thanks to the quartz movement, the case is just 10.7mm thick, which should make it slide under a cuff with relative ease. Finally, thanks to a grippy threaded crown, the case is water-resistant to a healthy 100 meters.
Inside the SBGP017 is the supremely accurate in-house quartz Calibre 9F85 which is accurate to a mind-boggling ±5 seconds a year. But more than anything else, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill industrial-looking quartz movement and is rather beautifully decorated using Tokyo stripes, blued screws, and much more.
The new Grand Seiko SBGP017 44GS 55th Anniversary Limited Edition comes attached to a stainless-steel bracelet. The watch is limited to 2000 pieces worldwide and can be purchased at a retail price of $3,800 starting July 2022.
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