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Grand Seiko has announced a major refresh in their Evolution 9 collection across multiple metals and movements, and incorporating enthusiast favorite dial designs. A total of nine new watches have been announced as part of the update, and together they serve as what appears to be a new standard for Grand Seiko’s flagship collection. There’s a lot to chew on here, and depending on what interests you about Grand Seiko (or where you feel they have shortcomings) a number of different aspects of this update might be what draws you in. Everything they’ve announced, though, represents tangible improvement over what came before.
First, the news that many enthusiasts will probably zero in on immediately: Grand Seiko’s micro-adjustable clasp now appears to be standard. After introducing it last year in a limited fashion, there were plenty of gripes about backwards compatibility and options for the future. The message here seems to be that the more heavily tapered bracelet with micro-adjustment built into the clasp will be a regular feature across Evolution 9 watches. Importantly, for these releases, that applies to both 37mm and 40mm references.
Grand Seiko is also standardizing their premium alloys in steel and titanium in the Evolution 9 collection. Of the new watches introduced this week, the seven in steel are all in Grand Seiko’s Ever-Brilliant Steel alloy, which has a more lustrous shine and shows off Grand Seiko’s finishing more dramatically than standard steel. The titanium watches that are part of this refresh are all in Grand Seiko’s High-Intensity Titanium.
The mechanical watches introduced all use Grand Seiko’s 9SA5 caliber, which at this point probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. This is the brand’s next generation 5 Hz movement with 80 hours of power reserve and a novel Dual Impulse Escapement.
What’s a little more surprising, and to me the most purely exciting news packed into this announcement, is that all of the Spring Drive watches here are running on Grand Seiko’s 9RB2 U.F.A caliber. Introduced just over a year ago, their new “Ultra Fine Accuracy” Spring Drive movement is a genuine game changer, and probably the most technologically advanced movement in the Grand Seiko catalog. It’s accurate to 20 seconds per year, and employs a variety of features to maintain rate stability over long periods of time. For example, both the crystal oscillator and IC are vacuum sealed to minimize the interference of outside factors like temperature, humidity, and static electricity. These movements represent the culmination of Grand Seiko’s knowledge of and research into Spring Drive technology across decades.
So, those are the broad outlines and the framework for the refresh. The actual watches themselves will likely feel fairly familiar to most who follow Grand Seiko, but offer interesting points of entry both for new customers and returning customers who might be looking to upgrade. The Spring Drive references are anchored by watches featuring the Lake Suwa dial motif, including a new lighter toned version in blue at both 37mm and 40mm (the SLGB015 and SLGB013) and a new black take on the Lake Suwa pattern in 40mm (SLGB007). The black Lake Suwa reference is the only new Spring Drive piece in titanium, and the SLGB015 is the only one in 37mm. The remaining steel pieces in the Spring Drive refresh include a White Birch dial (SLGB009) as well as a textured green dial (SLGB011) inspired by the Atera Valley near Grand Seiko’s Shinshu Watch Studio.
Similar to the Spring Drive releases, the mechanical refresh is highlighted by updates to Grand Seiko mainstays. The SLGH031, the mechanical iteration of the White Birch concept, is probably the most important of the new releases in this crop. It’s flanked by black and green versions of the same concept (SLGH029 and SLGH033) as well as a teal textured dial that’s part of the Genbi Valley family of releases (SLGH035). Of these four releases, all are in steel except for the SLGH029, and all measure 40mm in diameter.
Pricing for the steel mechanical watches is set at $10,200, with the titanium SLGH029 coming in at $11,400. Of the Spring Drive pieces, the titanium SLGB007 retails for $11,400, while the steel counterparts come in at $10,200. The Spring Drive pieces are expected to be available in September, with the mechanical pieces following in October. Grand Seiko
