Grand Seiko Begins Their 60th Anniversary Celebration with Four New Limited Editions

This year marks Grand Seiko’s 60th anniversary, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, the brand is celebrating by releasing some pretty interesting limited edition watches. They’ve wasted very little time, taking only until the end of January to announce the first in what we expect to be a series of releases throughout the year to mark this fairly significant anniversary. These four newly announced watches run the gamut in terms of movements and styles, mixing classic Grand Seiko aesthetics with some novel features. They’re all tied together with striking blue dials, something of a Grand Seiko signature, and are a perfect way to begin a year long anniversary celebration. There’s a lot to cover here, so let’s get right to it.

Grand Seiko SBGH281

• Case Material: Stainless steel
• Dial: Blue
• Dimensions: 40 x 13.3mm
• Crystal: Sapphire   
• Water Resistance: 10 bar  
• Crown: Screw down       
• Movement: 9S85 
• Strap/bracelet: Stainless steel 
• Price: €6,200 
• Reference Number: SBGH281
• Expected Release: Spring 2020

Grand Seiko STGK015

• Case Material: Stainless steel
• Dial: Blue mother of pearl
• Dimensions: 27.8 x 11.2mm
• Crystal: Sapphire   
• Water Resistance: 10 bar  
• Crown: Push/pull           
• Movement: 9S27
• Strap/bracelet: Stainless steel 
• Price: €9,900 
• Reference Number: STGK015
• Expected Release: Spring 2020

Grand Seiko SBGP007 & SGBP015

• Case Material: Stainless steel
• Dial: Blue
• Dimensions: 40 x 10.8mm (SBGP007), 40 x 12.4mm (SBGP015)
• Crystal: Sapphire   
• Water Resistance: 10 bar (SBGP007), 20 bar (SBGP015)  
• Crown: Push/pull (SBGP007), Screw down (SBGP015)          
• Movement: 9F85 
• Strap/bracelet: Stainless steel 
• Price: €3,900 
• Reference Number: SBGP007, SBGP015
• Expected Release: Spring 2020

Two automatic watches make up the “classic” side of this small collection, one made for men and one for women. The men’s watch is part of the Heritage collection and uses the well known 44GS inspired case that has been a staple of the Grand Seiko collection for years. It’s highly angular and is a great canvas on which to display the simply amazing finishing techniques that Grand Seiko is capable of. There are lots of facets here, and more facets equals more impressive zaratsu finishing. It doesn’t hurt that this case is incredibly well proportioned and comfortable, and perfectly straddles the line between “ornate dress watch” and “robust sports watch.” If you haven’t tried on a watch using this case shape, you’re missing out.

For the 60th anniversary model (reference number SBGH281) Grand Seiko has used a bold blue dial, and highlighted the brand’s signature in gold near the 12:00 position. Small pops of red on the seconds hands and text at 6:00 complement the dial really well. Inside ticks the venerable 9S85 hi-beat movement, which Grand Seiko has rated to +5 / -3 seconds per day, although anecdotally, many users experience far greater accuracy in the real world.

The other automatic watch in this leg of the 60th anniversary celebration belongs to the Elegance collection, and is sized and styled for a woman’s wrist. Reference STGK015 uses automatic caliber 9S27, a smaller and slimmer movement designed specifically for watches in Grand Seiko’s ladies’ collections. A total of 56 diamonds are used on the watch between being set in the bezel and on the dial as hour markers. The dial is blue mother of pearl, and the whole package is incredibly beautiful, and a great reminder that Grand Seiko’s craft extends well beyond expert case finishing techniques.

The other two watches announced as part of this collection are both quartz powered, and offer functionality that’s new to Grand Seiko with a brand new movement in the 9F family, the 9F85. Reference SBGP007 is another member of the Heritage collection, and uses a case design that can be thought of as a softer, more organic version of the 44GS case used in the SBGH281. The movement, though, is the real story here. The new functionality enables the hours to jump forward or back without stopping the watch. This is a feature that has been common in some Omega movements for years, and of course is highly desirable in GMT watches (and can be found in Grand Seiko’s own GMTs). For frequent travelers who don’t need to track multiple time zones it really makes for a great travel watch. It also allows the user to really make the most of the movement’s accuracy, which is rated to an astonishing 5 seconds in either direction, per year. The gold star on the SBGP007’s dial indicates that this particular limited edition 9F watch has been specially tuned for increased accuracy (just in case the standard 10 seconds per year deviation was unacceptable).

The final watch in the collection, the SBGP015, is perhaps the most modern, forward looking piece in Grand Seiko’s catalog at the moment. It uses the same 9F85 movement as the SBGP007 (though isn’t specially configured for increased accuracy) but the case is part of the new wave of modern, sporty Grand Seiko designs we’ve seen cropping up over the last couple of years. This case resembles what we saw in the SBGV243 AND SBGV245, reviewed by Ilya last year. If you liked those watches, but wish they were available on a bracelet, the new SBGP007 might be for you. It’s a blocky, angular design that borrows heavily from Grand Seiko’s past, but is ultimately very contemporary. Here, the mot interesting design element is the blue bezel, which is ceramic and scratch resistant. The mixing of ceramic with stainless steel is something Grand Seiko has experimented with in the recent past on some of their higher end sports models, but this watch represents an easier entry point in terms of price while still featuring the more contemporary Grand Seiko design language they have been shifting toward in recent years. 

Naturally, all of these are limited to various degrees, so be sure to get in touch with your Grand Seiko authorized dealer soon to ask about ordering. The SBGH281 and STGK015 are limtied to 1,500 and 300, respectively. The SBGP007 will be available in March and is limited to 2,500, and the SBGP015 will hit stores in April in an edition of 2,000. Grand Seiko