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A first-ever Grand Seiko event of its kind in Singapore—a well-regarded hotspot for watch aficionados—was recently hosted by Grand Seiko authorized retailer World of Watches 2. This get-together aimed to bring long overdue attention to the pinnacle of watchmaking expertise currently offered in the Grand Seiko range by the Japanese horological giant.
Many watch collectors have long proclaimed their admiration for the attention to detail and the near flawless finishing of Grand Seikos, yet there have been at least equal, if not more, skeptics who could never understand the appeal of a Seiko that costs in the range of four digits and up.
This persists despite the fact that Seiko is one of the largest watch companies in the world with the widest range of watches available, from the Seiko 5 that can be obtained for below a hundred dollars all the way to half a million for the newest Credor Fugaku Tourbillon limited edition. Within that range are numerous phenomenal divers, impressive high-end mechanical chronographs (deemed so capable that Tag Heuer purchased the design rights to the movement and tried to pass it off as their own), and Seiko’s proprietary Spring Drive technology that marries the best aspects of quartz accuracy with mechanical craftsmanship. Let us also not forget that, unlike many marquee Swiss and German brands, Seiko has remained in the same family since its founding in 1881—the current CEO Mr. Shinji Hattori is the great-grandson of founder Kintaro Hattori.
World of Watches 2 invited a master watchmaker all the way from Seiko Japan to demonstrate the level of craftsmanship and finesse that goes into each and every Grand Seiko. Mr. Satoshi Hiraga, who has more than 25 years of working experience with Seiko, is currently a watchmaker at the famous Shizuku-ishi Watch Studio where all mechanical Grand Seiko, Credor and Prospex watches are painstakingly hand assembled. He was recognized as a Contemporary Master Craftsman by the Japanese government in 2015. He is also famed for making and assembling the impossibly thin (4mm) tourbillon movement, the caliber 6830, found in the Fugaku Tourbillon.
That’s not all that that came down from Japan. Mr. Hiraga was also accompanied by a storied collection of historical Grand Seikos and some of this year’s novelties.
Enjoy the small gallery below. (Photos courtesy of World of Watches 2.)
