Grand Seiko Celebrates Sixty Years with Four Watches

The new year marks sixty years since Seiko debuted its first Grand Seiko models, a collection of higher-end, high-accuracy watches. To celebrate that anniversary, Grand Seiko this week debuts four timepieces, all of which sport dials in Grand Seiko’s signature blue color.

Two Automatics

Two of the anniversary models are automatic watches. One is a men’s watch ($6,300) cased in 40mm steel and powered by High-Beat Caliber 9S85, notable for its accuracy of +5 to -3 seconds a day and its 55-hour power reserve. In honor of the 60th anniversary, Grand Seiko adds a gold logo and a seconds hand in red.

The second automatic model is targeted to women and is powered by the Caliber 9S27, a Grand Seiko automatic movement specifically designed for its women’s collection. The watch has a blue mother-of-pearl dial with diamonds as hour markers. Both these automatic debuts will be available in February 2020 as limited editions; 1,500 for the men’s watch ($6,300) and 300 for the women’s ($9,500).

Also in Quartz

Grand Seiko has also developed a new quartz caliber to commemorate the collection’s sixtieth anniversary. Caliber 9F85, a new high-precision quartz movement, can be found in both these watches. It has a time difference adjustment function that allows the hour hand to be adjusted without stopping the seconds hand. The idea is that when a traveler changes time zones, it's an easier task to adjust the time as only the hour hand will be affected during the change.

One of the watches is sportier than the other and is marked by a blue ceramic bezel (to resist scratches) and stronger anti-magnetic properties (16,000 A/m, much stronger than the second model).On this sportier model, the markers, the hour and minute hands are coated with LumiBrite.

The watch also has 200 meters of water resistance and a screw-down crown for enhanced security. It will be available in April 2020 as a limited edition of 2,000 ($3,900).

The dressier of the new quartz models (above) differs in its base accuracy tuning. In this model that tuning is adjusted to a level of accuracy of ±5 seconds a year, a level of precision marked by the five-pointed star at the six o’clock position. The more contemporary case design features a thin bezel and a curved case side to reflect more light. The seconds hand is red. The watch will be available in March 2020 as a limited edition of 2,500 ($3,800).