GRAND SEIKO’S CALIBER 9S86 MAKES THE MECHANICAL WATCH CUTTING EDGE AGAIN

BY ARCHANA AITHAL ROSE

Seiko has been known since its founding in 1924 for dependable and well designed watches that straddle the low-middle to moderate price points. Often forgotten by Western buyers, however, is its Grand Seiko line launched in 1960 and handmade, with significantly higher standards of precision and beauty.

This Caliber 9S86 model its movement beating at 36,000 vibrations an hour and with a power reserve of 55 hours is one that gazes into the future and past simultaneously. Offering superb accuracy and horological stamina for everyday use (thanks in part to high resistance to external shock), it also incorporates a GMT function within the automatic mechanical design. (The 24 hour scale and a blue steel GMT hand, independently set, allow the wearer to track different time zones). A modern reinterpretation of iconic Seiko style, the exterior features a highly polished, distortion free mirror surface with a dial showing the contours and 6,686 foot peak of Mount Iwate (part of the landscape visible from the Shizuku Ishi watch studio where Grand Seikos are made). Constructed to last a lifetime, with a solid stainless steel and blue sapphire crystal case.

Grand Seiko Hi Beat SBGJ201
$6,300, timepiececollection.com