Day 6
Day 6 started with individual interviews with Mr Shuji Takahashi, or more accurately waiting for the interview. As we waited, Mr Shinichiro Kubo, Grand seikos current designer came by and we had a chance to interview him about the design of the Grand SEIKO hi-beat diver’s watch SBGH255.
Mr Kubo started by explaining the basic principles of “grammer of design” and he made some great sketches explaining how light is reflected on flat surfaces compared to on convex surfaces (my poor copy above). He then continued telling us that he went diving for the first time when he was working on the design of the SBGH255.
Mr Kubo was wearing a Seiko Tuna with gold accents and he noticed that colours and contrasts change under water, the gold accents are the first to disappear.
He liked this effect and the fact that the legibility of the watch improved during the dive when the gold “disappears”, resulting in the hands and indexes becoming more prominent.
He also liked the shape of the air bubbles visible from below as they ascended towards the surface. The structure of the dial is inspired by this experience and if you look closely you can see that the structure on the dial has been shaped with the bubbles in mind.
Portrait Mr Shinichiro Kubo
(No picture available so here’s a picture from Shogun Assassin instead. Mr Kubo was wearing a SBGH037)
Mr Kubo is young and he started working for Seiko right after design college 1999. His first design for Seiko was a pilots watch and the first Grand Seiko he designed was the SBGE001. He has since designed many Grand Seiko models including SBGA029, SBGX117, SBGA127/SBGH037, SBGA011 aka “The Snowflake”, SBGH255 and numerous other models.
Interview with Mr Shuji Takahashi
https://youtu.be/RMQIhcAcWL8
The interview was a great experience for me, being able to interview the person in charge of the brand I love the most is of course a little surreal. My enthusiasm can of course be heard during the interview and I even forgot to mention the quartz-anniversary.
The SEIKO museum
https://youtu.be/k3EDjQDaVKU
https://youtu.be/8ZwjRbXLYls
Pictures from museums are of course very boring but the visit was of course nice, I bought a book for my son in the shop, they sadly no English literature.
Portrait Robert Wilson
Mr Wilson has worked for SEIKO since 1981 and today he works at SEIKO UK.
What’s the first watch you remember wearing?
An Ingersoll Ana/digi, I was 12 years old.
What is the favourite watch in your collection?
My Grand SEIKO SBGA003, it’s so good that it’s hard to wear anything else.
What type of watch movement do you prefer and why?
Springdrive, the seconds hand is mesmerising. I also has a few kenetic watches which I like, my next purchase however is an automatic.
Do you have a grail watch?
Credor Eichi 2
What are the advantages of Grand SEIKO being separated from SEIKO?
There are a few watch models missing from the Grand SEIKO line-up, separation from SEIKO means that these models will have an easier way of complementing the existing line-up.
To have “Grand SEIKO” at the 12 o clock position on the dial also makes sense from an international point of view. In Japan, SEIKO is very respected as a brand, so there is no conflict, but for the international market, this change makes a positive difference.
After lunch I took a 20min cab ride to see the Gundam statue which was the only sightseeing I had decided not to miss. The satue is 20m high and very impressive.
After getting back to Ginza I jumped in the bathtub and got ready for the “jazz event”. I was however not prepared for it to be a GS9-event with a large part of the SEIKO management present. GS9 is the Japanese fan-club for Grand SEIKO, they host events to which the members can win tickets and they release magazines with lots of great articles about Grand SEIKO. You can apply to a membership if you buy a mastershop edition Grand SEIKO and if you live in Japan.
After a drink at the hotel bar we went for a walk in the heavy rain to raid the Ginza 7/11 stores which was a nice way to round of the trip.
Day 7
Day 7 meant flying back to Sweden so not much to say about that. The trip was amazing and I found the production interesting, however I appreciate even more to get to know the people behind the watches, both the management of SEIKO and the designers, engineers, watchmakers and other employees. It is safe to say that my SEIKO addiction is now worse than ever, the first thing I did on the plane back home was to buy back a SBGX117 and a 7c46 Tuna.
Thanks for reading and I hope I presented some news to you even if you have previously read other SEIKO trip reports.