Instant grail. This and the new sporty SBGV247, also with the 9F movement
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I really like the sunburst blue dialled one with the red hand.
There's also going to be a limited edition black dialled one with yellow accents.
39mm, perfect size!
Instant grail. This and the new sporty SBGV247, also with the 9F movement
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Now that GS are finally stirring themselves, perhaps they could upgrade the 9f movement. It's now 25 years old. About time for a standard 5sec a year accuracy, a perpetual calendar and even longer battery life. Longines are offering all this technology at far lower prices...
And while at it, five-year guarantees. They need to offer more for the money.
My £300 Seiko Sportura GMT has an independent hour hand, sapphire crystal, ceramic bezel and kinetic charging.
I've just set the time correctly since the end of March and it had lost 15 seconds.
I know GS are superior, but the standard Seiko are so damn good for the money, I can't see how they can justify the extra 0 on all GS models … especially a quartz?
Last edited by Watchdude; 11th August 2018 at 12:03.
Fantastic, really want to have a look at these; was chatting in the Seiko store a couple of weeks back about them, when collecting my 9F anniversary.
I guess price will be towards £4K for the LEs, given the stainless SBGT241 list was £3100.
I want to see them, but I could see one of these being added...
The orange one does something for me. Sadly it looks a bit too much like my Explorer 2 (albeit better looking). I'm really liking where Seiko are going with the GS line these days.
"A man of little significance"
It's an f9 movement with a selected sample of quartz; bit of marketing really. They do the same on limited editions of the spring-drive.
Difficult to tell from the photos what they are really like and I would be surprised if it didn't have an independent hour hand. I had one of these and it did:
What I meant was that the differences in precision are so small.....five seconds a year...that they don't really matter, but they do sound good in adverts.
Presumably, it would be theoretically possible to get down to, say, one second a year. That I'd like to see. Just for the fun of it.
Both my Spring Drive and "regular" 9f watches are out by no more than 2sec per year, I'd say that's pretty accurate and a damn sight more so than Seiko themselves state.
Good move by GS to introduce quartz GMTs, as this thread has shown there'll be a market for them.
If you’re asking because you genuinely want I response from someone who has owned Sportura and GS quartz, I can answer for you:
GS are exemplary in their finish and are in my view the ne plus ultra of quartz watches. However, I recognise and agree fully with the comments re Sportura; it’s an almost text book example of the 80/20 Pareto Principle in terms of the quality and the value.
It doesn’t diminish the GS line to recognise the quality of the Sportura line.
I believe stated accuracy is now 5 secs per year as opposed to ten secs (if that sort of gain in accuracy even matters). Can see a strong cult following for these.
An independently adjustable hour hand for the GMT would resolve an omission from the 9F series, and bring back the functionality previously offered by the 8J GS movements. Note that there is no summer time equivalent in Japan (recall GS was originally JDM) so it is less of an issue here. You set your GS quartz and forget it, unless travelling. Summer time is however being considered for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, so it may be opportune timing.
Unlike others though, I do not wish to see a perpetual calendar. For two reasons:
- It requires some method of re-setting and verifying the year after battery changes or maintenance, which can be difficult. Extra holes in the case, or electrical contacts on the movement to be tapped in sequence (as per Seiko's own 8F56) are two solutions, neither of which I'd like to see on a Grand Seiko. All the Citizens have an extra hole in the case, I believe. Not so elegant.
- It usually means the date change is decoupled mechanically from the movement, permitting some trickery in visually confirming the leap year by, for example, spinning the date wheel around electrically (as per the 8F56) with a micro motor, or moving the second hand. Another "no thanks" from me. I prefer mechanical coupling and would happily advance the adjustable hour hand a few revolutions if necessary.
Last edited by Tokyo Tokei; 11th August 2018 at 22:58.
Interesting points about the 8F56, I didn't notice the perpetual calendar being a particular advantage on it although the independently adjustable hour hand is, especially for travelling.
Longines seem to have faced the issues of battery life and a perpetual calendar. You get about six months warning, and the watch goes into 'sleep' mode for another six months. During that period the watch 'remembers' the calendar. So you have plenty of time to get the battery fixed. ETA designed this new module and it's pretty clever.
Time for Grand Seiko to upgrade. Twenty-five years is a long period , in technological terms. For now, the Swiss lead the way. Fancy that.
Last edited by paskinner; 11th August 2018 at 19:21.
I've been waiting for these to be released, a sporty quartz GMT really makes a lot of sense.
For me it would have to be the blue dial.
What is the model number of the blue variant?
As did Seiko over a decade ago with the 8f56 - 20 seconds per year accuracy, GMT hand, independently adjustable 12 hour hand, perpetual calendar and 10 year battery life. It's not all about the specs. Neither the 8F56 nor the Longines/ETA movement is suitable for a Grand Seiko.
No-one is suggesting that GS use the ETA module. The point is that 25 years ago, the F9 was the industry state-of-the-art. Now it isn't.
Or is the F9 a 'perfect' quartz module?
Last edited by paskinner; 11th August 2018 at 21:59.
Really excited about these - everything I want in a watch!
I'd agree with that. Regular Seiko offers stupendous value, and with the development of their 'Presage' lines the gap between Seiko and GS has perhaps been bridged a little.
I do think Seiko tend to make nearly everything else look poorer value by comparison.Originally Posted by DaveA
However, there is a large amount of extra work (dials), hand-assembly (9F Quartz movements included) & hand-finishing (cases, indices etc.) which make GS a higher-class proposition, amongst other little touches. Speaking for myself, those are details that I don't think can be fully-appreciated until you have one in-hand. It's like taking a loupe to the razor edged & highly-polished hands & indices - unless you look a bit closer and experience them in person, the full scale of GS' efforts can sometimes go a little under appreciated in casual observation.
Everyone has their preferred 'sweet spot' however, where levels of quality & pricing come together most favourably.