zach blas
I had the pleasure of traveling to Japan with Grand Seiko and getting a detailed tour of the company’s various watchmaking studios and more. My first visit to Japan was special enough in itself. But being able to do it with Grand Seiko, one of my favorite watch brands, was a highlight of my life both personally and professionally. I’m not saying that I didn’t know about the existence of watches exclusive to Kobo Shizukuishi, but the purchase of the Grand Seiko SBGH283 was definitely not planned. It was more of a “what if” or “wouldn’t that be cool” kind of thing. But at the end of my tour of Studio Shizukuishi, I fell in love and decided that taking SBGH283 home was the perfect way to commemorate my unforgettable visit.
For those not familiar, Kobo Shizukuishi carries all of Grand Seiko’s 9S mechanical watches. While Seiko/Epson Studio Shinshu manufactures all 9F quartz and Spring Drive watches, Shizuseki is where all fully mechanical watches are manufactured. For example, the high-beat SLGH005 White Birch with 9SA5 is the work of Studio Shizukuishi, and the SLGA009 ‘White Birch’ with 9RA2 5-Day Spring Drive is the work of Studio Shinshu. The subtle differences, other than the caliber used, have been previously detailed here.
Editor’s Note: As I mentioned earlier, this is my personal watch, and the photos below were taken after I returned from a week-long vacation in Aruba, and I wore it throughout the trip, even in the ocean. I was wearing it. I did this shoot on a bit of a whim, and in retrospect I wish I had a microfiber cloth on hand. Visible marks are just fingerprints and dust.
case
The third Grand Seiko I’ve been lucky enough to add to my personal collection, the Grand Seiko SBGH283, is the first of three for me. This is the first Grand Seiko watch I’ve ever purchased in stainless steel, as my other two watches are bright titanium models. Secondly, this is the first fully mechanical 9S Grand Seiko I’ve owned. Lastly, and more importantly for this hands-on section, this is my first Grand Seiko watch with a 44GS case. The 44GS is perhaps Grand Seiko’s most iconic case shape, with its wide shoulder blade lugs that best showcase the distortion-free Zaratsu-polished mirrors that the manufacturer has built its name on. With so much area of the case presented in a distortion-free, mirror-polished finish, the light play is completely unrealistic.
Visually, the mirror finish makes the entire front of the case black when viewed from the front, emphasizing “shadow” rather than “light.” Having a virtually black polished case at this price point shows the unparalleled value that Grand Seiko can offer in certain areas and cases. Since it has been polished so much, I naturally have to be careful about scratches. But I can proudly say that after wearing this for a week while vacationing in Aruba and being exposed to sunscreen, sand, and ocean, it still stays clean. From a fit and dimension standpoint, the stainless steel weighs an absolute 180 times more than the titanium Grand Seiko I’m used to. In my opinion, this gives the watch a more premium feel, but I’m also a big fan of the lightweight nature of titanium. With a diameter of 40mm, thickness of 13.3mm, and wrist lug-to-lug span of 46.2mm, it fits me well.
dial
Like many other Grand Seiko dials, the SBGH283’s dial can only be fully appreciated “in the metal.” It is very difficult to capture the true color of the dial in photos. In certain lighting, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s a smooth black lacquer dial. However, it is actually a dark forest green dial with a vertical striped motif. Grand Seiko explains that the watch was inspired by the forest that surrounds the Shizukuishi workshop.
On the other hand, the stripes always remind us of the wooden panels on the walls of Studio Shizukuishi. Like the stripes seen on the bridges of the movement.
Against this dark background, and in keeping with Grand Seiko’s design grammar, the manufacturer chose to brush the top facets of the Dauphine-style hands and hour markers as a brushed surface that brightens when viewed from the front under light. selected. Mirror-polished surface without distortion becomes black. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense for the hands and indexes to finish with a brighter “light” rather than a shadow on top of a shadow. In keeping with the tone of the 12-foot Grand Seiko logo, the central seconds hand is kept in a bright golden hue of brass, making it easily recognizable against the dark green dial.
bracelet
The Grand Seiko SBGH283 Shiukuishi Limited features a familiar five-piece link bracelet with alternating wide brushed and narrow polished links and polished shoulder bevel. Another subtlety I forgot to mention earlier is that my first stainless steel Grand Seiko came with the first GS bracelet that was secured with a screw rather than a pin/collar. For some reason, what puzzled me about this bracelet is the fact that it doesn’t have the same number of links compared to the titanium Spring Drive model. Granted, the dimensions will always vary slightly, but my steel bracelet has one more full link than my titanium bracelet. That’s not a bad thing. Just an interesting difference. Some people have complained about not being able to make fine adjustments, but the finish is great, the clasp is thin but sturdy, and after having the watchmaker in Shizukuishi adjust the size, the bracelet turned out great and I’m very happy with it. I’m satisfied. This really moved me. It fits my wrist perfectly. It’s snug but not suffocating, which is exactly how I like it.
movement
Inside the watch is the standard GS automatic high-beat caliber 9S85, which I had the opportunity to actually disassemble and assemble (not inside my watch) during my studio visit. It is a robust and industrially superior movement with a 3/4 bridge plate with the “Tokyo Stripe” on the top. The real charm of this special movement is that it is equipped with a special gold-tone “Shizukuishi Limited” winding rotor, which indicates the special nature of this piece. Studio Shizukuishi also sells models with rotors, but these models with standard rotors are available worldwide. Only SBGH283 is a studio-only product. So, at least in the sense of buying a new one, you can only buy SBGH283 when you go to Studio Shizukuishi. Now I’ve gotten used to the precision of Spring Drive. So I was curious to see what a completely mechanical timekeeping experience would be like. When static, Grand Seiko’s accuracy standard is +5/-3 seconds per day. From my over a month of wearing experience, it has consistently performed at +2 seconds per day, which is on par with my Rolex Datejust.
judgment
When I returned from vacation, the question many friends and colleagues asked me was, “Are you happy with that watch?” Do you regret your purchase? This is due to the fact that this purchase was, to a large extent, emotionally driven by the heat of the moment during my visit. My answer is “I have zero regrets.” For me, this is a very handsome, high-performance watch that brings me great joy every time I wear it and serves as a tangible reminder of my wonderful visit to Japan. And even from a logical point of view, this watch offers me a completely different side of Grand Seiko from a technical point of view, with all the firsts mentioned above. So, if you happen to be visiting Studio Shizukuishi and, like me, are thinking of buying a watch to commemorate your visit, I can assure you that if your finances allow it, it’s a worthwhile purchase that you won’t regret. Masu.
Grand Seiko SBGH283 “Shizukuishi Limited” price and stock status
Grand Seiko SBGH283 “Shizukuishi Limited” can only be purchased at Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi store. Price: 792,000 yen
Brand Grand Seiko Model number SBGH283 “Shizukuishi Limited” Case dimensions 40mm (D) x 13.3mm (T) x 46.2mm (L2L) Case material Stainless steel Water resistance 100m (screw-down crown) Dial Dark green vertical striped motif Crystal (s) Stainless steel bracelet movement with sapphire crystal and exhibition caseback strap tri-fold clasp In-house automatic winding 9S85 Power reserve time 55 hours Functions Hours, minutes, seconds, date Availability Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi store limited price 792,000 yen
