Hosgeldiniz » Grand Seiko SPRING DRIVE SBGA375 Replica Watch

The 5 Best Grand Seiko Watches for Collectors

In the world of watches, Seiko and Grand Seiko are a lot like Ford and Lincoln. The first one is a reliable brand that can fit into the average person's budget. The second is a high-end luxury brand designed for those with the most discerning tastes. Even so, the two still exist under the same umbrella.

These watches are primarily made from Seiko parts, although most of the Grand Seiko's parts are made from higher grade materials. They are also handmade by skilled watchmakers, whereas regular Seiko watches are made by machines on an assembly line. This includes hand polishing of many components, which is not seen on regular Seiko watches.

Today I’m introducing five of the best Grand Seiko watches for collectors of quality timepieces. There's a wide variety of products to suit a variety of tastes, but they all have the quality you'd expect from a high-end watchmaker.

Spring Drive Ref. SBGA211 has a round titanium case with a diameter of 41 mm. This makes it the widest watch I’m reviewing today, but not by much. Virtually all of these Grand Seiko watches have a medium wrist size. That said, they differ in almost every other way.

The bezel of the SBGA211, like the case sides, is beveled from the bottom edge to where the top crystal meets. The edge of the crystal is slightly indented and has a slightly curved design that does not distort the dial. The watch is also 100 meters water resistant, so it’s completely safe when swimming.

The dial is a white textured dial with silver appliqué hour markers at the five-minute position. The one-minute mark is represented by a tiny blue hash. The hand is contoured like a sword, with a short, angular base and a longer, triangular tip. The sides of these hands are bevelled, giving them a dramatic shimmering effect when reflecting light. There is a power meter in the lower left corner of the dial with a small silver needle indicating the current power reserve. At 3 o'clock, you'll find a date window instead of an applied index. It has a silver outline on a white background with black Arabic numerals.

The SBGA211 is powered by Grand Seiko’s in-house Spring Drive movement. The details of how this works is a bit beyond the scope of this article. However, it has the mechanics, ticking functionality of an automatic movement, and the precision of a quartz movement. Its accuracy is +/-1 second per day, far exceeding the accuracy of fully automatic brands such as Rolex. It also has a 72-hour power reserve, enough for a three-day weekend.

Elegant GMT reference number SBGM221
The SBGA211 is simple and functional, while the Elegance GMT Ref. SBGM221 is full of classic, old-school charm. The watch features a vintage dial with a pinkish-cream finish and a tiny black hash at the one-minute mark. Silver-tone appliqué markers at the five minutes and dual markers at 12, 6 and 9 o'clock. Instead of a bar at 3 o’clock, there is a small white date window with black Arabic numerals. Within the main index, you'll also see a second 24-hour index. Even hours have small black Arabic numerals, and odd hours have small black arrows.

The hands are stainless steel and taper from a thick base to a tip. No GMT watch would be complete without a GMT hand (cobalt blue, arrow-shaped). The crystal stands high above the bezel, deforming the dial when viewed from extreme angles. From any normal perspective, this is a great accent. The inner surface of the crystal also has an anti-reflective coating.

The 39.5mm stainless steel case is discreet, with narrow bezels and a knurled crown. It comes with a smooth brown alligator leather strap, which adds a touch of personality to this explorer-looking watch.

The SBGM221 is powered by the automatic Caliber 9S66 movement, which is accurate to +5/-3 seconds per day. You'll probably need to reset it every month or so, but a three-day power reserve gives you plenty of flexibility if you want to set it aside occasionally.

Movement GMT reference number SBGM245
The sporty GMT Ref. SBGM245 is also a GMT watch, but it has a more modern look. Its 40.5mm stainless steel case features large, fat lugs that make it look much larger than it actually is. It also features a wide bezel with blue Arabic numerals marking the 24-hour scale. The case is water-resistant to 200 meters, making it as water-resistant as any dive watch. The double-curved sapphire crystal is treated with an anti-reflective coating.

There is an additional 24-hour scale on the outside of the dial, using a black and white color scheme to form a simple day/night pattern. The rest of the dial is metallic blue, with a date window at 4 o’clock, corresponding to the offset crown. The main index is relatively simple and consists of silver luminous markers. The flat hour and minute hands are also silver with a luminous stripe in the center, while the GMT hand is a slender red arrow.

This watch uses the same Caliber 9S66 movement as the SBGM221. You get the same +5/-3 second accuracy and the same 3-day power reserve.

Spring Drive Lake Suwa Limited Edition Ref. SLGA007
Spring Drive Lake Suwa Limited Edition Ref. SLGA007 has an ocean theme, with a blue wave pattern on the dial. There is a double marker at the five-minute position, a triple marker at 12 o'clock, and a date window at 3 o'clock. The date window is similar to Grand Seiko's other date windows, with a white backing and black Arabic numerals. Otherwise, the look is clean and simple, with large silver hands and a needle-thin red second hand.

The stainless steel case is 40 mm in diameter and the sapphire crystal slightly twists the edge of the dial. There's also a display crystal on the back, where you can view the 9RA2 spring-driven movement and its integrated power reserve meter. The movement is fully automatic and extremely accurate, with errors as low as +/- 0.5 seconds per day.

Elegant hand-wound ref. SBGK009
The elegant hand-wound watch SBGK009 is a vintage watch with a solid brown dial. The minute positions are marked by fine silver hashes, with larger silver bars marking the five minute positions. There is a power reserve meter on the right side with a small silver needle on the fan-shaped silver bar. There is a 24-hour subdial on the left with the same delicate hands. The main minute and seconds hands are elongated and triangular in shape, with beveled edges that catch the light in an interesting way.

The 39mm stainless steel case is splash-proof, but cannot withstand full submersion. It comes with anti-reflective sapphire crystal glass and display case back. It also comes with a delicate 9-link bracelet that wraps comfortably around any wrist. The 9S63 movement is accurate to +5/-3 seconds per day and has a 72-hour power reserve. This makes it comparable to other mechanical watches from Grand Seiko, but it is manually wound rather than self-winding.