While many of you know I obviously love cars, I also love horology. It's perhaps my avocation turned kinda-sorta vocation; I happen to know quite-well, a number of top horologists, watchmakers, dealers, collectors and self-proclaimed Indian Chiefs in their given niche of the watch business.
Suffice to say, knowing my bunch- you get to learn a lot about watches!
I stumbled across a very impressive blog/site today called Askmen.com, and while their site is impressive- their in-house watch guru "The Watch Snob" while quite crass in-style, makes some good points when it comes to watches. (I said SOME good points...)
Reading his advice on watches got me thinking of writing on watches- and while he'll tell you he knows more about watches than everyone else (I highly doubt it); I assure you I can certainly write about it in a nicer, kinder fashion than he does.
And he doesn't know more about watches than I do. There I said it.
Well, nice writes here. Being an complete asshole gets you hired and paid elsewhere- that's for sure. I don't know the Watch Snob's name or his exact Manhattan location (and if you wrote like he does- you'd keep that a secret too) but one thing is for certain- there are a lot of "watch snobs" out there; or you can call them assholes.
It's their thing... being an asshole. It's what makes them, well, extra special.
And watches are just one of my things. For most watch guys- it's their only thing (besides being an asshole) and it shows in conversation, manner, personality and... writing style.
Watches and horology, to the extent many watch snobs take them, is much like a sick sexual fetish best kept to yourself, trust me.
Lately the world of horology has me a little excited... Seiko is officially bringing their Grand Seiko line Stateside.
I've known about Grand Seikos now going on over a decade. My father, an avid watch collector, told me about these Seikos he'd read about during the early days of Timezone; which watch enthusiasts in the Japanese domestic market have known for decades- really high-end Seikos, Grand Seikos. That's what they're called.
Grand Seikos, they're like the Lexus LS to Seiko's Toyota- to put it in car speak.
Or even better- they're like a Lexus- if it were called a Grand Toyota.
"Randall, they're supposed to be like a Rolex," he told me in my early 20s- and coming from him- it was like hearing a Catholic high priest proclaim "you know, there was Jesus Christ and he was like a God..."
"Like a Rolex dad?" as I glanced at my stainless steel Datejust, the very watch he gave to me... (Did you catch the watch snob in me trying to impress you?)
Well, it took about a decade but I finally began to understand the complexity of the situation. And with watches- the definitions, propositions, notions and theories behind them, are... well, complex.
Seiko is by far noted for their quartz watch production. They're among the largest watch manufacturers in the world, and actually one of the very few to be called a true watch manufacture, i.e. making virtually every part of the watch- right down to the lubricants between the gears- all by themselves, subcontracting, outsourcing nothing.
In the late 1960's and through the 70's they built their reputation making cheap, accurate quartz wristwatches- what was then the timekeeping technology- quartz. So much so, Seiko almost put the Swiss watch business out-of-business- that's how successful they were.
They made so many cheap watches- what got them on the accurate timing map, Grand Seiko, was pretty-much cast aside.
Outside of the Asian horological markets, not much was known or revered when it came to anything Seiko. Truth is- they've been making watches for over a hundred years, decades before quartz technology even touched the world of watchmaking.
In December, 1960- Seiko unveiled the first Grand Seiko 26-Jewel Diashock- a simple strap watch built and engineered to go head-to-head with the finest chronometers from around the world- and it did.
While the Swiss and the rest of the watchmaking world subscribed to strict COSC standards of +6/-4 seconds a day for chronometer certification- a distinction badged on only about 3% of all Swiss wristwatch movement production; Seiko would print "Chronometer" on their first Grand Seikos to strut their achievements, only to remove it years later as the Japanese would create their own "higher" standard. The Grand Seiko Standard.
Elegant, simple, understated style. Super high-grade hand-finishing, clear legibility and supreme accuracy- these hallmarks would encompass a standard built to rival the best Swiss makers of any basic, everyday watch. Seiko would further elevate the bar by regulating their movements to an even tighter standard of timekeeping accuracy.
Modern Grand Seikos fitted with the mechanical caliber movements (as opposed to the quartz or Spring Drive models) are regulated to +5/-3 seconds a day in six positions; as opposed to COSC's five positions and +6/-4 benchmark.
According to Seiko PR:
"All Grand Seiko watches are subject to the famous Grand Seiko Standard, as it became known. This involved testing more stringent than that required by any Chronometer testing agency in the world including the COSC certifications usually awarded to esteemed brands such as Rolex. One of the key elements of this new standard is the requirement for each watch to be tested in 6 different positions, not the 5 used by others; the sixth position is upright, recognizing that many watches are left with the 12 o’clock position on top when not worn.
Every component of the Grand Seiko movements and exterior casing parts are manufactured according to Grand Seiko’s exacting standards. For example, all Grand Seiko cases are polished by the Zaratsu method to create the flattest and smoothest mirror-finish surfaces. Hands and hour-markers are designed with razor edges to deliver the best possible visibility and readability even in twilight. Even the materials used in Grand Seiko watches are special; the mainsprings in all the Grand Seiko mechanical calibers are made of SEIKO’s proprietary alloy, SPRON, which delivers maximum power reserve and durability."
Just last year, Seiko had began to market their Ananta line of high-end sport/mechanical watches "Finished in the Tradition of Katana" (Japanese sword making) and at the time, I had written quite enthusiastically "this was America's taste of the Grand Seiko."
Or perhaps it was just the Gyoza dumpling appetizer before the full-on Hibachi knife show?
Like the Toyota Cressida before the Lexus ES? There's a comparison for you!
In the last year, I will attest- you don't see too many Seiko Anantas. Dare I say- like 99.9% of all other Seikos lines sold- will the Ananta just be tossed in a pile with the rest of them, no matter how artfully they're finished? Probably.
But the Grand Seiko has a different pedigree. It's a very mild, traditional and basic Japanese watch. From 5-10 feet away- most Grand Seikos well, look like Rolex Datejusts on Oyster bracelets. Very plain and classically proportioned stainless steel, casual watches.
Up-close, however, they have the hallmark clues- this is a Japanese watch.
Opaline and metallic sunburst dials with subtle hints of "dazzle," multifaceted details- Dauphine/sword hands with hour-markers that are chamfered to capture and enhance even the dimmest of light. Heavily-beveled stainless-steel cases with thick, high-glossed lugs detailed with brushed-satin case sides. Bracelets with scissor-action, two push-button clasps and multi-piece, curved, brushed links with slight, high-mirror touches sandwiched in-between.
There are roughly a dozen or so different models being introduced (including divers, GMTs and chronographs) with three-distinct movement types- mechanical 9S Caliber (accurate to +5/-3 seconds a day), quartz 9F Caliber (+/- 10 seconds a year) and the 9R Caliber Spring Drive- Seiko's premier "hybrid" electro-mechanical movement technology, accurate to about a second-a-day.
My personal preference is leaning towards the extra-special Hi-Beat 36000 mechanical model which has a faster, higher-beat/frequency automatic movement for higher timing precision.
Harking back to the days when watchmakers would build these "hot rod" fast-beat, tuned movements to compete against each other for near-quartz-like accuracy, the 10-beat Seiko caliber 9S85 is the first all-new movement of its kind in some 40 years.
Advancements in design and materials make fast-beat movements like the 9S85 viable, practical and usable in an everyday high-grade wristwatch- which is what Sei
ko is aiming to re-introduce in one of the most impressionable, snobbish watch markets in the world- the United States.So if you see a Seiko in the wild, on someones wrist- look closely. You may see the signature, gothicized "GS" badge on the dial- Grand Seiko.
That's when you know, you're looking at something extra special.
Extra special. Never mind the wrist, or the "watch expert" its attached to.
They're extra special too, or so their badges, er, watches and blogs say so.
