I've had the GMT strapped to my wrist nearly every day for over 2 months now and it's time for a proper review. It's the only watch I've worn for the past 2 months and I've travelled with it.
Retail price for limited edition SBGM031 with blue dial is 6,300 USD, SBGM021 with brown strap and ivory dial is 5,900 USD, and SBGM021 with medal bracelet is 6,300 USD. There are now official GS retailers in the USA including World Lux.
The movement:
To me, the movement is the most important part of the watch, although I had gone through the technical and engineering features of the movement, I'd like to discuss its performance in daily wear. On the wrist and laid crown right at night, it gained 1 minute in a month, however it gains approximately 7 seconds a day laid flat. Performance is adequate to excellent by any measure.
The balance is not free sprung but Grand Seiko is known to use a flat hairspring with a lossier curve which helps with chronometric rate.
The finishing is good, but the rotor is concealing too much of the bridges for a proper view. It would have been preferable for the spokes of the full rotor to be narrower to get a better view. The plates are sharply finished without anglage anywhere to be seen. The tokyo stripe finish on the plates is pleasing to look at and highly reflective. The skeletonized escapement is difficult to see or photograph through the full rotor but quite interesting under a loupe.
Overall, I would say the technical finish of the movement is similar to what you would find in a Jaeger LeCoultre or Caliber 39 Glashütte Original (review of that coming up eventually too).
The case:
The case is a wonder to behold, it has smooth edges and is highly polished. The forged steel is also very hard and scratches from changing straps have been much shallower than my previous experience. The polish is very high and you can easily use the case as a mirror in a pinch. The caseback is held on with large screws and laser engraved lettering. Perhaps deeper actual engraving would have been a nice touch but Seiko most likely had no other choice due to the very small letters. Overall the case is as good if not better as any Patek I've handled
The crystals:
The front crystal is what really sets the watch apart, it is raised up approximately 1.5mm and domed. The vintage appeal of the crystal is great and since it's uncoated sapphire, I've yet to have issues with scratching.
The dial:
The navy blue lacquer dial is very nice. The applied markers are highly polished and there are only 2 microscopic bits of dust (very, very small barely visible at 10x). I wish there were fewer words on the dial and perhaps it had only GS at the top and Grand Seiko, GMT on the bottom. the 24 hour lettering is almost invisible which keeps the dial uncluttered. The massive sword hands are brushed at the top and polished on the sides. The seconds hand is nicely rounded, but the sides of the hand are not highly polished and could be better. The GMT hand is a gilt matte gold and balances the colors nicely.
Strap and buckle:
This is where I was slightly disappointed. The strap is made of nice, polished royal blue porosus crocodile, but when bent, the spaces between the scales cracks to show the white underneath the leather. The clasp is nice but bulky, while the idea of an integrated tang/deployant buckle is great in theory, in practice, the deployant bulges up too high for my comfort. I have very sensitive wrists and ende up opting for my traditional polished stingray strap with a very smooth and small tang buckle. The clasp is well made, just not very comfortable.
Occasionally I like to practice a bit of blasphemy, and I wear the watch on a NATO strap too (photo at the bottom).
Functionality:
The watch is indeed a true GMT, there is no quickset date but the 12-hour hand can be adjusted in 1 hour increments in either direction, regardless of the time of day. The 24-hour hand is adjusted with the minute hand and can be set as either GMT or home time. The hacking mechanism works nicely and the keyless works feels good. (The true engineering competency of the works will have to be commented on by a watchmaker who's looked into the watch).
Wearing comfort:
The watch is very thick at 39.5 mm diameter and 13.5 mm thick, it's not too top heavy and sits quite nicely on the wrist, although I'll admit that it has a wrist presence and you'll notice that there's something strapped to your wrist.
Excellent size for ~6.5 inch wrist
Blasphemously worn on a NATO strap
Overall, it's a great watch and I'm sure the ivory dialed version has its own beauty to offer. Personally I preferred the blue dial since it nicely conceals the 24 hour lettering. Anyone interested in the ivory version should definitely also look at SJX's review of the SBGM003 (older version of the 021).
*** Since posting this on the PuristSPro site, I had a response questioning my opinions as below:
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I would respectfully like to clarify a few parts of your review:
1. would be interested to hear how you arrived at the
conclusion that the "technical finish of the movement is similar to what you would find in a Jaeger LeCoultre or Caliber 39 Glashütte Original". How did you arrive at that conclusion given:
- you did not examine the movement past manufacture-provided photographs
- you cannot see much through the back because of the full rotor
- you did not examine the perlage
- you acknowledge there is no anglage
- the dial-side finish is rudimentary
- majority of jewels seen in manufacture photos=non-chamfered setting
IMO you did JLC and GO a disservice with that offhand comparison - perhaps a better comparison would be to IWC.
2. is the case really "forged"? Forging means to be hammered or other adopt a shape because of localised compressive forces. This is in all likelihood cast, machined, and then polished, but not forged. Tempering is not the same as forging. Would be glad to be corrected if the case is indeed "forged".
3. is the case really "as good if not better as any Patek I've handled" - really? A Patek? Aside from the fact that you're comparing a SS Seiko to a PP in SS (how many have you personally handled?), it is not difficult to achieve a "mirror" finish - as anyone any Tissot or Swatch Irony owner knows.
It is however difficult to achieve sharp case edges (c.f. old dog leg Constellations), a pleasing balance of brushed and polished surfaces with clean boundaries between the 2 (c.f. some Langes), and a unique case design which is appealing to the eye. All of which this watch does not have.
4. the dial is a design-wise, a dog's breakfast. 4 or 5 different fonts crammed onto a dial with 2 chapter rings, and all on a <40mm watch with a thicker bezel. I agree the colour is nice. Dust on a dial is not acceptable IMO in a $6000 watch.
My response is:
In JLC, I did of course not meant their grande complication watches but rather calibers like the 899 or even the 859.
Glashutte cal 39 is really quite similarly finished. I've attached a photo of a cal 39 and 829 which you can compare to Cazalea's photos.
The case is forged, here is a link to KIH's articles about the VFA and Patek which mentions it:
There is very little anglage on most basic level movements from JLC, and IWC as well. Sometimes there will be a rounded matte finish (as is on the caliber 975) but I don't personally find a round matte finish any more appealing than a sharply cut straight edge. If you read part 1 you will see that there is perlage on the mainplate (a new feature of the 9S6X calibers) and laser engraved GS on the brushed dial side.
That type of dust (2 barely visible at 10x) is IMHO acceptable, this is a conversation that's been had a number of times and there's no need to beat a dead horse here. A review of the patek caliber 215 from the old Purist's site in fact found a fiber in a jewel.
http://www.tp178.com/jd/patek-3919/
Awesome review! Love the detail, love your impressions, love the interaction with the SJX review.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for that!
- Julian