2020 Grand Seiko "Grey Beast" Quartz SBGV245
Ref: SBGV245 (9F82-0AL0)

Points of Mention

This watch is sold with its original Grand Seiko box and Grand Seiko paperwork. The watch comes paired with its original Grand Seiko 20mm padded fabric strap with grey stitching and a signed brushed stainless steel push-button deployment. The watch is from December 2020 and is sold in worn condition, but overall very fair condition as you can see from the photographs. The watch comes with our 12-Months Warranty.

The Watch

Here we have a 2020 Grand Seiko "Grey Beast" Quartz SBGV245 with an expertly brushed and polished angular stainless steel case that curves over your wrist with drilled flat-ended lugs, a lug-to-lug length of 47mm and a case thickness of 11.5mm ensures a comfortable fit on your wrist. On the right side, a signed crown, the polished and brushed smooth bezel holds a flat sapphire crystal AR coated on the inside above a textured grey dial. An outer minute chapter ring surrounds applied baton indexes that have a generous application of LumiBrite, at 3 o’clock a framed date window. Dauphine's hands have sharp edges and brushed surfaces with LumiBrite infill complemented by a tapered seconds hand bringing this minimalist dial together, all exquisitely Zaratsu polished by masters of the art. At 12 o’clock, an applied GS Grand Seiko motif. On the reverse, a screw-down case back with polished sides and brush finishing around the Grand Seiko Lion embossed in the centre, reminding us of the past Grand Seiko’s medallions, inside a Grand Seiko 9F82 calibre, a top-tiered Quartz movement, Seiko grows their own quartz crystals, and using a higher torque allows them to use these heavier GS hands, keeping their brand aesthetic intact, they have incorporated a backlash auto-adjust mechanism that controls every single tick of the second hand accurately and perfectly in time. The watch comes fitted on a Grand Seiko 20mm padded fabric strap with grey stitching and a signed brushed stainless steel push-button deployment and the watch comes with its Grand Seiko presentation box and paperwork.

Personal Note

The Brand

The first Grand Seiko debuted in Tokyo in 1960. The ref:3180 was made by Suwa Seikosha. Rather than sending its 25 Jewels Chronometer movement to the Swiss to be tested, Seiko decided to do the testing themselves. The European Chronometer Official Association believed that a chronometer-rated watch had to be independently tested to be awarded that designation. Seiko watches were not independently tested so therefore they could not be chronometers. The ECOA did what irritated watchmakers do, they wrote a stern letter to Seiko requesting that the designation of Chronometer on Grand and King Seiko watches stop. Seiko obliged and ceased using a chronometer on their watches. In response, the Japanese Chronometer Authorization Association was started in 1968 as an independent group to test timepieces to chronometer standards. The Association was short-lived: due to the rise of quartz watches, it closed in 1983. Today Grand Seiko movements are tested over 17 days in 6 positions compared to COSC testing over 15 days in 5 positions.  In 1985 Suwa Seikosha became Seiko Epson Corporation In 2017 Seiko announced that Grand Seiko would become an independent brand.