After a week on the wrist, Chris Malburg had some issues with Grand Seiko’s Blue Snowflake Reference SBGA407. Even so, he pulled the trigger. Here Chris explains how he fixed those issues and why it just might deserve a place in your collection too.
Grand Seiko’s Blue Snowflake Spring Drive has pushed the venerable Japanese watchmaker to the top of Chris Malburg’s horology charts. After spending considerable time with this timepiece, Chris relates the Snowflake’s triumphs and reveals its shortcomings.
Colin was wearing a steel watch with blue dial when the receptionist at the trading company he was working for, a chirpy lass straight out of the BBC’s ‘Eastenders’ soap opera, looked down disdainfully and said, “I hate watches with blue dials. They remind me of old men in pubs.” What happened after that can only be described as a case of gerontohorologyphobia: fear of inadvertently wearing an old man’s watch.
1969 marked the introduction of the world’s first self-winding chronographs. These were presented by Zenith with its El Primero, Seiko with the 5 Speedtimer, and an illustrious group consisting of Breitling, Heuer/Leonidas, and Hamilton/Büren, with the Chronomatic Caliber 11. Sabine Zwettler takes us through the history and looks at three of the latest-generation commemorative automatic chronographs by these early pioneers.
The Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2019’s rules state that this category is for watches only “linked” to the world of diving, but rightly or wrongly our panel is looking for serious diver’s watches. These are watches you are most likely to see on wrists, though perhaps not underwater. And the panel is seriously split. What do you think?
The Grand Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph GMT SBGC203 has a bold appearance due to both its generous diameter of 43.5 mm and even more so by the large chronograph pushers and crown. Despite being such a substantial watch, Martin Green was surprised how well it sat and wore on his modestly sized wrist. Here he summarizes a week wearing this versatile all-rounder.
Two new members of the Grand Seiko Elegance Collection are outfitted with superb Urushi lacquer dials nestled within pink gold cases. While this Japanese lacquer can be applied to a variety of different objects, it is primarily known in the Western world as an artistic decoration on high-end fountain pens. Here Martin Green explains how Urushi dials give Grand Seiko an edge over its competition.
Each year usually has its own distinctive color trend. While an armada of new watches with green dials sailed into view last year, following in the wake of an even more powerful fleet of blue dials in previous years, 2019 seems to be all about a wide variety of colors with many refined pieces in eye-catching hues. Color has never looked so spectacular, so let’s dive right into five of 2019’s brightest newcomers.
Seiko’s story is much more complicated than most people might think. This is a manufacturer that not only followed a trend, but actually created some of its own, capitalizing on expertise, knowledge, and skills that were practically the mother of necessity for this manufacturer located so far away from the established European centers of watchmaking. Including its extraordinary Micro Artist Division.
The Seiko Credor GXBE998 pocket watch’s “secret” is an engraving that celebrates life. The brand’s artists honor Credor’s 45th anniversary with something truly unique: a three-dimensional hand-engraving of the tree of life, which is a significant concept in both the Shinto and Buddhist religions.