11 September 2016 | Grand Seiko

Horbiter’s staff has a declared passion for the Grand Seiko watches, and every time that the Japanese giant releases a new model – or a new collection for that matter – we are extremely glad to share this novelty with you. The Grand Seiko Hi-Beat GMT is one of the brand’s best crafted collections, in 2014 Grand Seiko launched its GMT collection that features high-frequency calibers (5Hz), and, among other awards, the collection was the winner of the “Petite Auiguille” award at the GPHG. Three limited-versions of this collection were created, and you can find two post-Basel articles about them that were written that year, on here and on here, respectively. Grand Seiko now adds a fourth version to that collection, the Grand Seiko Hi Beat GMT Limited Version SBGJ021 that is different from the previous releases because of the dial’s new hue; a special shade that takes inspiration from the bright red color that one can witness at dawn hovering on top of Mount Iwate as seen from the windows of the Shizuku-ishi Watch Studio, Seiko’s division devoted to the assembling of all the Grand Seiko timepieces.

The winding rotor that is visible through the case-back is crafted in titanium and tungsten and it features an engraved lion on it, Grand Seiko’s logo since 1960. The titanium part has undergone an anodic oxidation process that consists in the creation of a thin titanium oxide film through electrolysis. Thanks to the different thickness of the artificially created oxide film, engineers are able to develop the four different shades of color that one can witness at dawn hovering on top of Mount Iwate; blue, purple, orange, and yellow. Among the pros of crafting a titanium-made winding rotor, is the material’s power to absorb shocks and vibrations that is superior to that of standard rotors and, at the same time, the power to withstand corrosion processes that is better than that of other metals. The Grand Seiko Hi Beat GMT Limited Edition SBGJ021 reminds us of the brand’s historic models like the 44GS from 1967, in particular because of the shape of the lugs and the winding crown. The timepiece sports the typical characteristics of all the stainless steel Grand Seiko watches; high-gloss polishing achieved through a particular process called “Zaratsu polishing” that is a smaller version of a process that swords makers used to finish their Katana swords back in the days. The final result is an extremely smooth surface whose polishing is distortion-less.

Furthermore, it is more than fair to remind our readers that the applied indices that appear on the Grand Seiko Hi Beat GMT Limited Edition SBGJ021’s dial feature diamond-cut edges so that every corner is virtually perfect and gives the user a perceived feeling of superior purity. The Grand Seiko Hi Beat GMT Limited Edition SBGJ021 sports a 40mm case, it is equipped with the 9S86 caliber that guarantees up to 55 hours of power reserve, this timepiece is also resistant to magnetic fields up to 4,800A/m and it has a declared precision – when set in a static position – ranging from +5/-3 seconds per day. The timepiece will be available from November onward and each one of the 500 Grand Seiko Hi Beat GMT Limited Edition SBGJ021 pieces that will be released on the market, will retail in Europe at 7,300 euro.

(Photo credit: courtesy of SEIKO Watches)

Gaetano C @Horbiter

@Gaetano Cimmino 

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