This Grand Seiko Timepiece Is Named After the Japanese Wintry Dawn

Back in 1967, Grand Seiko added a new watch model to its collection that became the definitive “Grand Seiko Style” design code. The luxury watch brand uses a set of nine principles that gave it its distinctive look and that still inspires every new creation today. Fifty-five years later, Grand Seiko celebrates this milestone year with a new hand-winding Spring Drive watch that brings alive again the spirit of the 44GS in a slim dress case. 

The face of the watch uses a delicately textured white dial that evokes Asaborake, the name the Japanese calls it. It refers to that brief time when, as dawn breaks, the light penetrates the morning mist and begins to reveal the mountain landscape of Shinshu, where this, and all Grand Seiko Spring Drive watches, are made. 

ALSO READ

Get to Know Grand Seiko, The Japanese Luxury Watchmaker Making Understated Wrist Candy

6 Limited-Edition Watches from Grand Seiko’s 60th Anniversary Collection

Just like with the original 44GS, the glass is box-shaped to give the watch a traditional feel, but with a thinner profile which Grand Seiko says lowers the overall center of gravity of the watch, giving it a slimmer profile and a comfortable fit on the wrist. The watch’s minute and seconds hands are gently curved by artisanal hands manually so that they are laid out to be as close as possible to the dial’s indexes and minute track. Grand Seiko says this doesn’t only enhance the legibility of the time, but it also allows better visibility for the wearer to appreciate the continuous glide motion of the seconds hand that is the Spring Drive’s signature. 

Photo by Grand Seiko.

The watch’s accuracy is measured with +/- 15 seconds a month precision, using a hand-wound Caliber 9R31 that delivers a 72-hour power reserve thanks to its Dual Spring Barrel mechanism in which two springs are set in parallel within one single barrel.

What is a Spring Drive?

The Grand Seiko Spring Drive is a watch movement that powered by a mainspring, just like other mechanical watches. It is a traditional way of generating power that allows the watch to run autonomously with no need for a battery or other power source. By winding the mainspring, which is done by turning the crown or by moving the wrist, it stores energy which is then transferred to gears and used to move the watch hands as the spring unwinds over time. It differs from the mechanical watch, however, because of the speed-regulating unit, which is a mechanism for controlling accuracy. 

The Spring Drive uses the best of both mechanical and electronic watchmaking to create a highly accurate and artisanal timepiece movement. There are two key elements behind the function of any watch: the power source and its time control system. The Spring Drive is a unique movement that combines the high torque of a mechanical watch with the high precision integrated circuit (IC) control system of an electronic watch. By taking advantage of the high level of torque afforded by the mainspring, the caliber needs no other power to move the long, wide hands in the smooth glide motion which has become the Spring Drive’s signature.

Photo by Grand Seiko.

Energy generation and management is kept at optimal conditions by its Tri-Synchro Regulator, a device that generates a tiny electrical pulse from the motion of the mainspring and converts it into the power needed to activate a crystal oscillator and an electronic brake. The oscillator transmits a precise reference signal to the IC which applies a magnetic brake to maintain the revolution speed of a glide wheel at exactly eight revolutions a second. This precision is transferred through a gear train to the hands which display the time to a precision of +/-1 second per day. Using mechanical power from the mainspring, electrical power that creates a reference signaling with an IC oscillator and uses electromagnetic power to apply a brake via a rotor/stator. Grand Seiko was able to apply these three forces to work in harmony to regulate the way the spring unwinds and to make possible the precise movement of the second hand.