Grand Seiko Elegance Collection Platinum / Shizukuishi Ref. SBGW263

The 60th year of Grand Seiko, the natural beauty of Shizukuishi, the home of Grand Seiko’s mechanical watches, is celebrated in a new platinum cased watch. Powered by the manual-winding Caliber 9S64, this creation marks a new departure for the Elegance Collection and is a powerful symbol of the vitality that the start of Grand Seiko’s new 60 year cycle represents. Every aspect of the watchmaking of this creation is handled with meticulous care but the engraving, especially, is a true labor of love. Master engraver Kiyoshi Terui and his small team engrave all the elements on the dial by hand. Their work covers not only the hands and indexes but also the Grand Seiko name and the star mark at the 6 o’clock position. Every stroke of the blade has to be exactly right, a task that is all the more delicate with this watch as both the plates on which the indexes and the minute track are engraved are curved. These plates and the dial itself are made of 18k white gold. The engraving of each watch requires many days of this intense and highly skilled work. The engraving may be intricate but it is also powerful. Its straight lines accentuate the legibility of the time, making this watch true to the Grand Seiko aesthetic, while the whole watch has the soft, gently angular profile that is part of the Elegance Collection’s signature. This unique timepiece is offered in a limited edition of 20 and will be available in July 2020 at the Grand Seiko Boutiques, and also has a gold accent in the form of the Grand Seiko lion emblem embedded in the case back.