Grand Seiko Welcomes New Spring Drive GMT

Evolution or revolution? Where most brands pick one or the other as their strategy, Grand Seiko doesn’t like to be held back by such a choice, and simply applies both. While the Spring Drive movement that powers the new GMT was most certainly the latter, the watch itself is more of an evolution, as a welcome addition to a style that we were already familiar with from Grand Seiko’s sport collection.

For the very first time does Grand Seiko craft the bezel of the Spring Drive GMT out of yellow gold. The use of precious metals is a more recent trend in the collection of Grand Seiko, as the brand has always been very focused on using stainless steel for the majority of their watches. Combined with the gold crown and the vibrant blue dial does it give a whole new appearance to one of Grand Seiko’s most desirable sports watches. The home time, or any other desired time zone, is indicated by the individually adjustable hand on the scale of the bezel. An indicator on the dial informs you of how much of the 72-hour power reserve of this watch is left.

The Spring Drive movement is one of the watchmaking revolutions of modern times. In essence, it combines the tradition of a mechanical movement with the precision of a quartz movement. As Grand Seiko is a manufacture for both type of movements, it allowed them to come up with this innovative solution. Just as with a traditional mechanical movement, is caliber 9R66 solely powered by a mainspring. Thanks to a set of gears and a special rotor, a small electric charge is generated in the movement, which powers an electronic circuit with a quartz oscillator. This allows the Spring Drive movement to be fully mechanical, yet still, achieve an accuracy that deviates only 15 seconds a month.