At Baselworld, Seiko just announced that Grand Seiko — its high-end sub-brand — will become its own independent brand. That has implications for design and marketing strategy from the company; for consumers, the effect is more simple. Traditionally, Grand Seikos have been branded as “Seiko” at 12 o’clock and “Grand Seiko” or “GS” at 6 o’clock. From now on, all Grand Seikos will be branded solely as the latter.
Not much else is expected to change, but as part of its new independent line of watches, Grand Seiko is reissuing the first watch that it ever made, launched in 1960. Though the original had a “gold-filled” case, Grand Seiko is making this new variant in three different varieties: the stainless steel SGBW253 ($5,700), gold SGBW252 ($17,200) and platinum SBGW251 ($30,600). Each one is a limited edition release of 136, 353 and 1,960 pieces, respectively.
Each watch more or less a dead ringer for that original Grand Seiko. The case shape is identical (though it’s grown to 38mm in diameter) and the dial design and domed crystal are spot on. Each runs Grand Seiko’s hand-wound 9S64, which is accurate to -3/+4 seconds per day (save for the platinum, which has been adjusted to be -1/+5).
More New Watches from Baselworld 2017
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