GS Watch Grand Seiko Elegance Collection Watches

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The 60th year of Best Grand Seiko, the natural beauty of Shizukuishi, the home of Grand Seiko’s mechanical watches, is celebrated in a new platinum and 18k rose gold cased watches. Powered by the manualwinding Caliber 9S64, this creation marks a new departure for the GS Elegance Collection and is a powerful symbol of the vitality that the start of Grand Seiko’s new 60 year cycle represents.

The Shizukuishi Watch Studio located in Iwate Prefecture plays a key role in the production of Grand Seiko mechanical watches. A true manufacture, the studio's craftsmen oversee the manufacture, assembly, adjustment, inspection and shipment of critical mechanical watch components including hairsprings.

The studio is composed of expert craftsmen and women, several of whom have won recognition as Contemporary Master Craftsmen*1 and receipt of the prestigious Medal with Yellow Ribbon*2. The combined excellence of their craft has made it possible to achieve the world's foremost mechanical watches.

• ＊ 1 Contemporary Master Craftsmen
  An annual award conferred by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to honor technicians with outstanding skill in their respective fields.
• ＊ 2 Medal with Yellow Ribbon
  An award conferred by the Cabinet Office of Japan to individuals for their diligence and achievement in fields including agriculture, trade, and manufacturing.

Legend has it that, about a thousand years ago, an old man who lived in what is now Shizukuishi started to hear a strange sound coming from deep underneath a huge old cedar tree. People traced its source to what seemed to be a bottomless cave and realized that the sound was that of water drops, “shizuku” in Japanese, dripping from the ceiling of the cave onto the rocks, “ishi,” and resonating throughout the cave and beyond. The area became known as Shizukuishi and it is this legend behind the name that provides the inspiration for the engraving on the dial and on the hands.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.This second Shizukuishi-inspired watch features the same 9S64 manual-winding caliber but the case is in 18k rose gold and the dial has an intricate yet sharp pattern that only very precise machine engraving can achieve. Replica Grand Seiko Elegance Collection Watches