There are brands that are well-loved by collectors, journalists and people generally enthusiastic about buying watches. We will all have different opinions of what those brands are, but perhaps we can agree on one name: Grand Seiko. The Japanese imprint only emerged as a fully-fledged brand from the shadow of Seiko relatively recently, in 2017. However, everyone had been aware of Seiko’s intentions to spin-off Grand Seiko as its own full brand since an announcement at BaselWorld sometime after the line became available internationally. Technically though, it helps to consider that Grand Seiko is really a deeply rooted part of Seiko’s grand history, and it earned its right to stand on its own merits. Those merits needed to be well-established for Seiko to commit to an independent future for it. One way to understand all this is to visit Grand Seiko’s production facilities in Japan, which is obviously what we did.
Uniquely amongst our manufacture tours in this Legacy annual, we have very recently published a story on Grand Seiko’s industrial and artisanal bases. Despite the excellent story that WOW Thailand shared with us, we felt there was more to add; the story in the Summer issue this year only focusses on the new Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi (GSSS) while also establishing the Seiko connection via Seiko House. That story will serve as the launchpad for this one, though you need not have read it to enjoy this latest chapter. This is primarily because, for this visit, we got to see and experience the Atelier Ginza in Seiko House Ginza, where the Kodo is put together, as well as the operations in Nagano, at Seiko Epson. In fact, we could have crafted this whole story on what the previous story did not cover, meaning just the new sites, but we have chosen to do things a little differently.
Denne historien er fra Legacy 2023-utgaven av WOW Singapore.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra Legacy 2023-utgaven av WOW Singapore.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Worth Its Weight
TAG Heuer scored an unexpected win with the Carrera Chronograph Skipper in the recent past, so the brand returned it to regular production in steel last year. For 2024, red gold marks the Skipper's triumph
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In the second part of our special on the phenomenon of counterfeiting in watchmaking, we look at some surprising reasons behind consumer demand
The Conversation: Greater Expectations
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The first timekeepers may not have been cased in any precious metal but, given how precious time is, gold and silver soon made their marks here
FINE TIME
Precious metals promise to put the fine’ back into fine watchmaking, after years of being overshadowed by more prosaic materials. This special section continues the journey we began last issue, with a deep dive into that most desirable of all metals, gold. Of course, platinum is also back...
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Grand Seiko celebrates the 20th birthday of Spring Drive with a special edition Chronograph GMT SBGC275 with a unique dial
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Breguet surprises with the gem-set Marine Chronograph 5529, opening up new vistas for the collection
NEW AND NOTED
As you might expect, we have been covering Watches and Wonders Geneva since it began as a physical fair in 2022 and of course when it was confined to the ether, from 2020.
OPEN SEASON
The world's biggest and most important watch fair gets a little bigger and a little better. As for the watches, they got more than a little precious...
GREAT LEAP FORWARD
With the Portugieser Eternal Calendar, WC demonstrates its mastery in the realms of the calendar and moon phase complications