Over the past few months, my direction in life has changed substantially. I am now a homeowner (debt slave?), soon to graduate from part one of my two-part college degree programs, the CEO of an archaeology non-profit, and living back home in Idaho (I must go back to the Boston area to finish my college work at some point). My view on life is changing, as is my opinion on watches.
Working for a watch store in Boston showed me a different part of the watch industry, and after struggling with the business side of it, I feel I have arrived at a place where the hype has nearly worn off, and I want to explore watches for what they are again. No more Rolex, Patek, or AP, as I have little to nothing in common with the people who wear them (not that there is anything wrong with their watches or the people who wear them. Do not misunderstand me.). Now that we have returned to Idaho and I am working a physically demanding job again, I wanted to try a more robust and worry-free watch. I did some research and started looking at Grand Seiko again.
My first experience with their watches was good, but the model I tried out was made for someone other than me (the SBGV245). It was a little too dressy, uncomfortable (for whatever reason), and did not fit my envisioned use (exploration, archaeology, etc). It seemed like a sports watch that wanted to be a dress watch without the best elements of either. I will admit, though, that I was trying out many different watches at the time and perhaps that Grand Seiko was a casualty not of design or performance but of divided attention.
Three years later, Grand Seiko changed its designs enough to excite me. After pursuing their website, I identified the model I wanted (the SBGN021Sport Quartz GMT in blue) and traded a watch (Rolex OP 36mm) for it and another piece. I received the Grand Seiko last week and decided I wanted to put it to the test. Grand Seiko says the 9F86 movement is rated for +/- 10 seconds a year, and I wanted to see if that is true. At first, I thought it would be enough to observe as I wore it on and off throughout the year, but I decided this may not be the best test. After all, wearing a mechanical watch changes its performance; I wanted to know if the same would happen with this quartz piece.
Initially, I thought committing to one year of non-stop wear would be the best idea. However, I am dubious about whether I can make it that long. I have other watches I need to review, and I must wear them. I then toyed with the idea that I could wear the Grand Seiko at least once every day and rotate it in and out with whatever watch I was reviewing, but this sounded like a pain. If I was traveling or in the mountains for work, I would have to bring multiple watches. I do not want to do that.
After some thought, I decided to wear it non-stop for one month and then at least four days a week for the next eleven. This should be enough use to give me a good idea of how the watch works and how wearing it may affect its timekeeping. This will also allow me to wear the other watches I want to review. So, beginning August 1st, 2023, I will wear the Grand Seiko daily for the month. I will wear it all day and take it off at night unless I am working and exploring mines in the mountains. Then I will sleep with it on. I will track its timekeeping daily and see how it performs after the month.
I will do my best to provide weekly updates on its performance and my thoughts on it. So far, ten days in, it is keeping perfect time with no traceable deviation to its timekeeping. That is unsurprising, given that it should only be off 0.002 seconds daily (depending on whether I did my math correctly. There is a good chance I did not. I hate math).
Oh, and here is a quick run-down on its specifications: 40mm wide, 13.2mm thick, 46.8mm lug length, 20mm lug width with a bracelet that tapers to 18mm at the clasp. It has a screw-down crown, stainless steel case, sapphire crystal, a blue dial, a blue ceramic bezel with 24-hour markings, and a date at four 0’clock. The clasp does not have any micro-adjust capabilities, and it comes with two half-links on the bracelet. I have no complaints about how tight or loose the watch is, but your results may vary. It looks killer on a tan tropic strap.
Look out for my upcoming reviews of the Tudor Pelagos FXD, an IWC Ceramic Top Gun, and the Tudor Ranger shortly (or as my workload allows).
EscapementSV 