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A Grand Seiko Collectors Roundtable

Published on Mon, 1 Jun 2020 10:00:13 +0000

Three collectors, three continents, one shared passion.

Synopsis

In this episode of Hodinkee Radio, host Steven Pulvirent convenes an extraordinary international panel of Grand Seiko collectors spanning three continents and fourteen time zones. The trio includes JP Vicente, a finance professional with deep knowledge of vintage pieces; Stefan Molin, a Swedish semiconductor sales professional who has been collecting since the early 2000s; and Daniel Young, a Sydney-based school teacher who represents a newer generation of enthusiasts. Together, they explore what makes Grand Seiko collecting unique, from the brand's meticulous attention to detail and Japanese design philosophy to its innovative movements like Spring Drive and high-precision quartz.

The conversation delves into each collector's personal journey, from childhood encounters with watches to their first Grand Seiko purchases. The panel discusses the brand's essential references, particularly the vintage 44GS and first Grand Seiko, and how modern pieces like the SBGJ series carry forward the design language established by Taro Tanaka's "grammar of design." They explore why Grand Seiko appeals to collectors seeking an alternative to Swiss watchmaking, emphasizing qualities like exceptional finishing at accessible price points, distinctive Japanese aesthetics, and technological innovation. The episode concludes with a lightning round covering preferences on vintage versus modern, complications versus time-only, and each collector's grail piece, while celebrating the welcoming, knowledge-sharing nature of the Grand Seiko collecting community.

Transcript

Speaker
Unknown I like Grenseiko because it's Japanese. It feels Japanese. It speaks with the Japanese DNA. And that's when both really Seiko and Grand Seiko are at at their best. I I don't like very much when you have watches that kind of resemble a Swiss watch. If I want a Swiss watch or a Swiss looking watch, and I have many of those in my collection, I'll go ahead and I'll buy a Swiss watch. You know, I I like Grand Seiko because they're different, because they're not Swiss. And this is not too bash from the Swiss friends, it's just that that identity is what makes it different
Unknown . Hey everybody, I'm your host Steven Polvern and this is Hodinky Radio. We've got a super fun show for you this week. It's all about Grand Seiko collecting. We've got an amazing trio of collectors here to help us understand what makes collecting Grand Seiko so special and so different. Here's where I'd normally introduce them, but I'm gonna let them introduce themselves. Up first, we've got JP Vicente
Unknown . Hi, I'm I'm JP Vicente. Uh I'm in finance, uh, more specifically in the asset management industry. In terms of uh what watches kind of mean to me, watches are an utterly human instrument. You know, it's a human instrument to the measures a human perceived concept, which is which is time. So not to get too philosophical, but time is is relative, as Einstein has showed us. But we live in a Newtonian world here. And the fact that it's a mechanical watch can also transcend our own time, our own existence, and we'll live on, create sort of an enduring legacy. That's that's that's what fascinates me about these little pieces.
Unknown Next up, we've got Stefan Molin. Yes, so my name is Stefan Molin. I'm a fifty-two-year-old Swedish guy, obviously from Sweden, and uh my occupation is uh semiconduktor sales. For me, a watch is essentially it's actually a teknikal objekt för mig. That looks good. And also, it's something that you always karry with you. Så mean you can you can use it of course obviously to see the time and sometimes the day. But if you take uh like a diver's watch with a turnable ring you can actually use it for timing things like uh when you're cooking pasta or have something on the grill. And also I think that watches can help you put put yourself in a certain mod. I always take a divers watch, even though jaging. I go to opera så take a nice dress watch that makes you feel more in the mood, in the right mood for that certain
Unknown uh thing that you you you want to do
Unknown . And coming to us from Australia, we've got Daniel Young. My name's uh Daniel Young, and um I don't really have any fancy jobs like the other two guys here, but I'm a I'm a school teacher in Sydney, Australia. That's a f
Unknown ancy job. Yeah, seriously. Seriously. You can't downplay that. Don't demean it man?
Unknown It's always fun getting terrorized by little kids, man. So to me, I'd say uh watches are I would say that they're an expression of who you are. Um it's interesting, like going through everybody's collection. You see with your talking watches episodes, which I love. And um you you can see where people have collected watches from different moments of their lives um reflects on what they liked at that particular time and I think that's really cool. So they in a way they're they're kind of physical uh pieces of your own hist
Unknown ory. We're gonna cover a lot of ground today. Everything from our favorite references to what makes the Grand Seiko community, such a special part of the watch collecting world. But first, a message from our partners, Grand Seiko. This year, the brand is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Traditionally, in Japanese culture, a person's 60th birthday represents a moment of rebirth, and Grand Seiko is celebrating accordingly. In addition to the new spring drive and high-beat calibers, as well as a host of other new introductions to the catalog, Grand Seiko has released a set of four limited edition watches specifically to celebrate its 60th anniversary. All four watches feature Rich Dials and Grand Seiko's signature shade of blue, and each highlights a different facet of Grand Seiko's wide-reaching expertise. First is the SBGH 281, an automatic watch with a high beat caliber inside. The simple three hands in date layout lets you admire the wonderful blue dial with its red accents and the quick moving red seconds hand too. This is a watch for every day and one that will look just as good in 60 years as it does right now. There's a second automatic limited edition, the STGK015, but this one's a dedicated women's watch. The smaller 27.8mm case features a ring of diamonds on the bezel, as well as diamond hour markers that sparkle against the blue dial. It's still a hard wearing automatic Grand Seco, just in an elegant, refined package. Then there's a pair of high-precision quartz watches to round things out. The SBGP-007 in the Heritage Collection, and the SBGP015 in the Sport Collection. These both use a new quartz movement that allows the hour hand to be jumped in one hour increments without stopping the second's hand. This means you don't have to interrupt the extremely precise movement, which is accurate to plus or minus just five seconds per year. The two executions ensure there's a style for any taste. To learn more about these four 60th anniversary watches and to take a look at Grand Seiko's full lineup, visit Granseco.com. All right, let's jump into the show. Hey guys, thanks so much for joining us. We've got uh we've got people across what like 14 hours worth of uh time zones here. Yeah. Hey Steve. It's uh this is easily the most international uh and logistically complicated uh episode of Hodinki Radio we've done. We're at at ninety something here and uh this this is the first one where I think we've got people in f three countries on uh on the mics, but uh I wanna make sure we also get the the origin stories for each of you guys out out of the way, kind of up front, like how how you got in to watch it, since that's the bulk of what we're gonna talk about here for the next hour. So I I figure we'll we'll start at the very beginning. Maybe we'll start with Daniel on this one. How how did you get interested in watches in the first place? So growing
Unknown up in I guess Sydney, Australia and in a Chinese and Cambodian community. Watches tends to be something that a lot of Asians like to wear. They do tend to go for the more blingy, blingy watches, unfortunately. Nothing wrong with that though. Um and they do tend to I remember they do tend to gr um choose brands that are I guess more safe. Um I remember seeing a lot of uncles at family events. You've always got the different types of uncles. You've got the the ones that are in the corner, you know, doing their own thing. Then you got the ones that are like um I guess the the life of the party and and those are the cool uncles the ones that are wearing like these really cool two-tone date just is date just seems to be a thing with Asian men for some reason. I don't mean to generalize, but I'm just talking about from my own experience. And um I guess I remember thinking that man these guys are so cool. And like when I grow up, I want to make sure that I look like these guys. But then I guess my tastes tend to it it veered off into another direction. I remember getting my own my first Seiko 5 and I remember wearing the watch and the person who gave it to me told me that hey this doesn't use a battery, it actually it's powered by your own movements. And I'm like, what? No battery. And so I remember turning it over and looking at the case back and thinking, whoa, this is like a whole nother dimension, man. This is like looking through the case back of this thing is like a sci-fi movie. And uh I remember thinking, what what is this thing? And I I remember being hooked from that ever since. Very cool. J
Unknown P, how about how about for you? Um well I guess uh my love for watches really started when uh when I got a Time Max, you know, version of the Cartier tank. You know, it was a knockoff. And uh and I didn't know that at the time. I must have been six or seven years old. And I don't really quite remember who gave it to me, but uh but I uh how I came to own the watch. But I think it was an uncle who gave it to me because he knew I could tell time since uh since I was uh a young boy. But the watch didn't work when he gave it to me. So my mom and I went to to visit the neighborhood watchmaker. And uh you know at the time watchmaking shops existed like cobblers. You know, they they were you know you had your neighborhood guy that you went to because people were a lot of mechanical watches then. And uh they relied on him to fix, you know, the watches. So I remember going there, and and the watchmaker's name, I remember to this day, was Pasqual. He was an Italian guy. And uh and I don't know how it happened, but he and I kind of started a conversation there. And he took me to his workbench and uh he actually started showing me his tools and and and it was the first time I saw watch movement, you know, the first time I saw an escapement. And I was totally hooked from that very young age. And uh and it's been like that for basically four decades now. And I really that's kinda how
Unknown I that's my first watch story that I truly remember. That's awesome. Stefan, how how about for you? When did when did the journey start for you
Unknown ? Yeah, I know exactly when it started. So I was eight years old in nineteen seventy-six. So I got a 50s. I think it was a woman's watch actually from my mother. So it was a simple three-hander mechanical watch. And I I remember I was so amazed that something this tiny actually had some cogs and wheels and stuff in inside, and it could show the time. So that that really impressed me. But I think the biggest thing was in 1979 when I got my first digital watch. So one with the with a stopwatch so you could time things. I remember I wanted a Seiko because a friend of mine had one, but they were too expensive, so I got some knockoff version, but it looked exactly the same. One thing that we used it for in Sweden those days. Maybe you remember Ingmar Stenmark the downhill skier, that was one of the best. He was the best, I think, worldwide. So when he skied, actually in schools, we stopped lessons and they rolled in a big TV, a fat TV, in the classroom. And everybody watched when he was skiing and competing. And of then of course you wanted to time his skiing yourself with your digital watch. So even though the television showed exactly the time you wanted to do it yourself. And the one other one other thing you use it for you could if you took it off and you held it so you could push the buttons uh against the table, the the competition was to to be the quickest, on and off. So you needed to have one that showed one hundredth of a second. Because then yeah, you could actually do it in one hundredth of a second. So push it down the table, on and then push it again really quickly off. So that's what we used it for. And throughout the 80s, most of my watches were digital watches, and in nineteen eighty-eight I got a Causio G shok round vä DW5700. militär service. And it hådd to gather until 20 years later, and then the resin uh got dried up and was actually yeah completely broken. But I never changed battery in that watch. So it I think it kept the same battery for 18 years, something like this. And then throughout my my youth, always when we passed uh uh watch shops, I stopped looking at everything always. And I do remember from the uh 80s also my father had, he was in banking, so he had these finance magazines, and you always had you always had Rolex advertisements on the back. And of course, you advise those GMT's and day dates and submarine
Unknown Do you r do you remember when you got your first sort of like what you what we would say maybe is like a nice nice watch? I hate say using that word, but your your first first mechanical watch, your first sort of like high end like luxury watch maybe? Yeah the more more expensive one but that was
Unknown in nineteen ninety nine. It was a Cin six thousand uh Finanzplatser that I bought från Germany. And yeah, I really really liked it. And the reason why I bought it was I someone called, or I forgot his name, but he wrote a very nice watch review online
Unknown That's super cool. That's a really cool first kind of like entry point into to mechanical watches. Uh J JP, what was your your kind of like gate gateway, let's say?
Unknown Uh my my first great watch was uh actually a Lanko, you know, and uh that my mom had given my father as as a wedding present. Uh I think she gave it to me when I was close to ten. Um, but uh sadly, I guess all oh it's all sadly, uh I don't have it anymore. Um uh yeah, we we had uh had an incident that we had a the house was burglarized once and and and actually unfortunately that that that watch was stolen. And I don't remember the reference, but I know it was a small thirty four millimeter watch with a gold case and a gold dial, and it was just awesome. It really I'm really sad I don't have it anymore. But yeah, that little Lanco is great. And I still have and then my dad had another one he bought a Movado um that replaced the Lanco and I own that one today. So I still have it. It's a tiny one. Yeah, it's a 34mm watch as well, but I still have that. But my first my first great watch I think was actually that Lan
Unknown co. I wore it every day. It was great. That's super cool. Daniel, how about how about you
Unknown ? My first great watch was a lawn jeans. Um so that I got that after the Sacred Five. I don't have it anymore as well. Um and I remember loving the thing and again, it was the the case back. I know it was just an ETA, but but I remember looking at the case back and and that was like a one step above the sake of five, the finishing. And I remember thinking, wow, this is this is art, man. This is actually art on your wrist um then unfortunately after like I did I did I did flip that to get a shooter black bay and that was a watch that I I did love for quite a few years. And um I would probably say the the chill of Black Bay was probably my first nice watch,
Unknown as in luxury watch. Yeah, it's it's interesting how you know, we all find our own kind of our own paths in. Sometimes it's through family, sometimes it's through our our own interests, sometimes it's a a kind of weird combination of the two. Um but I wanna make sure we we get relatively quickly into into Grand Seiko. I mean that's that's why we're here. Um I mean the three of you participated in our our collector profile series uh a little over a year ago now I guess uh maybe two years ago almost um and uh yeah, so so I I wonder, you know, we now know how how you got into watches, how you kind of brought it to the next level, became real enthusiasts, started buying, you know, quote unquote luxury mechanical watches. But I I wonder what was your first taste of Grand Seiko? Because especially a couple of years ago, it was it was a much more niche thing. It was it was you really had to kind of be in the know to know Grand Seiko. So um maybe let's start with JP on this one. J JP, do you do you remember your first encounter with Grand Seiko?
Unknown Oh yeah. Um I I I'd I'd say that I started paying attention to to Grand Seiko. It was I don't remember exactly the year, but he was in in the 90s, probably in the mid-90s. And a friend of mine from Japan introduced it to me. And he had a vintage 44 GS. Uh, and I simply fell in love with the watch, and it was so different from anything I'd seen before. Uh the angles and the way the case was designed. And back then you had to really know someone in Japan to be able to get a Grant Seiko. You know, obviously at that point they were not making the watches. Well tech,nically, you know, the quartz, you know, Grand Seiko quartz was being made or reintroduced, but but if you wanted a mechanical vintage Grand Seiko, you kind of either have had to know someone in Japan or you had to visit Japan. And um and I uh then the internet came about and and things got a lot easier uh than when I discovered a brand. But I discovered the brand in in the pre-internet days, and and I thought that I was the only guy in the Western world that actually knew about it, you know. And it was beyond a stretch to call it a niche brand. I mean, nothing, no one knew the brand. Um, but gladly that has changed quite a lot since then and you know, we can certainly discuss the evolution of that brand uh you know outside of Japan but but that was uh yeah that was my first encounter that's kind of how I I started and and I bought and sold some vintage pieces back then and um you know I kind of settled a little bit on the on the current collection. But uh but yeah that's kind of how it started, how the I got the bug as
Unknown they say. Nice. And Daniel, you're the one who's who's geographically closest to Japan was was it any easier for you to get into it uh or was it just just as difficult
Unknown ? Well I didn't I didn't get into Grand Take in the 90s like JP did you um I'm not saying anything about our age difference, man. But I did I can't remember within the last um five years and um fortunately for me um the internet and I guess Instagram was already there, so it did exist. Um, so like I was saying before, um, I did um the first watch that I fell in love with was the Seiko 5, and I remember wanting to learn more about I guess Seiko as a brand, and um, I remember joining up with different forums and these Facebook groups that are out there. Yeah. And um being connected to all of these guys internationally. And so um what I noticed was um there were heaps of like collectors that were that were from like countries like I guess around Asia like Singapore, Hong Kong and of course Japan. And um so going through all the Seiko's that they had they were posting and then I remember seeing these weird models that were really sparkly. They just sparkled unlike the other Seiko's out there. Sure, there was a Prasage which was which was beautiful, but then there was this brand called Grand Seiko and I looked at it and I was like two things striked out for me. I guess the how how shiny and polished the cases were and of course the dials which are I guess the two things that Grand Seca is very famous for apart from their movements. And um I remember I guess doing further research and then coming across the the first Grand Sacred from 1960, uh which both JP and Stefan have, and I'm very jealous of you two. Um and I remember just falling in love with the brand um then and then I started to research on modern grand secret and I fell in love with the the SBGW33 that actually Gary mentioned in the previous podcast. Yeah, I wanted that for myself. I couldn't afford it at the time. Um and then somehow I came across the SPG W031. And after doing some research, to me that was like the most accurate, I guess, reinterpretation of the first grand second without replicating it. And I thought that was kind of cool. Um, 'cause the the brand is about innovation, right? Um and yeah, so I bought that watch and I've um like like and you know when you just have an object and the more that you look at it I don't know that I think there's a psychological term for it I'm not sure what it is, but the more you look at something, the more you stare at it, the more you fall in love with it. And that's pretty much what happened with me with the Zero 31
Unknown . Nice. And and Stefan, for for you, what was what was your uh your entry into Grand Seiko
Unknown . I have to blame uh similar to JP I have to blame the internet. So uh late nineties, early two thousand uh I was heavily into diverse watches and Seiko is as you know, very good at divers. And that made me find forums like Seiko Citizen Watch Forum and Time Zone. And then on there I saw something called Grand Seiko. And I thought that was really, really interesting because I was completely unaware that Seiko did something like this and that they started in 1960. So and one of the key things I think was that they when you learned that they actually um beat all the Swiss in the chronometer competitions in the 60s. So that was really really interesting. So and with the internet, you can learn a lot. I mean you can read up on all the history. And I was just amazed about the history of Seiko, but in this case Grand Seiko. And I think in 22000004-5, the first Spring Drives came about, Grand Seiko Spring Drives. And then I remember reading something in the late 80s or early 90s in a popular science magazine about Seiko trying to get rid of the battery. And I remember when I read it that wow, this is really cool. And now here, 50 years later, the först watches var basically released with this kind of movement. And that made me, and that, and the look of the SPG E 001 so the grand psycho GMT Spring drive. That the look of that watch was just wow. So I knew I had to have it. So that's that was my first Grand Seiko that I bought in in two thousand f
Unknown ive. That's great. Yeah, I I w I wanna you know, we now that we know how how you guys got into it, I mean it's three sort of different different paths, different entry points, but there's there's some overlap there. And I wonder how how you guys would explain the appeal of Grand Seco to somebody new. I think, you know, the four of us are all Grand Seiko fans. Um I'm wearing, you know, for people who are watching this on YouTube, I'm wearing my my vintage Grand Seiko today. But uh yeah, I I I wonder if if somebody, you know, who's maybe already a little bit interested in watches, they're not totally, totally new to the watch world, you know, were were to come to you and say, like, okay, I know Rolex, I know Omega, I know Longine, I know, you know, all the all the big Swiss brands. Um but like what's what's the deal with Grand Seiko? How how would you try to explain that to them? And I'm I'm just gonna leave that open. You guys any any anyone can answer this. You can respond to each other. Or uh I'm I'm curious how how as collectors you would explain your passion for the brand. To
Unknown me, I think over the years now, uh what I think is the one of the biggest things with grounds take is actually the the at attten dention to det. Du kan luckte det varts vid a mikroskop. Pivel an du kan nå en flås basicker. Så dat ofs detail and quality that will give you a very good watch and also a very pleasant watch to look at. I mean the visuals for me are key with all these facets and the how it how the watches play with light and things like this. So that that would be my uh my take on this
Unknown . Yeah, I'll I'll jump right there. And I I think I'll I agree. I mean for me it's just one word. It's quality, quality and quality, you know, but um I like to think about it in in quality or to think about quality both in relative and absolute terms, you know. So in relative terms, if you think about it, it's virtually impossible to find the level of finish that you get with the Grand Seiko at a comparable price at other brands at this point. It just is, you know, just like Stefan just mentioned. You know, if you go deep into the watch, uh, the dial, the the the way the dials are actually put together, the you know, it the composition of it, the hands and the way they're finished. Um, the movement itself, uh, even though um the actual mechanical movements of the regular Grand Sacres are not gonna be as finished as what the Marco Artist studio is doing, but it's it's for for that price point. It's it's just really, really good. And um uh although I would say prices have come up since the brand became a separate brand in 2017. It's a it's still a quality leader in the space. But there's also the absolute term. I mean, the quality of the brand is exceptional, even if you remove the price out of the equation. I mean, I I I think that uh that's not to say that price is not an object. It's just to say that the quality kind of sort of stands on its own and it's uh superior quite care quite frankly to higher priced hand pieces in in in my my opinion anyway. So if you're I guess yeah just to you know I guess if you're looking for if you're a newbie and you're looking for a high end watch I mean it's it's hard to to to find something a little bit but you know for that for a specific price point it's hard to find anything more appealing uh to me anyway
Unknown . Yeah. Um so I would say pretty pretty much what Stefan and JP have said and also add that like who doesn't like Japan? And I was thinking like um so Grand Taker watches it's pretty much a whole country on your wrist. So what their culture believes in, in terms of like never taking shortcuts and having that meticulous attention to detail in anything, even like you've seen Marie Condo and how she folds her clothes. It's it's the same thing with the watches. So that level of I guess um of detail, it's it's it's clear in their watches and also the brand's all about innovation as well. Even though Grand Seca does tend to um refer back to their historical icons like the 44 GS, they also look towards the future, which um I don't know if I can comment say that other brands are doing that? Like no hate, but um I guess like Grand Sega is about moving forward as well. And it's about it's about both engineering and art, which is a cool fusion, I gu
Unknown ess. Yeah, I I I I agree. I like that a lot about wearing the one country on your on your wrist. Uh I think that the the the cool thing about Grand Seiko, to me anyway, is uh is what differentiates it from the Swiss brands. And and this is not to say that the Swiss brands are better or worse or or vice versa. I mean, I own uh my collection is not only Grand Secos. I mean, I own a whole bunch of Swiss watches and I love them. But um I think that the reason why it's interesting to uh think about Grand Seiko is because of the you know because it's Japanese. It it has a a very unique uh concept of design and I think that uh uh the culture of the country is really uh translated in the way that the watches could the watches come to be. So I I agree uh w with with Daniel on that. I think it's actually a really good way to put
Unknown it. Yeah, I think that's really, really fascinating. And you know, thinking about you know the things specifically the the last two two sort of comments from from JP and Daniel. You know, there's there's two sides of something that I think are actually the the same coin. You know, one one is the unique sort of relationship between past and future. The way that Grand Seiko sort of balances looking back at at icons like the forty four GS while also creating a totally new type of high beat movement, um kind of all at the same time, um, is is sort of unique. And it's it's not, I think, the approach that many or if any Swiss watchmakers have have taken. And I think the other side of that is the sort of like inherent Japanese-ness of these watches. Um and I think those those two things, one is maybe a manifestation of the other and and vice versa. And I I wonder if if you guys have any thoughts about that, about the the relationship between innovation and history and how that may or may not be tied to the sort of like Japanese quality of of Grand Seiko watches
Unknown . I think that, you know, just to to level set, I mean like let's let's think about a a little bit of the history here and and talk about uh tarotanaka and the grammar of design school right that is that's just kind of where where it started and uh he had uh he had his hand uh uh you know in the in the 57 GS, uh, but I think that the real, like the first one that really came out with that kind of Japanese that we were talking about was the 44 GS. And uh, you know, they came out and they specified uh key tenets, you know, if you will, that that that particular brand was going to have. You know, so they talked about legibility, they talked about precision, they talked about finish, they talked about comfort on the wrist. And um the watches did not have any mechanical complications at that time. And all vintage Grand Secrets are dressed watches. You know, so so that's what happened in that period of time, right, from nineteen sixty through 1974. Somebody argued, you know, they were still making them 1975. But call it that period, that 15, 14, 15 year period in which they were producing those uh which is now the vintage grant Seiko's, uh, were mostly dress watches and and and and they had tremendous amount of variations and dials, et cetera, but that's kind of what it was. And then they had to relaunch the brand. And um and uh they came out, I think uh it was in nineteen eighty-eight, right, that they came out with the quartz. And uh and then you know, we had to wait until like uh nineteen ninety-eight for them to reintroduce the mechanical movements again with a nine S series and reintroduced the mechanical Grand Secrets. But uh and and it presented a different challenge because they started making dress watches, right? A lot of them were inspired by vintage watches, but then they started making divers, then they started making chronos. Uh, but those tenets that I was just talking about in terms of legibility, precision, finish, etc., and the the grammar of design spirit, I think they were all translated into the modern pieces. And I think that's that's that's what is so interesting. They were able to let's say quote unquote pick it up where they you know where they had left it, you know, and I think um I think they did really well in terms of translating that history. And we can we can go into the details and examples, you know, like if you look at a vintage 44 and you look at the S B G J 005 or any of the S B G J's, you know, that series, you know, which is a reinterpretation of that case, you know, I can see the influence, you know, and then that's not easy to do. And I think that is in large part the work of uh you know, and there are several I guess heroes uh in the in the Japanese history of watchmaking, even though Japan as a country and as a culture they don't they don't talk about specific individuals, but Nobu Hiro Kasuji is it's amaz And he was the one that was uh basically able to translate all that kind of uh call it knowledge or creativity that Taratanaka brought to the table, you know, and and translate it into into modern pieces. So I I actually had the pleasure of meeting him in Japan and and I asked him what he was his favorite vintage design. And he said, yeah, by far the 44. You know, that was that was it. And I was like, okay, that, you know, it's awesome. That, you know, uh uh I I I I agree with him, let's put it this way. And um and uh when I asked him his favorite model uh model design, he actually pointed to the S V G M two two one, right? Which is technically influenced by the case of the 3180, which is the the gr the grant first grant Seiko. So so it's interesting because you see that kind of like even the the the the the SVGM 221 or which is the same case as the SBGR 061 or 261. It's uh the one with the cream dial. Uh one's GMT, the other one's not. And and it's it's it's you can see it there. You can see the the polished surfaces and it's really it's really cool. So that's how I think about it. And um there's the technology part too. I know it's a long winded answer, but um as far as technology is concerned, I think it's it's worth pointing out that Sue has always been the mainstay and always stayed at the forefront of technological innovation, right? And by Sue I mean which is now just your jury plant, you know, and um there was always that competition between Sue and and uh Diney, which is in Morioka. But they always say that, and that's true today as well. And um they're the ones, you know, in Sua making the quartz and the spring drive movements, and Dana has always been the rabble in my view. And they continue to be true to their horological, you know, rabble roots by sticking to the mechanical movements and and the new movement, the nine S A five is is a good example of that. So so it's really interesting to see how that that history is translating into into the future, so to speak
Unknown . I don't know how I'm gonna top JP's uh today. That's how I feel every time I have a conversation with JP. I'm just like how am I what what am I contributing here.
Unknown So mine's is um not as detailed and I guess elaborate as that but what I will say is um I was I was thinking about like how how I've got like say so in Australia we're very and I'm sure the US is the same um I'm not sure about Sweden Stefan's sorry man but um but anyway so in Australia we we we are very multicultural country. And so what that means is the kids that we, the students that we have in our classroom come from a lot of different backgrounds. So before we can learn about each other's backgrounds, um, it's important that I guess as educators that we get the kids to understand who they are first before you can before you can go off and learn about other people. So if I was to relate that back to your question, Steven, um I think Grant Seiko needs to understand their historical roots. Where did they come from? What is our philosophy? And Tanaka's um grammar of design, as JP mentioned, that is the root of it all. So that's the root of our case designs. They need to play with the light and shadow. And I think um from there, once they understand that, then that's when they can start to innovate and marry the two, I guess, philosophies and concepts. In one of my Instagram posts, like um I mentioned a word code kaizen. Um sorry, Japanese people out there if I if I pronounce that wrong, but it's um it's it's the concept of always developing and always um improving, you never never remaining the same and I think Grand Seca also embodies that even in 1960 it was always about in innovating let's be better let's be better we can always improve and I think um that's what Grand Seca is I don's what
Unknown I think. I think very very good answers from both KP and Daniel and then I I fully agree. Especially this on improvement. To me, Seiko and Grand Seiko has always wanted to do things better. And one thing when they stopped with Grand Seiko in the mid-70s, I actually am one of the people that do not believe they really stopped because the grand quartes that they had, I think those took the place of mechanical grand secos basically until the mid-80s. And if you look at grand quartz watches, you see the same type of design language as you see in vintage Gran Seiko pieces. You see a lot of different variants of dials. Some of the dial patterns you can actually find in modern Grand Secos, like the Blizzard, for instance, and things like this. And quartz was the brand new, the best thing you could have at that time. And then ultimately then when they came with the Springdav, uh so they never stopped. And Springdav in itself I think it's really interesting since I think he started forgot his name now but uh he started in 1977 and I think they released the first commercially available Spring that watch in 1999. So 22 years later, and to me that shows Seiko wants to do better and they never give up. If it takes time, it takes time. But they will ultimately they will they will come to the goal that they set
Unknown out. Uh yeah, I think it's interesting that you've you've all mentioned both spring drive and quartz and and I think that's an interesting thing that that we should definitely talk about here is you know looking at the the traditional high end Swiss manufacturers there's there's an almost singular focus on mechanical watchmaking. Um and today it's almost all automatic watchmaking. I mean there's some folks are obviously doing high end hand wound calibers, but it's it's really for the most part, people want like workhorse automatic watches. Um Grand Seiko clearly doesn't think that's the only option. They think there there can be great quartz watches and and they've you know really invested heavily in in Spring drive. I I wonder, you know, to you you all know uh the what the watch community every every bit as well as I do um and and to say that there's a bit of of snobbery around the idea of of traditional mechanical watchmaking um might be an understatement but uh i i wonder how when you're talking to other other watch enthusiasts maybe you you help explain the appeal of spring drive or the the place for a high end quartz watch when maybe some other collectors kind of turn turn their noses up at the idea of a non traditional mechanical watch. Okay. I I'll take the
Unknown spring drive. I'll I'll let I'll let uh Stefan and Daniel talk about the quartz. Uh I I love the quartz, but I I don't know as as much about the 9F as as Stefan does, so I'll defer it to him. But but in terms of the the spring drive uh technology, I think it's really cool. It's a it's an extremely cool technology. And uh just to perhaps give it a little bit of background on on what that is, right? And then spring drive movements are very, very similar to mechanical movements. Except that the key difference is that the quote unquote, you know, it's it's escapement mechanism, right? So in a mechanical movement, the kinetic energy that you get from the main spring powers through the you know the gear train and is well well its escapement or dissipation if you will is regulated by the balanced wheel to keep time. I mean we know that every you know all of us watch geeks kind of know that but in the spring drive calibers that rotational motion of the main spring powers the movement right but then there's a a a system that that uses a a a statter and a coil and rotor functions and it works as an electromagnetic call it brake. And as that brake is applied, energy or electric rather than kinetic power is generated. It's just like a hybrid car, for example. And um so it is this kind of electric energy that is subsequently used to power the integrated circuit circuit rather and and the quartz oscillator. And then the quartz generates a frequency, which is then communicated to the glide wheel, which is the escapement of the S the S D or the the spring drive and that glide wheel is what allows the time you know the watch to keep time and the the frequency there translates into um just to get technical since we're all geeks, you know, eight revolutions of the glide wheel per second. So and the power to activate that, you know, is zero point zero two five microwatt. That's less than oneent-th of the power consumption of a regular quartz watch. Like it's really amazing. And in my view, clearly this is where Seiko and Grand Seiko are betting the future. Because there's no doubt in my mind about that because nobody at Seiko actually told me this, but I believe that there's a reason the micro artist studio is in Chojiri, the old Sua, where the spring drive movements are made, not in Morioka, where the old Daney and the mechanical watches are are produced. Because the most attractive, the most complicated, most well-finished watches produced by Seiko and Brand Seiko today are made in the micro artist studio. You know, I I I actually had the pleasure to visit it and it was terrific. You have nine or ten folks working there, men and women, you know, making things that are simply among the most beautiful objects produced by mankind today. You know, things like the H two, the eight day power reserve, the Grand Sonnery, the Minute Repeater, and all of those watches, all of them run on Spring Drive. So to me, it's very clear, would love to to hear the the thoughts of others, but to me it's very clear that that's where you know Grand Seiko is betting the future. Uh I agree with you, JP
Unknown . For me, Spring Rub is also that's that is the future. So uh when it comes to quartz, uh I mean if if precision is key for you, then I think there is nothing better than quartz. Unless you go to atomic controlled or GPS controlled waters. But that that's a little bit cheating. So quartz you get something like plus minus ten seconds a year, or even plus minus five from Grand Seiko. And you don't need more precision than that, I think. And the good thing now with the new 9 F85 movement is that finally again Gran Seiko has a movement where you have a freely adjustable hour hand, which means that when you're traveling, you do not have to stop this high precision watch. You just pull it out the crown out to the first uh step, and then you set the hour hand to the the time zone you will be in. Similar to uh summer and winter time uh adjustments as well, you do not have to stop the watch. So I think that's that's really good. I hope they will come with a perpetual calendar as well, as they had in the past in some other watches, not Gran Seiko but Seiko. Also that the courts is really low maintenance. Yes, you have to change battery every three years, maybe. But the movement itself, the 9F movement, uh it's basically completely sealed. Some say you don't need to service it within fifty years. I don't think that is the case. But nevertheless it's it's really well covered from from the from the surroundings, I would say. Uh and and again, a quartz watch is always correct, so you can use it to set your mechanical on
Unknown es as well. Um a good friend of ours, um so Joe Kirk from Grand Secretary USA, um he's said a quote that I think sums up why quartz Grand Seiko should be considered by, I guess, even traditional enthusiasts, traditional mechanical watch enthusiasts. And that is that Grand Seco 99F movements are quartz for the mechanical watch guy. And I think what he means by that is that they're pretty much engineered to a level that I guess even in-house mechanical watches are as well. So you're looking at so unlike cheap quartz movements that are like when the battery I guess dies out, some people might even throw the entire watch away. Whereas Grand Seco 9F quartz, their designed to be a lifelong companion. They're designed to, I guess, be with stick with you forever, as Stefan said. They're even um serviceable. They're completely made of metal, which is crazy, with really cool gold tones. And they even they're they're even finished in the same way that a lot of the 9S movements are finished, in the sense that they have those um Tokyo stripes. It's pretty cool. The annoying thing about um I know that a lot of Grand Seco um fans that do collect the quotes as well do get annoyed that a lot of them are solid case backs, but there are some like the um there's the SBGV 238. I know Stefan, you bought one for your daughter. Um I've got I don't know if you guys can see it there, but it's you can see that it's got the stripes there. That is nuts, man. That that's a quartz watch that's decorated. So you know that Queen Siko, they don't cut corners even with their quartz. Like um and I know that traditional watch enthusiasts are really into I guess in house. That's that's supposed to be respectable right well even their quartz their quartz is like in house everything about it is it it's in house even the b even the battery. Do you have a seco battery in your and their crystals, man. Like they grow their own crystals in house. I think it was 90 days. And it's like it's like you're harvesting vegetables in a veggie patch. Like they're looking at for they're looking for the best crystal to pick so that they can pair it with the is it the the circuit? Sorry, I'm not really technical, but that I know that's what they do and that's just mind-blowing. So I guess to sum it up, if if if that doesn't convince you to try out a quartz, then I don't think anyone can convince you, but for those of you who are curious, give it a go. And they're the most affordable range in the Grand Taker lineup. Give it a go
Unknown . All right. So I I want to make sure we have time to get into your actual collections here too. Um so you know we'll we'll do that and then I've got some quickfire questions for you guys uh at at the end, but I want to make sure we get a chance to talk about your collections, which which is what we we really highlighted in the packages we we put together in the past. So um I wonder maybe maybe we'll start with Stefan and and I just want to know if each of you can sum up in you know two or three sentences kind of your approach to Grand Seiko collecting
Unknown . Yeah so I I I like both vintage and modern pieces and and also I have a bit of a collector. So the risk for me when I found Grand Sacre was that hmm, it would be good to have everyone from the first one in nineteen sixty to the latest. But that's uh uh that's really difficult. It's expensive, time consuming, and to be fair, I don't like everyone. I mean just because it says Grand Take on the Nile, I I sometimes you don't like it. Might be too small, it might mean not looking nice. So I took it down a little bit, uh, sold off most of the vintage pieces because I think they are a little bit fragile and uh often too small. Uh and then for modern ones, I only buy the ones I like, which is maybe obvious. But if you're a collector, it might not be obvious. So I picked two pieces from my collection. One is the SPGW033, which was the piece that they released in 2011 when Seiko was 130 years. So it's a piece looking a lot like the first uh thirty-one eighty, but in stainless steel. So this one has the size, it's very true to the original piece. Later on they they have released several other versions that are slightly bigger. What I like about this one is that the dial is so very nice, creamy kind of dial, and you have a heated blue seconds hand, and the size is just perfect. And then with this one I got the modern piece and the vintage piece in the same package, so to speak. So that's an obvious choice. The other one is my SPGE zero zero one from 2005. So the Springdrive GMT with the Sapphire Basel and you have Lum numbers under the Bels. It's just if you look at this one on a on a flight to Asia or wherever it just like a torch you can lit up the whole cabin with that torch. So that's I just that one I like a lot. So those will be my two two picks
Unknown out of the collection. Great. J JP, how how would you describe your approach and what are maybe one or two pieces that that you would say represent your collection? Sure. I think
Unknown that the logic about my collection of Grand Seiko stems from my love for the vintage line. So I think that there are four seminal pieces that if you're a collector of Grand Seiko, um you should own. That's my opinion. You know, the 3180, which is the first first GS, the 57 GS, which is the second, the 44 GS, which is the the third watch, and then the 62 GS. I think that those are the backbone of my collection and from my perspective, most seminal vintage pieces. And everything else for me kind of stems from there. So my collection kind of reflects in that sense, you know, all the gases that I own, you know, kind of they they sort of arch back to history, if you will. So I I don't own any sports gasses like divers or chronos, not not because I don't like them, but it's you know they haven't really found you know their way into into the collection, if you will. But then the second component I think is the Japanese factor that we talked about it. You know, I like Grand Seiko because it's Japanese, it feels Japanese, it speaks with the Japanese DNA. And that's when both really Seiko and Grand Seiko are at their best. I don't like very much when you have watches that kind of resemble a Swiss watch. If I want a Swiss watch or a Swiss looking watch, and I have many of those in my collection, I'll go ahead and I'll buy a Swiss watch. You know, I I like Grand Seiko because they're different, because they're not Swiss. And this is not too bash on the Swiss friends. It's just that that identity is what makes it different, right? So pieces in my collection, I would say the the the vintage 44 uh GS and and I I had actually quite frankly several 44 GS's vintages, but I've settled on the reissue, which is the S B S V G W047. And that to me is the quintessential watch. And I and I I like it a lot. And then the the vintage 62, you know, I own the reissue as well, the SVGR 097, which I think are really great. Uh, you know, sort of uh um they were great reissues and it's like really owning an OS, you know, like uh, you know, watch. So I I'll just point out that those two I think are the are are key, you know, and there are many, but it's hard to to pick those, but I think that the forty four and the sixty two are are amazing pieces
Unknown . Great. And Daniel, let's uh let's get your take on
Unknown this. Yeah. Um, so my two favorite Grand Secos are obviously the my first Grand Seiko, the SBGW031. Um even though I don't own the first Grand Seiko like Stefan NJP, um, to me, that one represents I guess my own history of being acquainted with the brand. And um, like I said uh previously, it's um my take on or I shouldn't say my take, I didn't make it Grand Seiko's take on the reinterpretation of the first Grand Seiko. So um and I'm I'm a time only watch guy. Um going through your own feed, Stephen, um we have very similar taste um and a watch that i previously bought in january um was the the new sbgk 007 with that cool curvy case the one that um there was oh there was it was kinda divided the Grand Sacre collecting community. I happened to love it because it was so different and mainly I'll I'll be honest, I I loved it because people didn't like it and I kinda I kinda think 'cause you know, Grand Seco is a badass company. And um what I like about it is that watches tend to have a certain look. A lot of brands, doesn't matter if they're from Japan or Swiss or Germany even. But this particular design, it's so different. It's it's curvy, but it's also it's features that Zaratu polishing that the 44GS case does, but curved. And I feel like based on what I've heard, that's really difficult to do. I don't know how they did it. I wish there was a video. And um I really like how it's got the I guess that quirky um the small seconds on the nine o'clock position. I think that's really cool. And so for me, I like Grand Safe because they're different, like what JP and Stefano said. They're different. Um the 031 is more of the safe watch, and the double S seven is the watch that says, okay, I want to be different from the rest of you guys, so I'm just gonna do my thing. And I think Grand Sega is that kind of brand, a brand that does its own thing. H
Unknown mm. Yeah, I I like that each of you has your own your own kind of approach, but that again there there are some some similarities that kind of like make their make their way through the three the three collections and your three approaches. And I I wonder if as you guys looked at each other's collections, did any of you see a piece in somebody else's collection and go ooh I I wish that was in my collection um all of them
Unknown oh definitely definitely. Well, especially when I look at Stefan's collection, you know, it's like uh I'll take his eight-day power reserve, you know, the SBG D001, any day of the week. You know, I love the SBG H013 and that's the one with the Arabic, but not wacko Arabic or brigade numerals. And oh that's such a a beautiful watch. And then I'm really obsessed. I mean, I like the SBGA031, which is a diver, and I don't own it. And at some point, I guess I will. But um, and I know Stefan owns that one. But I'm really I'll just gotta say this. I'm really obsessive obsessed, really, with a SVGA071. And that's kind of the 31, but with that, it was a limited edition with a blue purplish dial that is just ridiculously cool. It's just amazing. And in our friend Eric Strickland shout shout out to Eric, you know, owns one and and I have dibs on it and I told him, like, if you ever sell it, you know, just give me a call and uh but it's a it's a rare watch. It was a limited edition, it's not that easy to find and you know, in the conditions and you know, that that one really wants and whatnot. But that is a I think from Stefan's collection, that's the one that approaches, you know, that one and I'll take that one too. Uh on Daniel's collection, I I I really like you know the SBGW005, you know, because it's like the 31 but with the pizza rice bracelet, which I think it's super cool. And um and then the I like the the quartz powered the GMT. He has a SBGN zero zero three, that orange GMT hand is is off the charts. It's super cool. It's just great
Unknown . It looks fantastic. Man, this is gonna be a bit awkward, but um I kinda sought off both of them to get the 000 seven. So but let's pretend that I do have them still. I caught quite a bit of um hate from us a couple of my followers. They're like, why are you selling everything? Um man, life happens, you know. Um yeah, from Stefan's collection, man. And your collection as well, JP. I I don't I wouldn't which know one to pick but um from stefan's collection i think you had the is it the sbg w two five two you've got that one right two five the the first grand seco reissue but in yellow gold Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I'm going to. Yes, yes, yes. I know you do. I still love it. Um yeah, I oh I love that watch. Like I love yellow golden gray.. That one is great Um your collection that I'll take and from JP's collection. Man, like um I was gonna say you've got the which one is it? Oh you just recently bought yeah the Ichi2 even though man like way out of my budget but man I could just look at yours and oh so I would say that one and I also love your Waco um your Waco model the, the one with cool Arabic, oh that's Ye
Unknown ah. Yeah. Yeah, that one's really cool as well. I love that watch too. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah, I agree with
Unknown Daniel. From from JP, I would for sure, even though it's not the Grand Seiko, I would take that H2, no doubt. I know. But since we are on Grand Seiko, um I I picked one that I actually have. And I think if if there is something that shows Grand Seco, at least more than Grand Seco, it's the it's the dial of the snowflake. You still have it, JP, I guess? Yeah, ye something else. So I got it very early on. Then I sold it. Maybe I don't know, ten years ago or something like this. And then I tried to buy it back from my friend and he didn't sell it until I think it was early last year. I bought the very same piece back again. So finally I have it. So the Snowflake SPGA zero one one that that is one uh grand sacred to to have in any collection, I would say
Unknown . I I love that JP wears his snowflake on a uh strap instead of a bracelet as well, which is kind of a controversial move uh with some folks. But personally I'm I'm a fan. I'll I'll tell you that, JP. Thanks, man. I appreciate
Unknown it. I love it. And it it's it it the cool thing about uh the the the the snowflake is that you can wear it with pretty much any strap. I mean I'm currently wearing it with a blue strap and it looks really great, you know, and I've worn it with like so many different colors and I think it I think it looks great. I mean um I have a an hermes you know strap like totally bright you know orange hermes orange strap that I think looks really cool that watch. You know, it's it's very cool. It's very versatile from that perspective. You know, true. Yeah. True
Unknown . Yeah. And from Daniel, that S P G case zero zero seven. Oh, I need to get me one of those. I I do have the zero zero nine, so the grey dial with the bracelet. But that pale one, oh it looks so good. It looks also you get that vintage feeling and you get that quirkiness from the power reserve, and some people hate it. I love it. Normally I don't like open case packs, but on the manual wind watch it's perfect. You see that very, very nice nine sixty-three movement. So that the
Unknown that would be my pick from your collection. You guys you guys all made good choices. I think I would take any of those, any of those watches and be a very happy man. Alright, I I want to make sure we get to this lightning round. So, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna ask a question, um, and then I'd love Stefan, then JP, then Daniel to answer, and that order is because that is the order of your windows in my zoom uh my zoom window. So uh I'm I'm making it easy on myself here. I promise there's no uh there's no motive to this this order other than convenience for me. So uh so I'll just ask a question and if each of you can can give me an answer uh that that would be great. All right, let's let's start this thing off. If you had to choose vintage or modern? Uh we'll pick modern but with a vintage twist. Good answer. I am gonna cop out, so both. Sorry. Alright. That's that's fair. I'll let you I'll let you have that one. Um I'm gonna go monitor. Okay. So we've got we've we've got a nice mix here. I like that. Uh if we gotta go bracelet or strap, and you can only pick one, which do you pick? Um this is tough, but okay, bracelet. Oh strap. Strap on me too. All right. Uh we already got our answer from Stefan to this, but I'll have you say it again. Solid case back or display case back? I actually picked solid,
Unknown except for when you have a hand run movement. I want that lion uh on the back.
Unknown Oh to me is a display case back. I mean if you if you look at an H2, H E2 and and that's all you need is mesmerized. I mean it'd be a shame of crime to hide that. But that's not the grand sample, so that's okay. I think that as the you know the the eight day power reserve, you know, it's is a grand stake and I would say the same thing about that one. But it's also hand wor
Unknown n, so it fits with my uh tick. Oh that's sure. D
Unknown aniel, how about you? Uh I'm gonna say the same thing as well. Um well if if it's a manual wine dress watch, it'll it'll be great to have it with a display case back. Um with with any of the two watches, tak
Unknown e care to hide it. Alright. Uh time only or complications? Uh time only with power server on the back. Good ans
Unknown wer. I'll go with time only as well. Yeah. I too. And yeah, power reserve on the back. I agree with that. Sorry.
Unknown I too will go for time only. I think this is the the unofficial time only podcast we've got uh going going on right here. Um my complicated watches have date windows. It's very adventurous. It's uh what's your what's your favorite modern Grand Sacre reference? And by modern I mean something that's like currently available today. Something you could you could go to a retailer and and buy right now. I'll pick a S
Unknown PG W zero zero seven, which is a white gold hand wound model with a like a seven piece link uh bracelet. Amazing. I want it
Unknown . Um Um from the current collection, I would pick the SBGJ. Pick your color. I mean, I think it's uh the the high beat uh GMT with the 9S86. I mean, tremendous bang. And I think that's the only, as far as I know, it's the only high-beat GMT, like true GMT movement that is currently being produced, you know, and or mass-produced, I should say. You know, so any any watches from that particular series, I'm a huge fan.
Unknown Yeah. The blue sort of textured dial version is just absolutely lights out. That watch is so good
Unknown . Oh my god. And the and the Mount Awati dials that were introduced in that series as well. It's been like I for the modern pieces, I mean, it's just my favorite one. And you know, it it's great
Unknown . Yeah. Um um, so I should be saying the SBG W231 because that's the updated version of the 031. I would have to say if if I would do like let's say all my watches went missing. Let's hope that doesn't happen. So knock on wood. I would probably go for the SBG V two zero five, which is a quartz, because um I need that as a teacher. Like who's got time to wine? No offense. And it's got the forty four GS interpretation case with that cool heated blue seconds. And that champagne dial, amazing. I'll probably go for that one. And you should well
Unknown then you should wait for the new one with the nine F eighty five. Ah, don't tell me that. I'm already break stuff. I'll send you a link
Unknown . Go away. Uh I'm I'm gonna throw my own my own answer in the hat in the ring here, uh, which is I'm completely obsessed with the SBGA four one three lately, uh, which is the the cherry blossom dial um uh spring drive. Uh if you had told me that like my my one of my favorite watches of the last year would be a pink dial spring drive with a 62 GS inspired case, which is is maybe my least favorite of all of the vintage Grand Seco cases. Um I I get it, I like it, it's it's just not it's not one that like you know blows my mind usually. Um this watch is just absolutely incredible. Uh every time I see one I I kinda reach for my wallet and have to have to think twice. But I think that one may end up in in my collection at some point. That that's a good choice, Stephen. Very good choice. Yeah. I agree with you, but I'm biased. Oh no, you guys actually own it. You guys are fan in the flames here. It's uh you know it's nine it's only nine a New York City and I'm already thinking about buying a watch. That's that's dangerous. Um uh what's your what's your favorite vintage Grand Sacro reference? Let's let's do that one as well
Unknown . Sure. Yeah, I would pick some forty five GS actually. I like the the hands on those models. It's manual one, so it's much smaller, and the cases look brilliant. So 45 GS
Unknown I would go with the uh first Grand Seiko, the GS first with the 3180 uh movement, just because that's where it all started. That's that's where it all started so it's reference uh you know reference to
Unknown that um for design reasons I would probably go with the forty five GS as well. Um I think it's just watch yeah seeing it in person. Oh my god like you can get on date um and no date. I prefer the no date. Um but in terms of history and I guess literature if you want to call it that. Um I would probably go with the first Grand Seiko, because I just love that. Yeah.
Unknown Yeah. Uh I've I've got a kind of goofy question here. Uh so Grand Seiko doesn't really do brand ambassadors, you know, not not in the way that some of the the big Swiss companies do it. There's no like, you know, Oscar winning movie star on a Grand Seco Billboard, you know, looking pensively at the camera. Um that doesn't that doesn't really happen. But if if you could pick anyone in the world to be a Grand Seiko ambassador, who would you pick and what watch would you put on their wrist
Unknown ? So I would pick George Clune and I would put an SPGK007 on his wrist. I think it would suit him perfectly
Unknown . I dig that. That's a good choice. I would pick Jay-Z. And I think that uh he would look totally awesome with the SVGW263. And and that's one of the watches that they launched uh this year to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the brand. So that watch is the one that has an 18 uh carat white gold dial. It's hand engraved by uh one of their like I think it's their best uh you know master engraver. His name is uh Gyoyushi uh Turui. And uh Gyoshi Terui san is an incredible individual. I had a pleasure to meet him. His work is fantastic, phenomenal. So this is a 39 millimeter millimeter platinum case, 28, 20 pieces only, uh 9S sixty four caliber. So Jay-Z rocking that piece and the tucks at the Grammys. That would be pretty cool. That'd be pretty awesome
Unknown . Um, so mine would be um there's this Taiwanese Japanese actor, his name's Takeshi Kenishiru. I don't know if you guys have heard of him. He's in um he starts in that movie Redcliffe. I don't know if you've heard of it. Anyway, it's um so I'll probably pick him. Now I don't know if I can say this because he was uh he was ambassador for Citizen, which is like Japan, um Grand Seco's rival. So but if I if I couldn't pick him, gotta go with Gary Steingart, man. Um and I would three three on his wrist. So come
Unknown on, Gary, let's make it happen, man. Gar Gary's already an unofficial uh Grand Seco ambassador. I don't I don't think they're paying him anything, but he's he's certainly spreading the word. Sorry, Gary. Um that's funny. All right, and the the last the last kind of quick fire question, then we'll we'll start to wrap things up, is is what's your grail Grand Seiko watch.
Unknown Yeah, I would actually pick a full set 4580 7010 VFA. I love that dial. You have grand secon top in in capital letters. Uh you have the VFA and a Daini symbol at six, and that's it. It's so clean, hands are nice, and markers are also really, really nice. And again, it's a 45 GS, so that would be my pick
Unknown . That's such an incredible watch. Yeah, it's amazing an watch. I mean for me, um it's the Grand Seco first in platinum. That would be that would be it. But uh but I think that the VFAs are terrific as well. If I had to pick uh i have two vfas that i love which is a 61868000 but i like it with a blue dial which is the you know rare or rarer and the 4580 7000 with a blue dial that's that's amazing too you know but but if I had to pick one I'd have to go with a GS first in platinum
Unknown . I don't I don't know if I have the grail like um I would say if I could like just keep one watch that I currently have, it would be the 031. Um I'd be pretty content with that. Um but if I were to pick one I'll I'll probably go to Sweden, break into Stefan's house, it'd take his SPGW file too. Oh. And that'll be
Unknown my own. You don't have to take Stefan's. We'll uh we'll let him keep his
Unknown . This is the one you're mean, though. Yes. One man? Wow, that is so that's so hot.
Unknown Yeah, it's pretty. Yeah, it's amazing. Um I think we may we may have to have you guys back to do a a deep dive into VFAs and Grand Seco firsts at some point. I mean I'm I might be the only person who wants to listen to that show, but I I personally want to have that conversation. So we we might have to circle back and do that. But uh I I wanna thank you guys for doing this. I know this this logistically was, you know, some of us are getting ready for bed. Some of us are just having our our first cup of coffee or tea right now. It's it's pretty cool and I think a nice testament to the Grand Seiko community that we can do something like this, that we we have people across fourteen hours worth of time zones all getting together to talk about uh this this formerly esoteric impossible to learn about Japanese watch brand. Um and I I I wonder if if just to finish, maybe I'd I'd love a thought from each of you about that aspect of Grand Seiko, about the kind of community aspect. And you know, aside from the physical watches themselves, what what is it that you guys love about being Grand Seco collectors? So maybe let's start with Daniel and then do uh Stefan and then JP
Unknown Um what I like about the Grand Safety community is that we're almost like a family. Um and speaking of family, I I've got a new Instagram account. Sorry guys. I've got a new Instagram account. Plug away, man. That's what this is for. Oh thanks. There you go. Um well Grand Saco family guys, it's uh it's a place to learn about Grand Sacred. But um even if you don't wanna f that, that's cool too. But um speaking about the the collectors out there, they're so knowledgeable and so um willing to just give you information and uh there's I don't really see that much flexing as you do in other I guess watch communities or I don't know, communities like sometimes there's dedicated groups for dedicated brands. But the grand sacred one, like um everybody seems to be very um uh I'm forgetting the word here, but willing to give out information. I think that's really cool. And there's no there's no like uh scrutiny for like if you don't know anything about watches or about grand second everybody's willing to share and I think that's great
Unknown . I fully agree with Daniel on this. It's like a family. But it's it's um I think everyone everyone is welcome. Everyone is is friendly. No one looks down on you if you ask stupid questions or if you don't know. And and also most people like to share. I mean the findings and there there isn't much l much literature about the grand sake or The one litter that does exist is in Japanese, which can be tough for most of us to read. And some nice people, like Gerald, for instance. He has been scanning katalogs and listing all the vintage grand secres, every single piece, and ever you can read everything about it. So I think that's and he's doing it for free. So I think that's everyone seems to be friendly. In the beginning, it was more like or when I started, uh in Sweden no one knew about it, so you were fairly alone. At some point I think all the grand sacred pieces that you could buy second hand was coming from me, basically. That is not the case. It's a much bigger following. But somehow the community has been able to keep this family kind of feeling around grand seiko. It's still very small compared to some other brands but I hope that we can we we can keep that. And personally I met so many people both uh ERL and and uh thro online uh due to my uh my grand sake of collecting. I mean I met JP was it three, four years ago here in Stockholm. That was a nice nice thing
Unknown . Oh God, it was awesome, yeah. Totally. Yeah, the I'll I'll I'll take it from there. You know, I I couldn't I couldn't agree more. I think this is a a very um you know open community and to me uh I was actually reluctant to jump on Instagram. It took me a while. I was a I used to look at Instagram a lot, but it it took it took a while. And then when I started posting um the watches in my collection there, which are I uh the collection is really barbelled between Grant Seiko and everything else. And uh so the the the the the response was was really, really interesting. So when I started the watchers, there wasn't really, you know, I I had no intentions uh apart from a, you know, I've seen some pretty cool watches. Let me let me just put something back or give something back there. And uh and that paved the way for me to get to know so many, you know, great people, you know, uh the the two here, you know, me uh being just uh two of the great people that I've met through uh this particular community. And um and I agree. I think it's a it's a community that it's in many ways, I don't know if it's related to the idea of um of being Seiko and Grand Seiko fans, uh people who collect those pieces and there's not um um the quote unquote snob factor factor that much. So so that makes the community a lot more selfless, I would say. You know, there's no, I I don't see a lot of bragging, you know, there's more like, you know, this is, you know, I uh Grand Seiko fans are usually Seiko fans as well. So what they're you know, so you're able to appreciate an H2 and a Seiko 5 for what they are. And and I think that when you when you're talking about a community that really spans, you know, that that level uh the the spectrum is so wide that you know you you know that those guys are in for the watches. They're not in for the bling or they're not in for the the the the you know the uh not the brand per se but the the they're not in for just the logo let's put it that way you know they're in for for the watches and for what it means to them and that connection. And because Seiko itself is is a is an entry point for so many people that are you know starting their collections, I mean, uh we've we've talked about it today and and and I think that a lot of folks got introduced to to mechanical watches, you know, uh via you know a Seiko five or or or a or a lower end Seiko. So I think that that's what's so great about the community, you know, it's just it's it
Unknown 's really it's really cool. Yeah, I just want to add on to um Stefan as well. Like um and what JP was saying that um everybody is so willing to share information. So um Gerald, who he's talking about, is watch DXB on um Instagram. I think um you had an episode with Mark Cho. Mark Cho gave him a shout out. So I'll give him another shout out again as well. Because that guy um I would annoy him with questions and he's he probably knows that I'm not buying anything. I'm just asking him because I want to learn about and he's he's happy to just continue continuously share. And there's another dude from um Australia as well. He's more of a Seiko guy, but um Seiko, um his name is Paul. He's um he's always like willing to share his knowledge as well. So those two those two blokes, awesome
Unknown . Well, Anthony Cable as well. You know, it's like he's a guy that needs to be, you know, uh because he's uh you know, if we're talking shout-outs, I mean Anthony is a tremendous source of information and uh you know, talking about selfless. I mean he information that he has on his site, his Instagram account is is just uh is just amazing. So shout out to to him. And and I had mentioned Eric before he's also a great friend and and a tremendous collector, tremendous, like an incredible collection spanning through Seiko, Grand Seiko, Vintage. Like it's amazing. And he's a really
Unknown super, super, super nice guy. Yeah, I I completely agree. I mean, basically everybody you guys have mentioned here are are people that have been instrumental in my my own experience as a as a Grand Seiko collector and fan. And uh it's it's pretty amazing that we can sit here again across so many time zones and we know so many of the same people and have learned from each other. And it's it's it's a really fantastic kind of subset of of watch collecting. And I think uh you know for anybody maybe who hasn't hasn't dipped their toes yet or gotten into it, hopefully uh hopefully our conversation here has has given them a taste of maybe what what they can experience if they're interested. So um yeah we'll we'll provide links to everybody down in the show notes to to everyone we just shouted out and to to the three of you uh and to your collector profile. So uh hopefully people people can start going deep deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole uh once once they're done listening. But uh I want to thank you guys for taking the time to do this. I really appreciate it. Again, I know it's it's late for some of us, early for others of us um and uh yeah thank thank you guys for doing this for sharing your knowledge sharing your passion and uh hopefully hopefully we can get get nerdy again sometime soon thank you stephen it's been a great pleasure. Thank you all.
Unknown Thanks, Stephen. Really great. Hope we can do it in New York
Unknown . Next time. Yeah, I would love that. Hopefully soon. Hopefully very, very soon. Amen to that. Amen to that. Awesome. Thanks, guys. Thank you. This week's episode was recorded remotely by our group of editors and was produced and edited by Grayson Korhonen. Please remember to subscribe and rate the show. It really does make a difference for us. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you next week.