Ok...I need to talk to someone about this crazy piece. First off, I LOVE this piece and secondly, I'm not rich enough to get it ($350K)🤣. But that's not what I want to talk about.
This watch is I-N-S-A-N-E from a mechanical perspective and I'm sure I'm not alone in marveling at the mechanical genius and precision of this piece. I wish I could see one in person and try it on.
What are your thoughts on this piece? Do you think this elevates Grand Seiko's brand image to a higher level? Grand Seiko owners, what are your thoughts as an owner of the brand?
Let's talk about it...
Read more here: Hands On With The Grand Seiko Kodo Reference SLGT003 Constant Force Tourbillon (hodinkee.com)
Cool YouTube video on the mechanics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LS5KEhm9gw&t=14s
Dreaming
Watch enthusiast/collector. Watches are an art form, a muse of sorts, an inspiration from the past for the future. A watch does more than tell us the time of day....They should inspire us. Reddit: htt...
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Yeah, I don't even know what it is, how it works, why it's special... all I know is that it's frickin' cool!
What this makes me think of is that one video that @Max did with @bshaaw4 on "which car brands are equivalent to which watch brands?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJTAerW5Pjc
They both got it all completely wrong. 😜😜😜😜
If you are a car nut, you quickly realize something: EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN performance car review will compare said car against the Porsche equivalent. And every single goddamn review ends precisely the same way: "While X is great, if it were my money, I'd get the Porsche." EVERY. SINGLE. REVIEW.
Why? Because Porsche nearly went bankrupt in the early 90's - they used to be like Aston Martin, in that they had cool sports cars, but everything always fell apart on you, so nobody bought 'em. They appointed a new chairman who was an operations engineer, and he forced Porsche to adopt lean manufacturing - something that only Toyota and Honda had mastered at that time. Suddenly, Porsche started producing high performance cars that not only had amazing 0-60, but that also boasted build quality and reliability like that of Toyota. Over the ensuing years, Porsche became the most profitable car manufacturer on the planet.
Seiko / Grand Seiko is where Porsche was at in the late 90's. People are only starting to wake up to how amazing their watches are. You can buy a $5,000 GS Spring Drive watch, with innards that no Swiss manufacturer could ever hope to build, along with dial and case and movement finishing that would cost $20,000 in a Swiss equivalent. In the same way that every time Chris Harris drives a Ferrari, and the parts fall off the car interior in the middle of the filming of the review, and then he ends the video by saying that instead of spending $500k on the Ferrari, he would rather have the $200k Porsche, I suspect that that's what's going to end up happening with Grand Seiko in the watch world.
Per the photo, between 2016 and 2020, GS went from 24th in revenue in the U.S. to 5th - they left Rolex out of the graphic, otherwise Rolex would have taken up the entire pie chart.
Even after their recent spate of price increases, they continue to gobble up market share from the Swiss. It's going to be fun to watch from the peanut gallery!
I'm just surprised that they allowed this under the Grand Seiko and not the Credor brand.
There's a few videos on Youtube that explained the Constant Force Tourbillon quite well (alongside merging both on the same axis, Seiko Corp. got claim on this to be the first who's ever done it).
This might possibly be the most complicated watch that ever came out of all Seiko. I think this is more complicated to make than the Credor Sonnerie or the Fugaku. On top of that, this is probably the most accurate mechanical watch ever made too! Theoretically, it will have the same +/- per day as a Spring Drive as long as the constant force tourbillon is running.
I think the Kodo represents what Grand Seiko stood for when it was originally made in the 1960's. (Which was to make watches in order to "beat" or "match" the Swiss), and to also demonstrate what Grand Seiko is capable of in terms of watchmaking...since there's still ignorant people out there who only looks on brand.
I think when they made the White Birch, it was made clear where Grand Seiko is aiming to be at in terms on the "positioning/ watch hierarchy" of the brand. That would basically be the Credor/ Breguet/Blancpain/ JLC's of the world...which I see as the watch brands between Rolex/Omega/Breitling/IWC/Cartier (Grand Seiko was here, but I think Cartier moved up too) and Patek/Vacheron/AP/Lange level.
At the same time, they just grow and grow and pretty much try to improve everything by the year. I'm actually curious how far they can go. But honestly, I just want to see more complications as well 😁
I'm sure I'll be in the minority with this opinion.
I can't get excited about these. I read the Hodinkee piece to see if that would spark my interest, but nope. (As an aside, does anyone else feel like some of the "review" articles coming out of the blogs these days are reading a lot like marketing copy?)
I'm sure it's beautifully made, and the engineering involved in the accuracy is cool, but the allure of the total package is lost on me.
That said, everyone gets to like what they like, and you guys should def get one and prove me wrong. 😎
It's a mess seemingly inspired by the throne from Game of Thrones. I wouldn't wear it if it was $500.
Yeah, I don't even know what it is, how it works, why it's special... all I know is that it's frickin' cool!
What this makes me think of is that one video that @Max did with @bshaaw4 on "which car brands are equivalent to which watch brands?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJTAerW5Pjc
They both got it all completely wrong. 😜😜😜😜
If you are a car nut, you quickly realize something: EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN performance car review will compare said car against the Porsche equivalent. And every single goddamn review ends precisely the same way: "While X is great, if it were my money, I'd get the Porsche." EVERY. SINGLE. REVIEW.
Why? Because Porsche nearly went bankrupt in the early 90's - they used to be like Aston Martin, in that they had cool sports cars, but everything always fell apart on you, so nobody bought 'em. They appointed a new chairman who was an operations engineer, and he forced Porsche to adopt lean manufacturing - something that only Toyota and Honda had mastered at that time. Suddenly, Porsche started producing high performance cars that not only had amazing 0-60, but that also boasted build quality and reliability like that of Toyota. Over the ensuing years, Porsche became the most profitable car manufacturer on the planet.
Seiko / Grand Seiko is where Porsche was at in the late 90's. People are only starting to wake up to how amazing their watches are. You can buy a $5,000 GS Spring Drive watch, with innards that no Swiss manufacturer could ever hope to build, along with dial and case and movement finishing that would cost $20,000 in a Swiss equivalent. In the same way that every time Chris Harris drives a Ferrari, and the parts fall off the car interior in the middle of the filming of the review, and then he ends the video by saying that instead of spending $500k on the Ferrari, he would rather have the $200k Porsche, I suspect that that's what's going to end up happening with Grand Seiko in the watch world.
Per the photo, between 2016 and 2020, GS went from 24th in revenue in the U.S. to 5th - they left Rolex out of the graphic, otherwise Rolex would have taken up the entire pie chart.
Even after their recent spate of price increases, they continue to gobble up market share from the Swiss. It's going to be fun to watch from the peanut gallery!
I agree that grand seiko is coming up for sure. This piece is an example of that in that they are saying, "we came to play, stay and win". You are exactly right about Porsche and it's relation to GS.
It's a mess seemingly inspired by the throne from Game of Thrones. I wouldn't wear it if it was $500.
Opinions vary but all I can say is...
Game of Thrones???? Really?? I don't see it man.
Even though GS has been making great quality watches for decades, I think this shows they've officially "arrived" (in wanting to compete with Swiss haute horology). Given their dedication to the craft, artistic mastery, and engineering, I think it was only a matter of time. Looking forward to see where they go next.
Even though GS has been making great quality watches for decades, I think this shows they've officially "arrived" (in wanting to compete with Swiss haute horology). Given their dedication to the craft, artistic mastery, and engineering, I think it was only a matter of time. Looking forward to see where they go next.
Agreed! I think the long standing haute horology brands need to keep an eye on GS because there's a new group of buyers in town and it's not the traditional buyer. I liken it to what's happening with Harley Davidson. HD depended on the baby boomers and some of Gen X to buy their larger touring bikes, but they didn't spend much time researching Gen Z and Millennials (my generation). Because of this other competitors have been able to steal customers away with ease.