Which one would you choose? Hi-beat or Spring Drive?

I'd love a Spring Drive, a first to my growing humble collection. 

It would have been an instant buy for me if the Cherry Blossom hadn't had the power reserve indicator and the date window...

i have to read up on that new 9ra2 but holy mackarel that 9sa5 is a sight to behold! im leaning towards slgh on this one. 

I had a GS Hi-Beat GMT on my list to buy but replaced it with a B&R GMT. 

Prices have gotten stupid for GS so not likely I will buy another. Have owned 3-4 but that was back when they flew under the radar. 

I don't really understand the strategy here. Is this the first time GS has offered essentially the same watch with 2 movements?

When I think of Grand Seiko, I tend to think of Zaratsu polishing, amazing dials, superb finishing, spring drive and less that stellar bracelets.  As much as I'd like to add a hi-beat dual impulse escapement to my collection, I think I'd prefer to add a Spring Drive first. The Snowflake really tempted me, but the power reserve on the dial didn't do it for me. The new SLGA009 may be the watch that causes me to seek out a GS, although I'm not sure I want one badly enough to pony up the asking price.

Yes, it's the first time that I'm aware of.  I imagine the following conversation occurred in the Grand Seiko board room recently:

Akio Naito speaking...

• Demand for the SLGH005 far outstrips our ability to supply - we are capacity constrained, particularly given that the dual-impulse escapement is a new technology, we don't have much manufacturing capacity for it at the moment, and we've actually gotten word of a small  number of quality issues; therefore, we have to expand production at a conservative clip
• As a result of these supply constraints, our ADs and our boutiques have no stock of the SLGH005, and prices on the grey market are skyrocketing - as of 1/11/22, Chrono24 lists only 2 SLGH005 for sale in the U.S., both pre-owned, both priced at above MSRP!
• We, Grand Seiko, get NONE of the benefits of the increased pricing on the secondary markets; therefore, the question in front of us is, "How do we immediately increase supply and capture all that excess demand...  and revenue?"
• Yes, Jones, I see you raising your hand...  what's that?  Ah...  So, you're saying that since we're capacity constrained on the dual-impulse escapement on the 9SA5 hi-beat mechanical movement, what we should do is simply stick the 9RA2 spring drive movement into the White Birch case?  And that if we do that, we can effectively double supply capacity overnight?  Jones!  You magnificent bastard!  Promotion for you, my friend!

From what I can gather, everyone and their dog is enamored of the White Birch dial.  How many people outside of us watch nerds really care about the underlying technology?  So long as GS sticks a good movement into that case, they significantly increase supply capacity, and they capture all that demand and revenue.

Jones really does deserve that promotion!

Grand Seiko = Spring Drive in my book and is part of the brands appeal

Spring drive because it is slightly more affordable, comes with the heritage, and is what GS is known for.

I think the spring drive needs to be made much thinner and smaller for me to consider getting one. I like my watches to be light and thin.

Would you get the SBGY007?  They were somehow able to get that spring drive watch down to:

• Diameter:  38.5mm
• Lug-to-lug:  43.7mm
• Thickness:  10.2mm

It's about the right size. And they've kept the case work nice and simple (I don't like the angular cases). And they haven't spoilt the symmetry of the dial with that power reserve. I like this one. But (there's always a but), the spring drive is still an emerging technology. I have all my watches serviced by a local watchmaker. I would need some assurance that he can repair/service this technology first. 

I’d have to see the new one in person because the slight variation in dial texture and color may be hard to discern in photos. However, the movement in the hi beat is just sooo damnn sexy. Knocks the new spring drive out of the park, aesthetically at least. If I had to choose I’d have to go with the hi beat. 

Hey!  When are you gonna drop your review of the SLGH005???  Inquiring minds want to know!

It’s the next video. You’ll definitely know when it is out 😁

The Hi-Beat movement is innovated (dual-impulse escapement rocks) and finishing is beautiful, but there have been reports of running frustratingly fast or even out of spec. Not ideal for a $9k timepiece -- sounds like bugs to work out.

I got a SLGA007 Minamo/Lake Suwa and couldn't be happier with the 9RA2. This SLGA009 improves a lot in my mind on the original White Birch but I couldn't justify that price on basically a second watch with just a different dial. Looking forward to other 9RA2 releases.

All day long I'd go for the Spring Drive. After all it's what Grand Seiko is know best for. It would somehow feel wrong to me to do anything else. 

If you consider how difficult it is for a watch to stand out tastefully in the modern market, the Spring Drive is a no brainer for me. Originality akin to Zenith's 1/100th of a second movement. It's also definitely something that isn't replicated by anyone else. 

So much envy 😀I did not get one of these. I kick myself everytime I see a post with the pic. 

Truth. You know it's not a fake Zenith Defy with one click. And you know it's a genuine Grand Seiko as you see the second hand sweep.

Can you find a spring drive somewhere else? No. I think IF I was dropping the money on a GS, I’d get the most innovation bang for my buck—and that’s found (for me) in the spring drive!

Well said!

What blows my Eff'ing mind is that GS sell 10 different spring drive watches for under $5,000!

https://grandseikoboutique.us/collections/all?pf_t_movement_type=filter-movement-type-Spring+Drive&pf_t_price=filter-price-%242000-%245000

In a funny way, they totally, crazily mis-priced their watches.  Because Japan has experienced effectively ZERO NGDP growth over the past 30 years, they always just priced their watches super low relative to the competition - just do any search for any luxury watch on Chrono24, and you'll see the lowest prices are almost invariably listed by Japanese dealers!  But, it helped GS to gobble up market share like crazy.  To the point where all of us enthusiasts talk about them constantly.  

Funny how some accidents bear fruit like this!

Also underpriced...Citizen's answers to the GS Spring Drive and Automatics...

https://www.shoppinginjapan.net/the-citizen-aq1000-58e 

https://watchesbysjx.com/2021/03/citizen-calibre-0200-movement.html