Post by timelessluxwatches on Mar 12, 2016 16:50:35 GMT -6
The Grand Seiko SBGA101 is a member of the boutique collection of Grand Seikos, a group of watches that can only be purchased from an exclusive sub-group of GS dealers. Like other members of this collection, it's unusually sporty for Grand Seiko, a brand much better known for its dress watches. In fact, like the SBGR077 and SBGR079 I recently reviewed, I'd dare call this a tool watch. If anything, the SBGA101 is even closer to the tool watch motif than those two anti-magnetic models, but it's also distinguished by its spring drive movement.
I've talked a lot about tool watches this year and last, from several of Tudor's famous entrants, the Black Bay, North Flag and Ranger, to companies that exclusively focus on tool watches, like Damasko, but the term itself is not very clearly defined. In my interpretation of the term, a tool watch is simply a watch, luxury or otherwise, that places an extremely high emphasis on function and very little on form. They're simple, easy to read and reliable, eschewing the aesthetic flourishes of more conventional designs.
If you're with me on that definition, then I think this SBGA101 is a great example of the genre. Unlike almost all Grand Seikos, it has a matte black dial, leaving behind the elaborate textured dials of its brethren. The power reserve subdial is simply painted on, no texture or engraving appears to be done. While the watch keeps its beautiful applied markers, GS has also added quite a bit of lume to the hands and dial, making it far more legible in low light. Finally, and again atypical of Grand Seiko, a solid back has been used, further pushing the all-business look of the watch.
Powering the watch is the venerable 9R65 spring drive. Interestingly, spring drives are the movements most typically used in GS tool watches, like the SBGA029 and SBGE001, which may be an implicit admission on Grand Seiko's part that spring drives are inherently tougher than mechanical movements. The design of the spring drive movement, in theory anyway, does appear to be intrinsically more robust than a conventional watch escapement, so perhaps the 9R line of movements is just a natural fit for watches that may see real-world abuse. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, the 9R65 remains one of the most accurate movements in the world, rated for +1/-1 seconds per day and with a superb 72 hour power reserve. Because the watch has a solid back, and because I've discussed the 9R65 thoroughly in many other reviews, we'll be skipping the movement section in this review.
The dial, as I alluded to in the introduction, is very, very serious. But that doesn't mean it has to give up all of the beautiful Grand Seiko finishing.
Looking more closely, we can see the rather featureless matte black dial. This is quite rare for Grand Seiko. The brand can hardly resist putting a fine, shiny finish or some sort of exquisite texture on everything, even the SBGR079 I recently reviewed. The SBGA101 is all business though, nothing to distract you from the time telling functions of the watch.
While the SBGA101 does retain its applied markers, which is somewhat out of the ordinary for tool watches, it loses the texture and applied markers that GS uses on most of its power reserve subdials. Here it's simply painted on and is relatively subtle. Of course, it might have been even better without the power reserve at all, making the dial cleaner, but at this point all spring drives have power reserves, so short of creating a custom movement for this one watch, that wasn't a viable option. Besides, I kind of like the "instrument cluster" look of the power reserve on the dial.
The date is entirely conventional for a Grand Seiko, but it's worth taking a glance at anyway. First it has a nice matching frame, keeping the date from looking like an afterthought. I also appreciate how huge the numbers are on the date ring, making it very easy to read.
The most notable change from normal Grand Seiko hands is the addition of strips of lume down the middle, not dissimilar to the SBGE001, but the pointier dauphine shape is more traditional. As is virtually always the case on black dialed GSes, a brushed surface is used on top. It sounds strange, but this actually increases contrast with the dial in some lighting because the polished hands can reflect dark surfaces and fade into the rest of the dial.
The markers are applied but interestingly not luminescent. The job of luminescence is delegated to small, but powerful, dots added behind each marker. The top facet of the applied markers is brushed, in a sense, but it's actually many extremely fine, perfectly parallel and apparently deep lines running down the axis of each. These have the unique ability to be somewhat prismatic in bright light which is a brilliant display. The SBGA101, despite its serious looks, still manages to dazzle in the right lighting and it's really thanks to these markers.
The lume on the SBGA101 is quite good and a bit more extensive than on the SBGR077 and SBGR079 I just reviewed. The use of luminous markers definitely stands out more but the hands are comparable. It's certainly good enough to be usable and improve low light legibility. Notice the use of two dots per cardinal marker. This will really help align the watch properly at low light, making it a little easier to read accurately.
If you can set aside the redundant Seiko logos/text, the writing on this dial isn't excessive, a refreshing change from the trend across many brands to write short stories on the face.
The 40.5mm stainless steel case is, aside from the back, quite typical of Grand Seiko. A polished bezel alternates with a brushed bracelet as well as the brushed top surface of the lugs with the polished sides of the case.
One area where it really stands out is its thickness. Unlike the SBGR077 and SBGR079 I just reviewed, this watch is actually thinner than many Grand Seikos, and in this era where 14mm thick watches are the norm, it's a very pleasant surprise that it's "only" 12.9mm.
That's due, in part at least, to the use of a stainless back instead of the more common sapphire back. The 9R65 is a gorgeous movement and I do wish I could see it, but I appreciate the wholehearted attempt to make this a more function-first design.
Once again, Grand Seiko chose to go with their simpler, brushed 3 link bracelet, which is a much better fit for this style of watch than the 5 link.
The crown, of course, screws down for 100 meters. It's intriguing to me that GS didn't opt for a case with crown guards here though.
The size of the watch is really versatile and roughly ideal, in my opinion anyway. Another interesting choice here, which is barely visible up top, is the use of a domed crystal instead of a flat crystal like on the SBGR077/79. This doesn't really matter much, given the toughness of sapphire and the lack of an AR coating on the outside (it is, however, on the inside).
Although finely finished, it's a fairly straightforward case, suiting the utilitarian character of the rest of the watch just fine.
Make sure to check out our video of the SBGA101 here.
The SBGA101 is a watch that certainly doesn't suffer from an identity crisis. It knows exactly what it wants to be, and that's an impeccably made, yet utilitarian, watch. This is not an alternative to the Snowflake. No, this is for those who want a watch like the SBGE001 but smaller and cleaner. This is from another side of Grand Seiko entirely.
The North American market, though abundant with fans of Grand Seiko, has often longed for a greater variety of sporty models from the brand. That's evident from the incredible success of their SBGA029 and SBGE001 models. GS complies from time to time, but usually in the form of a limited edition like last year's SBGE033. With these new boutique models, they're really supplying a whole range of sporty and utilitarian watches, so I suspect that people who admired GS from afar may finally find the right watch for them. At the same time, more traditional fans of Grand Seiko, like myself, don't lose anything. The brand hasn't replaced any of their dress watches with these models, they're simply new options. Everyone wins.
The SBGA101 finds itself perhaps the most tool watch-esque of the entire boutique lineup, although it has some stiff competition from the SBGE015, SBGB003 and, of course, the SBGR077/SBGR079. But unlike the SBGE015, it lacks any bright gold or red colors. It lacks the textured dial of the SBGR077/079. It lacks the busy dial of the SBGB003.
In my view then, the SBGA101 comes as close as any boutique model does to the traditional idea of a tool watch. It joins the SBGE001 and SBGA029 as the most serious and utilitarian models Grand Seiko makes.
I was very excited about the SBGA101 going into this review. It's a watch that failed to impress me in photos, but it really comes alive in person. There's always going to be the Snowflake, but if you've been waiting for Grand Seiko to make something strictly utilitarian, your watch has arrived.