Review: Grand Seiko SBGY007

I don’t know how this particular watch slipped past me, but I’m glad I’ve stumbled across it since. Honestly, when I first handled it, I could have been sure I was holding one of Grand Seiko’s fabled Micro Artist Studio pieces, but no. It’s blown me away. Maybe you saw it when it was announced in 2021 or maybe like me you missed it. If you did, then you’re in for a treat. This is the Grand Seiko SBGY007, and it is absolutely epic.

Background

I, like many, was first introduced to Grand Seiko by way of the Snowflake. It’s a watch that encapsulates everything that is odd but magical about the Japanese brand, how it seems to take everything the Swiss do with their watches and turn it all on its head. From the incredible dial texture reminiscent of a snowy field to the head-scratching Spring Drive movement—which pieces together the best bits of quartz and mechanical—it was unlike anything else on the planet. There’s a reason it made Grand Seiko famous in a modern era.

But the age-old question has always been: it’s great, but would you actually buy one? Like, actually? Take money out of your wallet and exchange it for a Snowflake and not a Rolex. Doesn’t matter which Rolex. I say this as a died-in-the-wool fan and owner of a Grand Seiko—there aren’t many buying decisions achieved with the head that result in going for the Grand Seiko instead. The handful of romantics with enough cash to buy one were Grand Seiko’s only customers.

At least, that used to be the case. These days, people are more familiar with the two gothic letters, G and S. The Snowflake has stronger residuals. Not to mention that buying a Rolex is harder than dry cheese. Now, with its loyal following growing by the second, buying one is no longer exclusively the romantic splurge it used to be. You can get approval from the old grey matter on the purchase as well.

It’s hardly clear cut, though. The Snowflake isn’t exactly going to put Rolex out of business. It’s good, great even, but still the dice rolls very much in Rolex’s favour. The Grand Seiko’s quality is good, but not good enough to blow a Rolex out the water. The pricing is impressive, but not so much it makes the Rolex look like a rip-off. The movement is cool, but not cool enough to make the Perpetual seem outdated.

To me, the Snowflake is an engine that’s turning over and never quite catches. You get moments, coughs, splutters, that sound like it’s going to rip into life—but it never quite does. Just by a hair. Rolex is just too powerful, too dominating, too … Rolex. The Grand Seiko is the Fender Stratocaster you lust after and the Rolex is the car insurance bill you know you should probably pay.

The reason I’m telling you all this drivel is to set the scene for what I’m going to say next. Where the Snowflake is a watch you have moments of excitement about owning that flicker and fade when your brain starts to catch up, the SBGY007 is an altogether different premise. This is a watch that irons out the flaws of the Snowflake, builds on its strengths, and pulls it together in a package that is just absolutely sublime. Rolex doesn’t stand a chance …

Review

If you’ve been patient enough to sit through all that, then thank you. It was a bit of a brain dump on my off-on relationship with the Snowflake. Therapeutic, in a way. If I were a collecting man with many watches and many monies to buy them with, of course I’d have one. As it happens I’m a miserly old Scrooge and so that means the part of me that so badly longs for a Snowflake has been solidly brow-beaten by the part that doesn’t.

Then there’s the SBGY007. Grand Seiko knew what it was doing when it dubbed the watch Omiwatari. Usually that kind of stuff refers to the mountainous region the watch borrows its styling from, or a particular season. In this case it means "the divine pathway”. Now, that name is on loan from the season when Lake Suwa freezes and creates a ridged surface that is said to reach to the heavenly abode, but you can’t tell me the bods over at Grand Seiko weren’t feeling pretty smug when they named this thing. You don’t shirk a job then deign it the work of the almighty. It’s just not done.

I won’t even begin to play the old switcheroo with you. “Is it worthy of such a grandiose name? Have they got it wrong?” They’ve absolute aced it. I’ll put you out of your misery. The SBGY007 finds its home in the Elegance collection, and gets a 38.5mm steel case sealed to 30m. One of the most common complaints about the Snowflake is its case: 41mm across, 12.5mm thick, lightweight titanium. Is it a sports watch or a dress watch? It can’t decide. The SBGY007 is very much a dress watch with a hint of smart-casual about it, the svelte 10.2mm thickness and polished finish making that plain.

A very good start. This watch is showing a clear identity. Moving to the dial and things get even more intense. The dial is where the Omiwatari name kicks in in its literal sense, depicting those ridges where the temperature hits the lake just right to cause the expansion and contraction that forge this incredible phenomenon. Otherwise, it’s a simple dial, with just a little branding; some clean, almost perfect hands and markers—including a lovely heat-blued second hand—and the reminder that this is indeed a Spring Drive watch.

It needs reminding because the element that traditionally indicates a Grand Seiko’s indoctrination into the Spring Drive club is missing: the power reserve. Some people liked it on the Snowflake but plenty didn’t, and now it’s gone. The dial can breathe. There’s no asymmetry to it. It’s very … Grand Seiko. It leaves you able to enjoy this dial free of imbalance. I say enjoy: what I really mean is explore, because viewing up close is an expedition in miniature. If there’s one thing the SBGY007 most certainly hasn’t lost over the Snowflake, it’s the majesty of the dial. It’s equally as evocative.

Where the Snowflake started to let the side down was in the rear, the Spring Drive movement. Again, good movement, nice bit of decoration—but it wasn’t truly great. The SBGY007’s calibre 9R31, however? It’s a masterpiece. If you’ve ever seen the incredible, £50,000 Credor Eichi II, you’ll notice something about this movement. It’s very, very similar. The architecture, the finishing, the power reserve—it’s so close it makes you think this watch is going to be impossibly expensive.

Numbers-wise, the calibre 9R31 has got a Dual Spring Barrel for 72 hours of power and is accurate to a single second per day—the advantages of the quartz aspect of Spring Drive showing through there. It’s hand wind only, which gives the watch its slim size and actually makes the power reserve a rather useful thing to have. It’s satisfying to top up, smooth and silky to wind.

Never mind all that though, because where your mind always drifts back to is just how amazing the 9R31 looks. It doesn’t reach the dizzying heights of perfection achieved by the Credor, but it goes a long, long way, enough to make your wallet shrivel up with embarrassment. But here comes the best bit, for me the unbelievable bit: this watch doesn’t cost £50,000. Despite the looks, the finish, the movement, it costs just £7,770. Now that is truly divine.

When the only negative thing that comes to mind about this Grand Seiko SBGY007 Omiwatari is the annoying 19mm strap width, it’s about then it hits home just how special it is. It’s not just top tier Grand Seiko, it’s top tier watchmaking. I’d even go so far as to say it could sit in very pleasant company alongside a Patek Philippe, let alone a Rolex. When every part of it is this good, this well considered and this visually satisfying, and it costs less than a Submariner—it kind of scrambles the old brain a bit. At the beginning I said it was epic, but I don’t think that does it justice. It’s a defining moment for Grand Seiko, the point where, between my head and my heart, my head just might now be pulling in the same direction.

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