Hands On: Spending Quality Time With The Grand Seiko SLGH027 ‘Mount Iwate’

Grand Seiko made its reputation on its commitment to producing watches of exceptional quality in every respect, which are also designed to be reliable, comfortable, legible, and generally affordable everyday companions. The story for a lot of folks began when Grand Seiko re-entered the international market in 2010 but of course, the brand’s history begins all the way back in 1960 when the first Grand Seiko watches were produced. A lot has changed since then but what hasn’t changed is the basic idea of Grand Seiko as a family of watches which express a certain kind of obsessive perfectionism, and, importantly, in a way that transcends mere technical excellence and in which the cross fertilization of utility and beauty that characterizes so much of traditional Japanese culture, can be expressed.

The watches made by Grand Seiko since then have diversified and in some cases, become far more complex (technically, Credor is a separate brand but in practice, the Eichi, Eichi II, and Spring Drive Sonnerie and Minute Repeaters would of course not have been possible without Seiko Group technical capabilities, including Spring Drive, the development of which required decades and which began all the way back in 1982). What has not changed since then, however, is the overall philsophy. I recently spent a little time with one of the newer models: SLGH027, which, like so many Grand Seiko watches, has a dial design inspired by nature – in this case, by the appearance of  the snow covered peak of Mt. Iwate, as seen from above. The mountain is a stratovolcano, and it is the highest mountain in Iwate Prefecture; it’s visible from Shizukuichi, where Grand Seiko is headquartered. (The mountain is dormant, although there were signs of increased volcanic activity in late 2024).

It’s not necessary to know the inspiration behind the dial, since (as is generally the case with Grand Seiko nature-inspired watches) it is a sort of abstract representation of a particular visual experience, rather than an illustration; still, once you know the inspiration, the relationship between the aerial view of the volcano and the watch is unmistakeable.

The texture of the dial, and the arrangement of the radial striations, gives a definite feeling of snow-covered mountain slopes and the depth and richness of the texturing becomes even more impressive on close examination. The SLGH027 is part of the Evolution 9 design family of Grand Seiko watches, which have three basic characteristics.

• The first is an emphasis on planes and flat surfaces, and by crisp transitions between mirror finished surfaces, with brushed finishes used primarily to create visual depth and greater textural variety. Curved surfaces are used but minimally.
• The second is the use of larger, bolder faceted hands and dial markers – the mirror polishing means that legibility is improved under all circumstances and even in low light, but the jewel-like play of light on the facets is also an end in itself.
• The third is a feature perhaps easier to feel than to see – the cases of Evolution 9 watches are relatively slim for Grand Seikos, which historically have been designed around strongly built, robust, durable movements; SLGH027 is 40mm x 11.7mm.

One of the most remarkable features of Grand Seiko’s watches across the board, is the degree to which they withstand very close scrutiny. Even some very expensive watches – including some high complications – do not exhibit anywhere near the focus, fineness of finish, and sheer visual beauty of Grand Seiko’s dials.

Grand Seiko has also continued to improve its movements; the caliber 9SA5 is a high beat movement, introduced in 2020, which was also the launch platform for Grand Seiko’s new Dual Impulse escapement. The Dual Impulse escapement has some resemblance to the co-axial, in that it impulses the balance directly in one direction of the balance rotation, and indirectly, via a lever, in the other. The escapement’s main benefit is increased efficiency over the standard Swiss lever and it enables the 9SA5 to offer an 80 hour power reserve in a 31.6mm x 5.18mm movement.

Movement layout and finishing is excellent, especially for a series produced caliber and especially at this price point. The sharp transitions between horizontal surfaces and flanks commonly seen in earlier GS mechanical calibers, are now beveled and polished and both the movement bridges and the openworked rotor have pleasing, graceful, visually harmonious curves.

As you might expect from Grand Seiko, all finishing is crisp and cleanly executed, with brightly polished jewel countersinks and, where appropriate, angled outer corners. The Geneva (or Shizukuishi, if you like) stripes are a very pleasant surprise, delicately applied, without the rough appearance of many other industrial movements in which too much metal has been removed.

As you would expect in a watch built with chronometric excellence in mind, the balance is freesprung, with the rate controlled by four timing weights on the balance rim; the weights are recessed in order to allow the overall diameter of the balance to be as large as possible, consistent with the movement layout overall and with the high frequency. Grand Seiko uses its own version of the Breguet/Phillips overcoil which has been adapted to the Dual Impulse escapement and the terminal curve of the overcoil is held in an adjustable stud carrier, allowing for fine adjustment of beat error.

One of the funny things about perfectionism is that if it’s consistently sought, and if high standards are consistently achieved, it’s easy to start taking them for granted; at first you are surprised and delighted, but then gradually you can start to simply expect the superlative as a matter of course. Seeing this particular Grand Seiko in the metal was a reminder of just how far Grand Seiko goes in terms of pursuing excellence as it defines it, and how far the craftspeople who make the watches go to fulfilling the company’s culture of excellence. Whether or not this is a beautiful watch is of course a matter of personal taste, but the dedication to creating something of extremely high quality is I think obvious, in every aspect of the design.

A watch doesn’t just live in the details, but if the details are handled with this level of care then you have a much better than even chance of ending up with a watch in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The first time I saw a Grand Seiko in person, was years before the brand was relaunched internationally, when it was still an insider’s secret; the impression I had was very much one of incredulity at how much value was being delivered for the price. Prices aren’t what they were – this first encounter was a quarter century ago – but the sense of being in the presence of an object created by individual commitment to collective excellence is as strong as ever.

The 1916 Company is proud to be an authorized retailer for Grand Seiko.