Watches & Wonders 2025: Grand Seiko Introduces Two New Tentagraphs, A High-Jewelry ‘Masterpiece,’ And The Kiri-Flower Mid-Size

This year at Watches & Wonders, Grand Seiko’s launching the Spring Drive UFA watches, which are probably going to be must-have models for fans of Spring Drive and precision timekeeping. There are also, however, new pieces in the Elegance, Masterpiece, and Tentagraph collections, which showcase Grand Seiko’s diversity in technical innovation, horological gem-setting, and design. Two of the new watches are explicitly inspired by the lion which as Grand Seiko fans will know, has been a symbol of GS since 1960 when the first Grand Seiko watches were launched with lions on the caseback.

The Masterpiece Collection SBDG223 ‘Majesty Of The Lion’

This is an exercise in sheer luxury but it’s also a watch that gives up nothing to anything else in the Grand Seiko collections in terms of technical excellence. Where most other brands use standard quartz oscillators in high jewelry timepieces, Grand Seiko has access of course to its proprietary Spring Drive movements, one of which – caliber 9R01 – powers the new Majesty Of The Lion SBDG223.

The industry nowadays is moving towards greater reliance on mechanical than quartz movements for high jewelry pieces and Grand Seiko already uses Spring Drive movements for high jewelry watches in the Masterpiece Collection. The caliber 9R01 is a hand wound, 8 day movement probably best known to Grand Seiko fans for its use in the Spring Drive 8 Day SBDG201 in the Masterpiece Collection.

Of course, the Majesty Of The Lion SBDG223 – which Grand Seiko says was inspired by the visual impression of a lion emerging from darkness – is quite obviously about a lot more than maintaining Grand Seiko’s reputation for technical elegance. The dial and case are set with over 600 diamonds and I think this may be the most thoroughly gem-set watch Grand Seiko has ever made. It’s a masterclass in the art of horological gem-setting as well, featuring a variety of cuts and settings in a massive 44.5mm x 14.4mm case.

It’s not the first Masterpiece Collection high jewelry piece inspired by the King Of Beasts; Grand Seiko has also produced the SBDG213, in 2023. Though it might take you a minute to recognize it, bedecked as it is with a king’s ransom of diamonds, the case design is Seiko’s “Tokyo Lion” faceted case design, which was originally introduced in the Spring Drive SBGA481, in 2023. The “lion’s mane” pattern on the dial is still present in SBDG223, although in a darker design that contrasts dramatically with the diamonds, whose facets are echoed in the facets of the “lion’s claw” case.

This expression of horological maximalism is an 8 piece limited edition; price is $320,000.

The Grand Seiko SBDG223: Case, platinum 44.5mm x 14.4mm, set with over 600 diamonds. Movement, Spring Drive caliber 9R01, hand wound 8 day movement. Price, $320,000.

The SBGW323 ‘Kiri’

Mt. Iwate is a towering stratovolcano visible from the Grand Seiko studio in Shizukuishi, in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan, where Grand Seiko mechanical watches are made (Spring Drive Grand Seiko watches are made at the Shinshu Watch Studio in Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture). The mountain dominates the local landscape in a couple of ways – it is active though currently dormant, but it’s also the highest mountain in Iwate Prefecture and it has been an endless source of inspiration for Grand Seiko designs, which usually reflect aspects of the Japanese landscape.

The new SBGW323 is inspired by the kiri flower, which is the official flower of Iwate prefecture. The kiri flower is produced by the kiri tree, or paulownia tree, which is a fast-growing hardwood valued not just for its flowers, but also for its uses in traditional Japanese crafts – it’s light, very fine grained, and resists warping and is used for boxes and chests as well as geta (Japanese clogs). It can even be sliced thinly for visiting cards. The pattern on the dial is Grand Seiko’s signature Mt. Iwate radial pattern.

SBGW323 is part of the Elegance Collection. The mid-sized case, 36.5mm x 11.6mm, is a modern version of the Grand Seiko 44GS case. It definitely lives up to the name of the collection of which it is part – it’s elegant in size and execution, and has all the practical features essential to the character of Grand Seiko. It’s a purist’s GS – hand wound, with no date display.

The Grand Seiko SBGW323 Kiri: case, 36.5mm x 11.6mm, stainless steel, 100M water resistant. Movement, hand wound caliber 9S64, 72 hour power reserve, rated to +5/-3 seconds maximum daily variation in rate; magnetic resistance, 4,800 amperes per meter. Price, $5600.

The Grand Seiko SLGC007 Tentagraph ‘Snow Blue’ And SLGC009 Tentagraph Tokyo Lion

The Tentagraph chronograph was introduced by Grand Seiko in January of 2024, and it was an important milestone for Grand Seiko in several respects. It was the first fully mechanical Grand Seiko chronograph, having been preceded by the Spring Drive Chronograph in 2007, and it was also the first high frequency chronograph from Grand Seiko. The Tentagraph movement, caliber 9SC5, uses Grand Seiko’s Dual Impulse escapement, which provides direct impulse to the balance from the escape wheel in one direct, and indirect impulse in the other; this provides better efficiency than a conventional lever escapement, giving the 9SC5 a 72 hour power reserve.

Caliber 9SC5, column wheel and chronograph control mechanism

The 9SC5 is a modular chronograph design, with a column wheel and vertical clutch; the base caliber is Grand Seiko’s high beat automatic caliber 9SA5, which was launched in 2020 with an 80 hour power reserve. 9SA5 is 31.6mm x 5.18mm, and with the chronograph works added, 9SC5 is slightly larger, at 33mm x 8mm. In addition to the high efficiency escapement, the 9SC5 has other technical updates as well, including an improved, fast-switching date change mechanism, and a one piece reset hammer, which ensures synchronized reset of the chronograph seconds, minutes, and hour hands.”Tentagraph” is an acronym: TEN beats per second, Automatic winding chronoGRAPH.

The Mt. Iwate SLGC007 is part of the Evolution 9 Collection.

The radial Mt. Iwate pattern was used on the first Tentagraph launched last year (SLGC001) and here the same pattern is used, but with a blue-white dial that references snow on the slopes of Mt. Iwate as seen from above.

The case is in Grand Seiko’s High Intensity Titanium and as with the 2024 launch model, dimensions are 43.2mm x 15.3mm. Ordinarily, the chronograph pushers on a modular chronograph do not sit in line with the crown, but the operating levers in caliber 9SC5 have a dogleg profile which allows the pushers to align with the crown on the flank of the watch. The watch has all the signature features of the Evolution 9 series, including highly polished, faceted hands and indexes, and an emphasis on sharp, crisp transitions on the case.

The Tokyo Lion Tentagraph is, as we mentioned, Grand Seiko’s first mechanical chronograph, and it’s also the first mechanical chronograph in the Tokyo Lion collection, where it joins the Spring Drive SBGC275 and SBGC253.

As with the other Tokyo Lion models, SLGC009 has an angular, almost armor-like case design, with sharp transitions between the many facets of the case and bezel, and deep angular serrations on the chronograph pushers, which extend well beyond the case band and which are heavily faceted themselves. If you like the sharp transitions on the Evolution 9 cases, you’re going to love the Tokyo Lion chrono; in a world of cookie cutter chronograph designs, SLGC009 is not likely to be mistaken for anything else.

The dial is a little bit of a break from business as usual in the Tokyo Lion collection – the four watches currently in the Tokyo Lion collection all have variations on the striated-checkerboard lion’s mane dial pattern but in the Tentagraph Tokyo Lion, the pattern is a weave of horizontal striations inspired by the image of wind blowing through a lion’s mane.

The rubber strap, and you can’t miss it, is embossed with a stylized lion’s footprint. The caseback and underside of the case are gently curved, so despite the almost aggressive angularity of the overall case design, this should – thanks to the case curvature and the use of titanium – be a very comfortable watch to wear, albeit you’re not likely to forget you have it on.

Like the other Tokyo Lion watches, this is a visually very absorbing exercise in depth and the play of light on different finishes and surfaces, aided and abetted by the lion’s mane dial pattern, curved chronograph subdials, and sharply faceted hour markers.

The Tentagraph Evolution 9 SLGC007 Mt. Iwate: case, High Intensity Titanium, 43.2mm x 15.3mm with “Snow Blue” dial, front box sapphire crystal and sapphire crystal caseback; 100M water resistant. The Tentagraph “Tokyo Lion”  SLGC009, case, 43mm x 15.6mm, Brilliant Hard Titanium with box sapphire front crystal and sapphire display back; water resistance 20 bar/200M. Both watches, caliber 9SC5, high beat 36,000 vph automatic chronograph, column wheel and vertical clutch module on high beat caliber 9SA5, 33mm x 8mm, antimagnetic to 4,800 A/m (amperes per meter). Prices, SLGC007, $14,100; SLGC009, $16,400.