Watches & Wonders 2026: Grand Seiko’s Newest Spring Drive UFAs Are Dive Watches

Last year at Watches & Wonders, Grand Seiko launched a new movement in a new watch which set a new standard for precision in a couple of ways. The Grand Seiko UFA with the new Spring Drive caliber 9RB2, was at launch (and still is) the most precise Spring Drive movement Grand Seiko has ever produced, with a precision of ±20 seconds per year. This is not only a new record for Spring Drive, but also a new record for any mainspring powered watch. This year, Grand Seiko’s latest UFA watch is a bit of a departure from the UFA Evolution 9 watches launched last year, which featured Grand Seiko’s nature inspired dials combined with the Evolution 9 design language. Grand Seiko is launching two new diver’s watches, with a new UFA caliber 9RB1, and cased in High Intensity Titanium. These are the Spring Drive UFA Ushio 300 Diver’s watches, and at 40.8mm x 12.9mm, they are the smallest Grand Seiko dive watches (the mechanical Hi-Beat Grand Seiko diver, SBGH289, is 43.8mm x 14.7mm).

While these watches, with 300M water resistance and a high precision caliber, are obviously intended to be durable and reliable diving instruments, they have dials which as is often the case with Grand Seiko, draw on the natural world for inspriation. The “Ushio” dials (the word means “tide”) have a wave-like pattern which, says GS, “evokes the waters that surround the Japanese archipelago” and are being offered in gradient green or blue versions.

The watches feature the large indexes and hands characteristic of the Evolution 9 Collection, although slightly modified here from the usual multifaceted designs, in order to allow the use of large amounts of Lumibrite; the edges of the hands and indexes are diamond cut, as with other Evolution 9 watches, which is not only an aesthetic feature, but also aid to legibility. Caliber 9RB1 draws on the same technical refinements as last year’s 9RB2, using a vacuum sealed quartz timing package and IC, and using a pre-aged (three months) quartz oscillator. The timing package also incorporates corrections for temperature drift based on the temperature rate variation of each crystal, and the movement has a rate trimmer for fine adjustment, should it be required over the longer term.

The caliber 9RB1 also moves the power reserve indicator back to the dial side, which is where it has typically been located in Spring Drive watches; the decision is a practical one for a diver’s watch, where it ensures at-a-glance verification of remaining running time.

The watches are available on either a vented leather strap, or on a High Intensity Titanium bracelet.

The GS logo on the bracelet is also the locking clasp, and the bracelet has a diver’s extension feature, to allow it to be worn over a wetsuit sleeve, and there’s a three position micro adjustment feature as well. The two together give you a total range of adjustment of 24mm.

These new Spring Drive UFA Ushio divers are exactly what GS dive watch fans have been hoping for – a combination of the latest and greatest in Spring Drive precision, with Grand Seiko’s proven ability to design and manufacture some of the world’s most rugged, and most beautiful, dive watches. Available in June.

The Grand Seiko Spring Drive UFA Ushio 300 Diver: case, 40.8mm x 12.9mm, 300M water resistant, sapphire crystal with AR coating, antimagnetic to 4,800 A/m (amperes per meter). Movement, caliber 9RB1, automatic Spring Drive UFA caliber, precision ±20 seconds per year; 72 hour power reserve, running in 22 jewels. Bracelet, High Intensity Titanium, with diver’s extension and micro adjustment. Price at launch, $12,400.

The 1916 Company is proud to be an authorized retailer for Grand Seiko; contact us for pricing and availability.