Features
A high-precision hi-beat 36000 with refined design
A beautifully delicate and polished finish has been created on the dial, with a 'Mount Iwate pattern', inspired by the many-ridged contours of the Mt. Iwate, the mountain that is visible through the windows of the Shizuku-Ishi Watch Studio where Grand Seiko mechanical watches are made.
Specifications
| Exterior: | Stainless steel |
|---|---|
| Case back: | See-through & Screw case back |
| Glass Material: | Dual-curved sapphire crystal |
| Glass Coating: | Anti-reflective coating on inner surface |
| Case size: | Diameter 40.0mm Lug-to-lug 46.2mm Thickness 14.0mm |
| Band width: | 19mm |
| Clasp type: | Three-fold clasp with push button release |
| The perimeter of Band: | 195mm |
| Caliber no.: | 9S86 Instructions |
|---|---|
| Movement Type: | Automatic with manual winding |
| Power reserve: | Approx. 55 hours |
| Mean daily rate: |
+5 to -3 seconds per day
|
| Magnetic resistance: | 4,800 A/m |
|---|---|
| Other details / Features: |
|
The dial tells the story; its surface texture was inspired by the numerous ridged contours on the face of Mt Iwate, the imposing mountain that overlooks the Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi where all Grand Seiko mechanical watches are made. A Hi-beat GMT Grand Seiko of the “highest” refinement.
“Even a classic can be improved.”
When Nobuhiro Kosugi, the head designer of the 44GS modern re-interpretation, showed his team his idea for the shape of the new case he wanted to create, they saw immediately that a challenge lay ahead. Its super sharp edges, its delicately curved sides and, above all, the thin, tapered end of each lug took the craftsmen and women in charge of the Zaratsu polishing into uncharted territory. Kosugi was asking them to achieve something that had been impossible for the original 44GS in 1967. “I always try to create a design which presents a new challenge”, he says. And his team delivered, as he knew they would.
9S, an ordinary name for an extraordinary family of movements.
When the first 9S series movement was created in 1998, it incorporated advances in materials, manufacturing and craftsmanship that allowed it to offer a level of performance so superior that it changed the Grand Seiko Standard itself.
As often before, Grand Seiko’s ceaseless pursuit of precision, practicality and durability had taken its mechanical watchmaking to a new and higher level.
Each movement has over 200 components and each one is assembled and adjusted by hand to tolerances of one hundredth of a millimeter. 9S may be a quiet name but it speaks volumes.
Why craftsmanship leads to precision
Every 9S movement is made at the Grand Seiko mechanical watch facility in Shizukuishi in northern Japan. Within the same facility is a recently opened new studio where the movements and then complete watches are assembled and adjusted by hand by a team of craftsmen and women who have honed their craft to such an extent that they can adjust parts by hand to tolerances of one hundredth of a millimeter. Their work is all about precision. Caliber 9S85 is a 36000 vph hi-beat movement that is adjusted to +5 to -3 seconds per day.
