GRAND SEIKO USHIO TIDE SPRING DRIVE SLGA015



Unveiled at Watches & Wonders 2022, the Grand Seiko Ushio Tide Springtime Drive SLGA015 redefines the actual practical dive watch using its strongly patterned black switch, exquisitely polished case as well as ultra-precise Spring Drive motion. Mark McArthur-Christie points out the reason why Grand Seiko tends to be " a bit obsessed" and then stocks his thoughts on this interesting underwater timepiece.



Grand Seiko - a little obsessed

Describing Seiko as " a bit obsessed" is probably fair and a enhance. Other watchmakers might purchase a dial from here, a set of fingers there, a case from elsewhere, but Seiko does it almost all in-house. It will also be of an excellent00 standard. Even a basic Seiko watch will have a look and also quality that would be the be jealous of of many other, more expensive producers. Then there's Grand Seiko. If Seiko is " a little obsessed, " GS is the kind of place wherever every sugar crystal within the bowl on the staff canteen table is polished manually.



Grand Seiko Shinshu Watch Studio

This isn't just nitpicking with regard to being nitpicky, though. The actual Grand Seiko Shinshu the making of watch studio alone needs to carry on the watchmaking awards they have got won. The Men's View Award at the Grand Tarifs de la Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) 2021 goes to the particular Hi-Beat 36000 80 Hrs cal. 9SA5. However , typically the brand’s talents are not restricted to creating mechanical movements built with the brand’s double-pulse escapement. Instead, they extend in order to its unique Spring Drive movements, like the one you’ll find inside the Grand Seiko Evolution nine SLGA015.



Spring Drive - Ryoichi Akabane

To be fair, Seiko's attention to detail means Seiko doesn't rush anything. Watch manufactures cannot send anything in to the world that is not nearly ideal. It took more than 20 years through Yoshikazu Akahane's initial getting pregnant of the Spring Drive activity to 1999, when it grew to become the first model produced solely in Japan. Since then, often the movement has gone through 4 manual-winding calibres and nineteen automatic-winding calibres, until the current two calibres. The particular movement saw the light associated with day.



springtime driven pulley

A lot has been written about the Spring Drive movement, so you could say that it is a mechanical/quartz mixed movement that combines the very best of both methods of keeping time. You get the " soul" of a mechanical watch, such as its running gear teach (minus the balance wheel along with escapement), but with the precision and reliability of a quartz watch. The escapement in addition to balance wheel are changed by a " pulley" which powers the watch's secs hand and is regulated through an electromagnetic brake. You are able to identify the Spring Generate by the way the second hand does not tick or even stutter over the dial in tiny actions, it just slides. The nearest comparison is what the mere seconds hand looked like on an aged tuning fork Accutron mobility.



9RA5 motion

In this case, the Grand Seiko Ushio Tide Spring Drive SLGA015 is run by a 38-jewel Spring Push 5 Days cal. 9RA5, self-winding movement. When completely charged, it can provide you with sufficient power for 5 times for continued use. When it comes to accuracy, as you'd anticipate, the Spring Drive movements is very precise, with an mistake of just 0. five seconds per day. It’s the nice-looking move. The call has perlage, bevelling, temperature blued screws, and the Great Seiko name in glowing blue.



ISO 6425 standard

Just see that black dial. Divers work to be all boring older utilities, right? Not in this instance. Grand Seiko tells us that this texture on the dial should reflect “…the dynamic and often violent tides caused by the actual Kuroshio Current…” This is the Kuroshio Current, which flows to the north through Japan toward the particular North Pacific. It is among the largest ocean currents on the planet. Regardless of where Seiko got the concept from, it's an amazing 1. The dial is just as understandable as a regular black face (still meets the ISO 6425 standard for jump watches), and it looks beautiful too.



Lustrous hands

The blown hour and minute palms are clearly visible towards it (as is the refined seconds hand with its lustrous lollipop base). That hours hand is almost a tall hand with three sections of lume. The minute hands is the classic Seiko diver's flared arrow tip as well as again has plenty of lucerna. All in all, it’s a great view face in terms of legibility, clearness, and fun. The used markup allows you to browse rapidly.



High power titanium

Seiko is actually making the cases for this specific series of watches out of the actual call “high-strength titanium. ” After some digging, it appears that this is not a case finishing procedure, but refers to the composition from the metal alloy itself; ti, iron, and niobium. Typically the watchmaker also says the blend is more scratch-resistant than stainless-steel, with a Vickers hardness range of 250-350 (stainless metal is typically around 150-250). Possibly luckily they decided to utilize titanium instead of 316L because it's a chunky old situation, nearly 44mm in size and about 14mm thick. Enormous weight savings - typically the metal they use is about thirty percent lighter than stainless steel.



Grand Seiko Ushio Tide Spring Drive SLGA015 - Case Finishing

As you'd expect from the Grand Seiko, the completing of the case is done directly from the very best drawer. There is usually the brushed finish on the primary case and a polished finish within the faces that join the perimeters and top of the case. Often the bezel has ceramic filling up and is one of the clearest and also smartest I've seen on the diver in a while, along with arrow markings underneath every number. Seiko did not coating the edges of the fine ceramic to allow the texture to show via next to the knurled side on the metal bezel part.



In fact , often the crown screws onto any smooth positive thread and it is protected by two thicker guards that flare out of your sides of the case. The bottom cover also screws down, along with Seiko are pleased to say the entire structure will be water-resistant to a depth of 200m - far more than almost any person will ever need unless of course they make a living sitting in some sort of saturation diving chamber. The actual mirror is sapphire amazingly with anti-reflective coating.



Technical specifications

Model: Grand Seiko Ushio Tide Spring Drive SLGA015

Case: High-strength ti case; diameter 43. eight mm; height 13. 7 mm; water-resistant 20ATM (200 meters); sapphire crystal top; screw bottom cover.

Functions: hours; minutes; main seconds; date; power reserve indication

Movement: Spring Drive 9RA5; self-winding movement; 37 jewels; power reserve 120 hrs.

Strap: High-strength ti bracelet with 3-fold form with push-button release, security lock and extender.