Review: Grand Seiko SBGP001

There are two reasons you would be watching this video: the first is because you sit somewhere between liking and loving Rolex watches, and don’t understand why anyone would hate them; and the second is because you despise Rolex and want to see something different for a change. And I understand you both: Rolex is a fantastic brand that makes fantastic watches, but the hype machine has blown it out of all proportion. Well, here it is, the antidote—the Grand Seiko SBGP001.

Where It’s Made

I want to be frank with you for a minute. Making content today has changed a lot from a few years ago. You’ve probably heard of algorithms and clickbait and all that kind of stuff. Unfortunately, it’s a necessary evil these days, especially on a platform like YouTube where impressions—who YouTube shows a video to—is entirely dictated by popularity. If we make a video that doesn’t pull in the views, YouTube doesn’t show it to anyone else—in some cases, not even loyal subscribers.

So, what that means is that we have to play the game, and it’s a game I’m sure many of you are sick of. We want to show you all sorts of wild and wonderful watches from around the world, such as this, the SBGP001. It doesn’t outwardly look that outrageously different, a three-hander with a date, set in a 40mm steel case and bound to your arm with a bracelet. But on further inspection, like eating McDonalds in a different country, there’s something about its familiarity that’s somehow … alien.

The way the faceted lugs blend into the case feels more angular, more ornate. The shapes of the hands and markers are sharp and clean. There’s almost as much bezel as there is case side. Well, if it feels like it comes from a different culture, that’s because it does, because this is a Grand Seiko, and it’s entirely made in Japan. Razz to that, some of you may be thinking. Japan is the home of affordable tech, not high-end luxury.

Grand Seiko has been operating since 1960—under the watchful eye of Seiko, itself founded in 1881—with the sole purpose of being better than the Swiss. At what? At everything. Quality, performance, style, you name it, Grand Seiko very much holds the Swiss watchmaking scene accountable. Want ultimate quality? Grand Seiko’s Micro Artist Studio has you covered. Want ultimate complexity? The T0 Constant Force Tourbillon Concept will be right up your street. Want every-day charm and usability? The SBGP001 is exactly that—just from Japan. Never mind not being made by Rolex¬—Grand Seiko couldn’t be made any further away if they tried.

How It’s Made

We’ve come to expect a certain level of quality in our mechanical watches. Decoration has long since been a method by which watchmakers show off their creative flair, turning functional devices into sparkling jewels. Decoration really took off in the early advent of wristwatches when it became the norm to source external movements, giving watchmakers a new way to demonstrate their skill and precision.

It’s not really something we expect too much of in an every-day watch. A Rolex, for example, famously eschewed that pursuit of form in the face of watchmakers like Omega who prided themselves on it. It’s a little different these days, however. Whilst nobody expects Rolex watches to be up there with Patek Philippe watches, a clean, simple but precise finish is very much considered the barest minimum.

And that, believe it or not, is where the Grand Seiko SBGP001 really shines. Literally. You see, in the 1960s when Grand Seiko was just getting started, it was clear that the brand not only needed a technological identity, but a visual one as well, and so the sort-of-but-not-quite familiar lines of the 44GS case were born—the same lines you see here today on this SBGP001.

But just a new shape wasn’t good enough. Grand Seiko also wanted to demonstrate the level of precision it was capable of with the finish as well, and so instead of polishing its cases with a typical polishing mop, which can leave a distorted sheen and rounded edges, chose to use a lapping machine instead. This is the same technique Audemars Piguet uses for getting those incredibly glossy and well-defined polished edges on the Royal Oak, and it requires enormous skill and precision. Grand Seiko purchased the best lapping machines they could find, the German brand phonetically pronounced in Japanese as “Zaratsu”.

It's a philosophy that extends to the rest of the watch, giving Grand Seiko a reputation for some of the best dials in the business—even for something as simple as this. The fabled Grand Seiko attention to detail is employed even for the polished edges of the hands and markers, adding impossibly perfect facets that almost look like diamonds. A heat-tempered second hand here completes the look: reserved, high-end and masterfully accomplished.

What’s Inside It

The heart of a Swiss luxury watch is the beating mechanical movement inside. Spring-powered watches that use an elaborate, interlocking sequence of wheels and gears to tell accurate time have become more a pastime and status symbol as they are particularly useful in the modern world. Technically speaking they’re old-fashioned, need servicing, aren’t very accurate and are a bit too delicate.

Still, there’s something else about them that somehow makes all that disappear. “Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified” is a badge of pride worn by a Rolex that should by any stretch be a damp squib, but somehow a sense of passion and nostalgia flips that on its head.

So, if you want your watch to be as far removed from a Rolex as it gets, a mechanical movement would be off the cards. Now, Grand Seiko does make mechanical movements—very good mechanical movements, in fact, ones that beat the Swiss in accuracy competitions in the 1960s and ones that beat them again today—but not here, not for this SBGP001. Instead you get the calibre 9F85—and it’s a quartz.

What does that mean? Well, instead of being powered by a spring, it has a battery, and instead of being regulated by a mechanism, timing is controlled by a computer chip. You lose the sweeping second hand for a ticking one, and with it the independence from a third-party source of power.

Seiko infamously turned the tide on Switzerland’s dominance with a quartz watch, creating a cheaper way for average people to have accurate reference to the time—but things are a little different now. The calibre 9F85 may not be a Swiss mechanical, but it’s still built by Grand Seiko—and Grand Seiko is still a passionate watchmaker.

Of course, it’s accurate to a handful of seconds per year, not per day, for one. It gets an instant change date with a quick setting mechanism. But that’s all the boring stuff you’d expect from a quartz. What is it that makes this a Grand Seiko quartz? For starters, the entire thing is hand assembled, just like a mechanical movement. It can be regulated during a service, just like mechanical movement. You can’t see it, but it’s finished with striping and set with jewels, just like a mechanical movement.

The paths Grand Seiko has gone down to give the SBGP001 the same level of quality as its own mechanical watches is unparalleled. This thing is completely in-house, right down to the quartz crystal itself. And those big Grand Seiko hands, they’re relatively heavy. Most quartz movements don’t have the torque to drive them. But rather than lose the iconic shape, Grand Seiko developed a Twin Pulse Control Motor to counter the lack of torque by driving the hands in two stages. It’s watchmaking, Jim, but not as we know it.

What It Costs

The Grand Seiko SBGP001 is a fine watch, no doubt about it. If you’re looking for something about as far removed from a Rolex as it gets, you’d be hard-pressed to find something more suitable. But really the biggest deviation this watch has from Rolex isn’t where it’s made or how, or what’s inside it—but how much it costs. Rolex prices are no stranger to inflation, creeping up year after year as it is, and with the flurry of demand the brand is enjoying, you’d be lucky to pay it.

Perhaps you might be one of those people who do like Rolex, like the brand and like the product, but can’t stand the hype and pricing that have come from it. Well, if that’s you, this’ll be the sweetest piece of news yet, because the Grand Seiko SBGP001 costs just £2,850. That’s not even pre-owned, that’s the RRP as of right now, early 2022. A watch with all that quality, heritage and performance, assembled by watchmakers unrivalled in their passion and care and skill—for the price of an entry-level Swiss timepiece. You might call it hyperbole when I say it, but the dial alone wouldn’t be seen in a Swiss watch for less than £10,000.

So, if you like Rolex, but enjoy seeing other things, or if you hate Rolex and would rather see other things, this is just a taster of what’s out there to whet your appetite. We want to cover every kind of watch under the sun from the most complex and expensive to the cheapest and best value, and everything else in between, but it’s getting harder and harder. So, if you like seeing watches like this Grand Seiko, let us know, let other people know. We want the landscape to change—perhaps we can be the ones to change it.

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