Baselworld 2015: New Grand Seiko Revives the Spirit of ’67

For the past two years, Seiko has mined the rich history of its Grand Seiko watch to create modern re-editions of some notable models of the past for what the Japanese brand calls its Historical Collection, This year’s Baselworld saw the launch of its latest, the 62GS, based upon the very first Grand Seiko with an automatic movement, released in 1967.

Following up on the previous two Grand Seiko Historical Collection releases — the re-imagined 44GS in 2013 and the 1964 “Self Dater” last year — the recreation of the 62GS is highly reminiscent of the original, which fans of the brand fondly remember for its mirrored, multi-sided case (achieved with Seiko’s “Zaratsu polishing”); large “bezel free” dial opening; long, sharply edged hands typical of the Grand Seiko line; and recessed crown at 4 o’clock, a clever means to convey to the watch’s owner that hand-winding was not required.

Depending on one’s taste for truly vintage-style timepieces, watch lovers can choose between eight new references, four of which are more-or-less faithful reproductions of the version that came out in 1967, the other four offering a more contemporary take on the vintage model.

The re-creation versions of the Grand Seiko 62GS are powered by Seiko’s mechanical Caliber 9S65, with automatic winding and a 72-hour power reserve. There is one model in steel, and one each in yellow gold, rose gold and white gold. Inherited features from the vintage timepiece include the lion emblem on the caseback and “Diashock” logo (referring to Seiko’s shock protection technology) on the dial. The steel-case version even features a dial in the same color as the original. All four of these watches come on crocodile straps with buckles matching the case material. The steel version is limited to 600 pieces, priced at 4,300 euros; the gold versions are limited to 100 pieces each, priced between 16,100 and 17,000 euros.

The more “modern” Grand Seiko 62GsS offers two watches equipped with Seiko’s hi-beat 36,000-vph Caliber 9SG5 and two others outftted with the brand’s Spring Drive Caliber 9R65. All have larger cases than the vintage re-creations (40 mm in diameter as opposed to 37.6 mm) and all have bracelets rather than straps. The watches with the hi-beat mechanical movement have stainless steel cases with white or brown dial options each is a limited edition — 1,000 pieces for the white-dial version and 700 pieces for the black dial — priced at 1,000 euros. The watches with Spring Drive movements have titanium cases (and bracelets) and are limited editions of 1,000 pieces (white-dial version) and 700 pieces (blue-dial version). Both are priced at 5,900 euros.