Horological Meandering

Part I: Grand Seiko presentation and watchmaking demonstration

 

Prior to dinner Mr Akashi gave a brief presentation to explain Grand Seiko as well as its various innovations, including Spring Drive and the materials Seiko has developed for hairsprings and mainsprings.

Particularly interesting was the explanation of the high-end GS quartz calibres, which have twin-impulse motors (as opposed to single impusle for conventional quartz) which allow Seiko to use the same thick and heavy hands on the quartz watches. Even the copper wire coil in a GS quartz is unique, the wire is half the diameter of a regular coil and it is coiled so precisely when its cross-section is viewed under a microscope there are no gaps between the wires.

As Mr Akashi explained the various technical aspects of Grand Seiko, Ms Masuda deftly offered a live peek into the parts of a Grand Seiko movement, demonstrating the mechanics of the Spring Drive as well as the chronograph. Ms Masuda's skills were obvious and backed up by her name card which indicated she had previously won a technical prize for her craft.

At the end of the presentation the message was clear: there is an overwhelming obsession with quality at Seiko, right down to the smallest, microscopic (literally) details. And that is evident in the watches.

This message has been edited by SJX on 2010-07-15 22:40:04