Meet Grand Seiko’s New 24 Seasons GMT Collection

Yesterday and today, Grand Seiko’s and Seiko’s Media Experience is taking place. Digitally, of course. Where this is used to be a separate journey to Japan, and a fully packed congress room in Basel, we’re now following Grand Seiko and Seiko on our screens.

The same will apply for Watches & Wonders and Time To Move, but it is the way it is. Nevertheless, Grand Seiko had a +1 hour presentation on their new global strategy and new watches for 2021. Remember the 2019 24 Seasons collection? Meet the four new GMT “24 Seasons” watches of the Grand Seiko Heritage collection.

24 Seasons – Grand Seiko GMT

24 seasons? We have four! Correct. But in Japan, they experience each season (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) in six phases. All with their own particularities. This way, the transition from one season to the other is also more smooth. It is not how I experience the season in The Netherlands currently, where we had last week a snowstorm and one week later I can sit with a glass of wine in our garden like it’s a beautiful summer day. But anyway, the concept is nice and has been an inspiration for the dial makers in Japan. Each new GMT watch celebrates one of the 24 seasonal phases or, as they call them in Japan, “sekki”.

SBGJ251 – Shunbun (Spring)

Grand Seiko’s SBGJ251 is inspired by the cherry trees in the mountains that start to bloom in the Spring (Shunbun). The green dial with gold accents captures this, according to Grand Seiko. The SBGJ251 is powered by a Hi-Beat GMT movement, caliber 9S86. The same that we recently featured in this article. The hour hand can be set independently, thus this watch is operating as a “real” GMT.

The GMT hand is used to indicate the home time and is corrected by setting the time. Caliber 9S86 has a power reserve of 55 hours and offers an accuracy between -3 and +5 seconds per day on average, a better performance than what the Swiss chronometer standard offers. The SBGJ251 has a diameter of 39.5mm and a height of 14.1mm.  Its water resistance is 30 meters (3 BAR).

The Grand Seiko GMT SBGJ251 will be available in May 2021. The price will be €7,600.

SBGJ249 – Shōsho (Summer)

The Grand Seiko SBJ249 uses the same Hi-Beat movement as the Spring version, SBGJ251. Hence the SBGJ coding, indicating there’s a mechanical Hi-Beat movement inside. The dial is inspired by the many lakes and ponds that shimmer in the early Summer days.

The wavy pattern represents the shimmer and adds a lot of depth to the dial of the Grand Seiko SBGJ249. All specifications, including the price, are equal to the SBGJ251.

The Grand Seiko GMT SBGJ249 will be available in May 2021. The price will be €7,600.

SBGE271 – Kanro (Autumn)

The Autumn and Winter models, SBGE271 and SBGE269 are powered by Spring Drive caliber 9R66. Offering a power reserve of 72 hours and an accuracy of +- 1 second per day on average, +- 15 seconds per month. Just like the Hi-Beat models of the 24 Seasons GMT collection, the hour hand can be set independently.  The dial of the Kanro GMT watch is inspired by the evenings in the Autumn season.

According to Grand Seiko, the glide motion of the Spring Drive powered second’s hand moves silently, like the moon across the night sky. Those poets at Grand Seiko!

The Grand Seiko GMT SBGE271 will be available in September 2021. The price will be €6,800.

SBGE269 – Tōji (Winter)

Here’s a proper winter dial! Very different from the famous Snowflake SBGA211, but definitely reminds me of snowy landscapes. The gold-colored GMT hand gives an amazing contrast to the textured dial. This Grand Seiko SBGE269 has the same specifications as the SBGE271. A 40.2mm diameter case and measuring 14mm in height. Interesting to note is that the SBGE269 and SBGE271 have a water resistance of 100 meters, whereas the Hi-Beat powered models are water-resistant to 30 meters.

The Grand Seiko GMT SBGE269 will be available in September 2021. The price will be €6,800.

All watches in the 24 Seasons GMT collection have a sapphire case back to show you the movement. The bracelets are also all identical, with the typical polished links and a three-fold clasp with push-button release. More information can be found on the Grand Seiko website.