Grand Seiko was born in 1960 as a luxury arm of the Japanese watch brand Seiko and over the last six decades it has built a reputation in the world of horology for making highly technical ultra-premium luxury timepieces. Known for its proprietary Spring Drive technology, GS has developed a wide variety of different movements since its inception. However, the one missing from its portfolio was a mechanical chronograph watch. But that has finally changed! The Japanese luxury watch brand has expanded its Evolution 9 collection with its first-ever mechanical chronograph called the Grand Seiko Tentagraph SLGC001.
The Tentagraph name has been derived from an amalgamation of different attributes associated with the movement powering the new timepiece. The “Ten” in the name points at the frequency of ten beats per second, while the “T” that follows represents a three-day power reserve. The letter A tells that it’s an automatic movement and the graph at the end obviously is for the chronograph movement. The watch features a 43.2 mm case made out of scratch-resistant, zaratsu-polished titanium which gets a screw-down crown, screwed back with see-through crystal, and a black ceramic bezel with a combination of polished and brushed surfaces.
The deep blue dial is textured with an Mt. Iwate sunray-style pattern, while it offers a familiar, balanced layout with 3-6-9 counters for the small seconds, 30-minute and 12-hour counters. The date window at 4:30 is almost unnoticeable. Housed inside the case is Grand Seiko’s new Caliber 9SC5 movement which uses the brand’s existing Caliber 9SA5 as its base. The movement’s vertical clutch and column wheel help it to achieve its accuracy of +5/-3 seconds per day. It offers a three-day power reserve thanks to its energy-efficient Dual Impulse Escapment and two barrels. The watch is worn on a three-link bracelet with a three-fold clasp made with the same top-shelf material as the case. The Grand Seiko Tentagraph SLGC001 Mechanical Chronograph Watch is priced at $13,700 and will go on sale this June.
