New Grand Seiko Elegance Collection 'Slim' Hand-Wound Limited Editions

[Ichiran]

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/gr...ns-introducing

"Grand Seiko has just announced the addition of four new watches to the Elegance Collection. Two watches feature Japanese urushi lacquer dials, which are decorated with the technique known as maki-e, and all four are also launch vehicles for the first hand-wound Grand Seiko movement in eight years. This is the caliber 9S63, which takes the basic plate architecture of the existing 9S64 and adds a running small seconds at 9:00, as well as a power reserve indication at 3:00.

Urushi lacquerware is a very old, very traditional decorative art, even by Japanese standards. The technique involves harvesting the sap of the Japanese lacquer tree (a species of poison oak; lacquer workers tend to develop some immunity to the irritating oils in the sap from prolonged exposure) which is aged, and then applied in very thin layers to create a variety of forms. Lacquer dries to a very hard, waterproof and highly lustrous surface and it can be used to decorate a wide range of objects, using a very complex vocabulary of techniques. The specific technique used for the new Elegance urushi watches is called maki-e; this is a method in which gold or silver powder is used as an additional decorative element (fountain pens decorated with maki-e lacquer are in high demand among writing instrument collectors).

At launch, the watches will be available in two rose gold maki-e dial models, and one "Mount Iwate" pattern-dial model in steel; there will also be a gold model with a simple white dial – the latter is the only model of the four which is not a limited edition. All four watches have the same dimensions: 39mm in diameter, and 11.6mm thick."





Lovely size and dials. Thoughts?

[subtona]

That is some interesting stuff!!!

Look forward to seeing in person.

I have really been wishing they would release more choices without a date.

[Ichiran]

Close up views of the steel piece.

[subtona]

Originally Posted by Ichiran

Close up views of the steel piece.

Attachment 1018231

On second look, I really prefer this combo.

I believe sub seconds and PR are a bit redundant, personally would lose the sub seconds, it’s definitely crowding the 9 side.

[imperio]

11.6 mm thick??? Calling that slim is quite a stretch. Is that a typo?

[Ichiran]

Originally Posted by subtona

On second look, I really prefer this combo.

I believe sub seconds and PR are a bit redundant, personally would lose the sub seconds, it’s definitely crowding the 9 side.

I find the PR useful for a manual movement. While it is on one side, the petite second balances the PR nicely at the other end. My take is that's quite a beautifully well-executed dial.

[JR16]

Originally Posted by Ichiran

I find the PR useful for a manual movement. While it is on one side, the petite second balances the PR nicely at the other end. My take is that's quite a beautifully well-executed dial.

Agree about the PR, but would have liked to see it at 9, w the small seconds at 3 (or just a central seconds hand)


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[Cru Jones]

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=655339

[tom2517]

Hmmmm, can’t say I like this collection.

[cop414]

I think that they look very good.

[benlee]

Can't really say it sings to me. Seeing it irl may change my opinion.

[Rrpdc]

Could not live without the date