2023-07-05 21:04:31
CULTURE 3min2023.7.6 Grand Seiko watches in the midst of the world’s luxury watch boom Photo: Romain Maurice / Getty Images for Haute Living Text by COURRiER Japon Is Seiko a “Rolex killer”? In a column, a reporter for the German magazine Der Spiegel praised Japanese Seiko watches. Felix Dachel, who likes luxury watches, fell in love with the Swiss luxury watch Omega, and even visited its headquarters and factory in the Swiss Jura Mountains, fell in love with Japanese Seiko watches. It says. He was intrigued following being shown a Seiko watch by his colleague Tobias, a watch-loving culture reporter. Until now, the reporter had a prejudice that Japanese watches were “cheap”. In 1969, Seiko developed and mass-produced quartz wristwatches, which enabled more accurate timekeeping than mechanical wristwatches. Cheap and durable electronic quartz watches took the world by storm, putting Swiss watchmakers in great danger and putting them out of business one following another. Because of that strong impression, I didn’t get the impression that Japanese watches are superior. However, once he learned regarding its charm, he learned regarding the goodness of the “Seiko 5” and immediately purchased it himself. This series, which can be purchased at a relatively affordable price, has been praised by the German newspaper Bayreuter Tagesblatt, saying, “Because of its reliability and durability, it has many strong fans around the world.” Tobias said he felt that “for just 100 euros, it would be a real Rolex killer.” Beauty that blows away prejudices Dachel and his watch-loving colleague Tobias were even more impressed by Seiko’s luxury brand Grand Seiko watches. The two of them went to the store to see the products, and the first thing they picked up was a model called Evolution 9 Collection Spring Drive “Shirakaba”. He highly praises that he believes the story that “Japanese watchmakers stare at the natural scenery until inspiration comes”. It is said that Tobias looked into the watch with a magnifying glass and was delighted with its detail and beauty. SLGA009, a model inspired by the white birch trees of Shinshu. Next, I got two watches: the Taisetsu watch, which was inspired by the deep snow of the Taisetsu mountain range in winter, and the Hanakago watch, which was inspired by Japanese cherry blossoms. It’s a dot. Both of them seemed to be overwhelmed by the beauty of the dial, and highly praised it as “exciting and captivating the viewer.” Model SBGA415 Inspired by heavy snow in the winter mountains SBGA413 “Hana Kago” is a design that evokes the moment when Japanese cherry blossoms are carried by the wind and their petals fall into a river, suddenly covering the surface of the water with a delicate layer. The world’s luxury watch market has continued to grow over the past few years. According to the online media “Global News Wire”, in 2021, the transaction value of the Swiss watch market will reach a record 22.3 billion Swiss francs (regarding 3.6 trillion yen). In addition to Omega, luxury brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet are headquartered in Switzerland, where craftsmen continue to make watches. Under such circumstances, the prices of Rolex watches have soared to an irrational level, and many models have become difficult to obtain. In that situation, Dachel writes, Grand Seiko, on the contrary, “feels more appealing.” In the luxury watch market, Rolex has an overwhelming presence, but Seiko is attractive because of its beauty and function, durability and precision, and above all, availability. In fact, the technology used in Grand Seiko watches is so high that the second hand moves so smoothly that it only makes an error of regarding half a second per day. It uses Spring Drive technology, which is said to have been born out of the experience Seiko gained when it took the world by storm with electronic quartz watches in the 1970s. He also says, “You can’t understand the goodness of a mechanical watch unless you look at it with a magnifying glass,” but Grand Seiko’s are more precisely finished than other luxury watches, and you can see the superior craftsmanship.
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