Wait... I hear the war drums of Grand Seiko fan-boys beating already!! Run for your lives, all you Rolex watch owners. Datejust 36 vs the far less sexy sounding SBGR001. But don't let the names fool you. This could get messy!!
1. Thickness is Seiko's Achilles heel. Invicta price is fine, but for many thousands the watch should be elegant and thin as much as possible 2. Having the hands have similar color as the dial should be a design fail. Rolex does it, Omega does it. But I don't see the old school brands like Cartier or Breguet make this mistake
i have both and i prefer the GS. my GS is white gold and bracelet, its whiter than my platinum watches somehow. It is gorgeous. Rolex is noticed by some people, and sometimes people react to it. GS in white gold is a bigger statement because of the shine. I like the GS because the quality, i am in Tokyo and my initials are GS. Which matches the clasp which says GS.
Absolutely delightful! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Both watches have their merits and in today's world another important factor to consider is accessibility. Even if the Rolex was a tad bit better, the problem remains the availability. I consider it to be a big negative point about Rolex. Congratulations on choosing such wonderful pieces for your collection and sharing them with us.
Enjoyed this video Mark, especially the decision pause moment. I think you were fair mostly but I disagree with your score on value retention, as to your point, new GS vs. new Rolex is different planets. Keep these coming, and thanks for taking the time to make. I am now considering GS because of your take so, congrats I guess lol
Two cracking watches. I have my name down for a date just 41 with jubilee bracelet but a local Grand Seiko AD has a new slgh013 snowscape for less than £6k. It's a hell of a good looking watch with a hi beat movement. Head or heart?
Well with Watches it's generally heart, for me. However the value relativity is impossible to ignore too. If you want a Datejust you will always want a Datejust if that makes sense.
I own and love both brands. Rolex takes the edge on many if not most categories but they are not tied on finish. GS takes finishing as there is more human hand work on the GS and it shows. The polished pieces are superior, but Rolex takes bracelet, clasp, robustness, etc…
I really liked this video Mark, but I think the final assessment you make is somewhat influenced by your willingness to get out of the “Rolex purgatory”, as you call it yourself. And I say this from direct experience, since I also had a GS (later sold).... They are both beautiful, but the iconicity, fit and design of the DJ 36 case make that watch an absolute reference in the history of watchmaking. Moreover, the DJ with palm dial is really nice! Ciao, alla prossima!
Hi Mark interesting to see comments of people squabbling in the comments on a Sunday morning. there's no right or wrong in comparison videos you should just buy the watch you really like and can afford and that's the best watch for you. great video thanks John 👍
Thanks John. Yes, I knew this video would bring out the usual nay sayers, and it has already! Thankfully, most people just accept it as a bit of fun and frivolity. 1st world problems ay John!
For taking photos of your watches on rough surfaces try put some transparent tape on the area of your watch that will have a contact on the surface, anyways it wont show on the photos
Bad value retention is great for watch collectors - i can get mint condition GS, Tudor, Zenith, Ulysse Nardin watch for almost half price at thr grey dealer
Yes it's a wonderful double-edged sword isn't it. Let other people buy brand new at retail, and then you come along 6 months later and pick it up for 40% lower, and it's barely been worn.
I have the GS spring drive cherry blossom and I have to say its the best looking dial compare to any Rolex Datejust but I got to admit the GS bracelets are crap so switched it out to leather. So Rolex would win on the bracelets but look wise I would say GS. Value for money I would say Rolex just coz it holds it value much better than GS unless you get preowned GS then its another story. So its quite hard to compare the too sounds about right on what you gave the points 😂
It could have gone either way! Perhaps if I had my rose tinted Rolex glasses on I might have scored them more favourably on the bracelet, and it could have been a tie!
You lost me when you compared the iconic Jubilee Rolex bracelets to Grand Seiko and came out as equals. When by all accounts the Rolex jubilee is loved by all and by all accounts the Grand Seiko bracelet is panned by all. No real comparison here. That Jubilee hides scratches and just pops in a crowned. And the dimensions are spot on. Whereas the Grand Seiko doesn’t taper and is shakie at best. And I am actually a Grand Seiko fan. Hard to square your final outcome but to each his own.
I hear you, but when you hold both in the hand, and take away all the marketing, and forget what you've read and heard, there's not much in it. The Jubilee certainly does look the part yes!
Really good comparison vid - I'm very much in-line with your thoughts tbh. I own 2 Rolex, one Seiko (note: not Grand Seiko) but absolutely loving GS. Agree on the heritage - it feels more 'real' vs the more manufactured stuff Rolex come out with..
Thank you, and yes a lot of people don't realise that the Rolex marketing machine encapsulates their history too, making Hans Wilsdorf seem like some kind of Messiah of the watch world.
@@matthewhelm3035 Ahem, he's right here! If you're going to talk about me in the 3rd person, at least use another platform! 🤣 But now you're here - yes the honeymoon phase is always a factor, and yes I've owned 2 GS before this one so I'm not new to the brand. However I'm more than happy to accept your point that a lot of people don't stick with their GS, and to a degree that's why they have a poorish resale value I think.
You can't compare a new rolex with a 15year old seiko with an old movement, I realise that you can only do this with what you have to hand, But Mark a little disingenuous. Didn't watch till the end I take it all back lol 😁
@Andy-ys8sj keep in mind that I am not making videos for paid sponsorship, advertising revenue, or service product placement. I am not trying to sell you something like a Nato Strap or to buy your watch off a certain reseller. I'm just a hobbyist having some fun!
I'm not sure if you even did a fare comparison since you compared the best Datejust with an average GS. For almost the same price as the DateJust, you can get a GS Lake Suwa which would have put the GS score even higher. A DateJust pre-pandemic was a watch not many people desired since it was just an okay watch. The Datejust has a higher retention value because it has the word "Rolex" printed on the watch and not many people even know what GRAND Seiko are. Nice job on this video, thanks for making it.
Thank you. You're right that it wasn't strictly fair as I wasn't comparing new-for-new but I did make some allowances for that. Some Rolex fan-boys will struggle with this comparison as I removed the hype and marketing effect from the review, and just compared two pieces of metal with a mechanical movement inside. On that basis they are equal, with the GS edging it due to the price relativity.
@@TheRandomWatchDude About 2 years ago, when there wasn't a chance in hell I could get a Rolex, I study up on Gran Seiko because my dentist was raving about them. The stats on GS blew my mind so I bought the best one SBGA019 titanium at the time. But when I showed it to my friends, most of them weren't impressed or even heard or GS. So I'm done buying more GS and buying all the Rolex I can since the market had soften up for those now. And I recently bought a new Sky-Dweller from my AD so hopefully I will get more from my Wishlist soon.
Got to disagree with you here Mark. Your last comments of take the "hype and marketing" away makes this review even more useless, because let's be honest, we all buy because of the marketing (and others because of the hype). Nonetheless, there's really not much to compare. Completely different price bracket, market value/share, and I would take Rolex all day over Grand Seiko. Even if GS have a better finish/polish, the only model I will consider over Rolex is the Spring Drive because of the smoothness and beauty of the sweeping hands. Other than that, I wont even consider a GS, much less a GS with a huge SEIKO stamped in the middle. Sorry mate, hope I didnt hurt your feelings.
Haha no my feelings are not hurt mate. I wouldn't make RU-vid videos if I was offended by alternative viewpoints. Agree to disagree is fine 🙂 👍 I'm not keen on your opinion either 😉
@@TheRandomWatchDude Looks like you’ve got your feelings hurt mate. It’s ok. Just sincerely commenting and you say our opinion doesn’t matter 🙄 yet in the video you ask us to put our opinions in the comments. Lost my respect
@@TheRandomWatchDude sure. Just didn’t appreciate you brushing off with “I’m not keen on your opinion either” when your viewer just sharing their honest opinion/feedback. Anyways, peace ✌️
I own both and GS is more refined and clearly higher quality 😊😊😊😊. i own a Snowflake 2024, Datejust 2016, Bluesy 2011, and an Airking 2019. my GS is higher quality than the one in this video with springdrive, titanium and the new bracelet
Rolex have advantge to be iconic model everybody know...if you want a social statue watche you will choose rolex,not a gran seiko,if you want a social statue car you will choose a ferrari or porsche in place of a toyota or a subaru,even if this japanese car have some mode, who are so good as any ferrari...its just image and marketing,all my friend who drive ferrari buy it for the legend,some time after they are tired of the problems ,the price of the repairs etc...they all finish selling this iconics models,so perhaps its the same with the watches
@@TheRandomWatchDude unfortunatly i dont have this kind of problems,but if i had 6500$ for a watche i will not buy seiko as a unique watche,its perfect if you have 4 or 5 luxury watches and want to have one more very good,but i can only buy one,i am selling my rolex airking 34mm for 5000€ and a gold ring for having the budget of one entry level luxury watche and i will probably buy an oyster perpetual in black because i love it,its just a personal choice of course and i understand if somebody prefer a gran seiko,its probably a great watche.
@micaljimenez7381 if I were you, I would do exactly what you just said. Rolex for a one and only luxury watch. GS is a collectors brand, that you can enjoy just as much, but Rolex is Rolex as I always say.
