This movement gives me the chills. All I need is a couple more promotions at work and my kids to graduate college, then take out a 2nd mortgage. 😅 Thanks Bruce!
The 9SA5 is probably by far the BEST mechanical watch movement that is installed in a "common" regular production model. I bought the "Night Birch" as soon as it came out as I was lustering after the "White Birch" from the beginning. The black one was the perfect addition to my now 3-watch-GS-collection. For around 10k the 9SA5 powered watches are currently one of the best out there. Thanks for showing, Bruce!
the accuracy isnt good though. Typically isnt within its specs... something wrong with the escapement like Omega when they came out with the coaxial initially
My SLGH009 is hands down my favorite watch in my collection. And having the added bonus of the heat blued screws in the 9SA5 movement of this limited edition piece just makes it that much more beautiful and special. And I agree, the 44GS is there best case. I feel like i own a piece of GS history owning a LE piece that is the first 44GS in ever brilliant steel to house the new generation caliber.
The bracelet on my GS is most comfortable within my humble collection. Its edges are nicely rounded and it’s flexible. The buckle is small and I like that as I have a small wrist.
Love this timepiece and your review. It's feel in hand is solid and well executed. Every detail from dial, to markers, to finishing of the hands and movement through the caseback is well done. Design is such a subjective thing but whether you love or hate the 44GS case, it is of quality construction and finishing. On the movement side we begin to start seeing polished bevel edges on bridges and polished screw countersinks; the more to appreciate with a loupe. IMHO this punches well above its asking price. Why, let us count the ways: heritage 44GS case design, historically significant new movement that advances watchmaking design (here in reference to major reduction of friction and 80 hour high beat power reserve brought about not just with an increased barrel size or more than one barrel), ever-brilliant steel, and overall execution of finishing. I'm starting to think that while the SLGH013 does appear conventional on the outside, that it is a niche product that will end up being appreciated by only a few.
Of all the people complaining about grand seiko bracelets 1) how many have actually worn it on the wrist? 2) how many have actually needed to use micro adjustment after sizing it the first time? Just my personal experience on 2 grand seikos. The bracelets are fine. I'd worry more about this 9S85 movement delivering COSC level standards from what i've been reading online. That's why i went with the 9RA2 spring drive. Deviation of only -0.5 seconds after 34 days of testing. 😊
I own a Grand Seiko SBGA413 and a Rolex Submariner with glide lock. On the fly micro adjust is absolutely a killer feature and I use it all the time. I wish Grand Seiko had it. Can I daily wear my GS without it? Of course. It helps that my particular GS is titanium so it it's very light. The light weight makes it so wearing it half a link loose and sliding it up my arm a bit further works fine as a mitigation strategy, but I still wish it had on the fly adjust of some kind. I think Grand Seiko has the engineering prowess to design a truly novel on the fly bracelet adjustment system that doesn't require a massive chunky clasp and I'd love to see them do it. I handled a Zodiac watch recently and I was surprised to learn that they had a wonderful solution to this problem. There's no micro adjust per say, but the buckle on the clasp is spring tensioned so that if your wrist swells there's room for the bracelet to expand a few mm without you having to take it off or mess with it at all. Also check out Formex and their brilliant simple solution to on the fly micro adjustment of deployant clasp buckles on traditional straps. There are companies out there innovating in this space and it's a shame GS isn't one of them considering how innovative they seem to be everywhere else. Even on the design front, GS is definitely a bit lazy on the bracelets. They're basically all identical looking. Love GS overall and will definitely buy more from them, but they're not above a bit of constructive criticism.
@@spoonraker yes thats exactly what i have done. Half link loose and just slide it up or down the arm as needed. Hehehe. It could be better but it's not deal breaking as many are claiming it to be. 😄 I think tudor pelagos clasp also has that spring tension you are mentioning. I can't dispute that their bracelets are generic and 'one size fits all' feeling. I think it's more a cost cutting strategy than pure laziness.
Grand Seiko is my favorite brand. I own the SGBH295, it’s my most worn watch, I even wear it with casual attire. And regarding the bracelet, I think this bracelet on this watch, which is the same as on my SBGH295, is fantastic. It’s far more comfortable than my oyster or my jubilee. It’s not as comfortable as my IWC Petite Prince bracelet, but it’s very nice. I would like on the fly micro adjustments at this price point.
The best in my opinion is the movement in the Kodo. This is the second best and is much better than the 9S series hand down. Love how Grand Seiko is continually pushing the boundaries!
Bruce, I have had two of these White Birch watches and one ran erratically out of specs and the other ran 18-22 seconds fast per day. I got rid of both of them. I now read on the internet that my experience is not unusual and is actually very common. I’m so disappointed in GS for making and marketing a stunningly beautiful watch that is apparently way over engineered such that they can’t keep them in specs. This needs to get out to those saving for this piece so they are not disappointed like I and many others have been.
The weakness as with my sbga415 is the lack of adjustment in the clasp. I don't wear my watches Bruce loose! It's not too much to ask for some adjustment.
You missed that this movement has a pretty serious accuracy issue. My white birch was +25 seconds per day too fast, was sent to Japan for adjustment and came back with +13 seconds per day. My SLGH015 Wako Clock limited edition has the same accuracy issue as my white birch. On watchuseek there's a dedicated white birch thread full of similar complaints, yet none of the watch RU-vidrs ever mention the issue. I also own a couple of their older hi beat watches, they're all far more accurate than this 80 hrs hi beat. It's beautiful though and accuracy is not everything, if you want a really really accurate GS you gotta go spring drive or 9F quartz anyway but still this needs to be addressed by GS.
9SA5 owner here. Interesting to read, can't agree though. I bought a Night Birch a few months ago and the accuracy is well within the specifications, even more accurate as usual at Seiko / Grand Seiko. I'm interested to see where this is going.
I assume you didn't know in advance that it would be that bad. One must be insane to shell out so much money knowing they'd get such poor performance out of a new watch.
If and when Grand Seiko in the future add a nice micro adjustment clasp to their bracelets AND creates a 40 mm dive watch, i will go on record as stating that Grand Seiko will explode. When so, i will sell my Tudors and Omega's and get me some Grand Seiko pieces
The extra specs on dial don’t bother me much, not because I want to see the specs, but because I think it balances out the dial. It’d be cool if instead it had the name of the mountain that the dial is modeled after. Anyway, great vid and I hope to pick up this watch soon. 😎👍🏼
I looked hard at this. Went with SBGH295, the blue dial won me over. And it was a few thousand less. This dial was more silver/grey to me. Movement is gorgeous though
There is too much negative space if you remove the “HI-BEAT 36000” and “80 HOURS”. I think the dial is perfect as it is. The bottom text balances the weight of the GS text at the top. Just my opinion
9SA5 owner here. Interesting to read, can't agree though. I bought a Night Birch a few months ago and the accuracy is well within the specifications, even more accurate as usual at Seiko / Grand Seiko. I'm interested to see where this is going.
grand seiko hibeat dual impulse escapement is the greatest mechanical movement ever made period, it seems similar to george daniels co axial escapement but its completely different and way better and more efficient
In reality the best mechanical movement in hisotry is the one housed in Zenith's Defy Lab watches, that is off only 0.30 secs/day at most. It puts to shame this GS movement that drifts as much as 5 secs/day from actual time. The chief function of and point in using a watch is to tell time the most accurately as possible, and there's no contest between the two movements in this regard.
I could have gone without the date complication rather than loose the text at 6, and if the date had to be present, the datewheel should have had the same texture as the dial in my opinion or maybe a date hand?
bought this watch for a month now. Beautiful case and dial design / finishing, not-so-beautiful but practical enoguh bracelet, running accuracy is off though, much faster than my other mechnical watches. If u appreciate the looks then its a good watch to buy, its basically a throw of dice whether it is accurate enough.
When i want to buying an automatic/mechanical watch, i will take a look at the back case movemnt first.. i love the look on automatic engine. This watch is stunning for me. Its why I dont like rolex because they hide their movement at back case . This is just my opinion
The 9SA5 is indeed good looking, but it isn't accurate at all, a known problem at GS. Before they find a permanent solution I'll just have to live with my Green Birch running at +14s a day
I bought a stolen GS in 99' and I loved my GS quartz so much but year later I sold it for 4 grams of coke,now as 47 years old I still adore GS but as proud owner of Chronomaster I can say that The Citizen is on pair with GS.
I own more than two Rolexes with Oyster bracelets and more than two Grand Seikos. I see both sides. While the Rolex bracelets feel subtantially more solid and 'higher class' the comfort of wearing a more lose GS bracelet is higher imho. Maybe that's because I do wear my bracelets more loose in general but due to this fact I just acknowledge the differences between the brands but can't complain about the GS bracelets at all. It's just a different style of creating such a bracelet. That said, some form of micro adjustment would be appreciated. But again nothing I would personally need due too my loose wearing style.
Quoting from the manufacturer is hardly scientific, they aren't going to say this one is more expensive and far worse than the last one we made. Not that I'm suggesting it .
I’d lose the date. Focus on the dial. Agreed the bottom dial details are too much. Like your voiceover format instead of live narration - much smoother.
I own Grand Seiko White birch with automatic hibeat movement for a month. To be honest, Its precision is very bad (more than +8 seconds a day). Even Worse than my old Seiko 5 Sport watch. I'm very disappointed by the result of accuracy because it's promoted as one of their best model in their catalog.
Seiko is taking the fricking piss. An ordinary middle class John Doe can never afford this type of watch - this is for the privileged classes. Seiko has proved that it can create masterpieces, but its mid-range watches are overpriced junk.
