You’d think that watches, by their very nature, keep time. Reliable mechanical elves that you can count on. But as with everything, timepieces that rely on quartz crystal oscillators, can lose time due to "inherent inaccuracies in the crystal's frequency; each year, seconds are lost (or gained), making time less accurate than before. But what’s the big deal, you ask, if a few seconds go missing every now and then? The missing seconds might seem too minute (hurhur) for the average lay person but for watch companies, especially with Grand Seiko, accuracy is paramount.
Around 1970, Grand Seiko introduced the VFA or “Very Fine Adjusted”. It defined the company that was adjusted so skilfully that it has a monthly rate of ±1 minute. The arrival of the Spring Drive touted the blend of traditional energy of a mainspring with the electronic watchmaking tech at the time. In 2004, came the Spring Drive Caliber 9R65 that paired automatic winding and 72 hours of power reserve. The monthly rate for that? ±15 seconds. Not too shabby.
For Grand Seiko's turn at this year's Watches and Wonders, these advancements now led to the Spring Drive Caliber 9RB2, this movement gets an UFA certification or “Ultra Fine Accuracy”. Given its namesake, how accurate is it now? How about ±20 seconds? Not per month but per year. This puts the Spring Drive Caliber 9RB2 as the most accurate wristwatch movement today.
It took a new quartz oscillator and a newly-designed IC to create the Spring Drive Caliber 9RB2. With the 9RA series of Spring Drive movements, the frequency of each quartz oscillator is measured at different temperatures. Both oscillator and sensor are vacuum-sealed to minimise temperature differences and protect against external factors like humidity, static electricity, and light. For the first time in Spring Drive history, there’s even a regulation switch that corrects any divergences in accuracy that may occur over long periods of use.
The Spring Drive Caliber 9RB2 makes its debut in two watches in the Evolution 9 Collection. One in titanium and the other in platinum 950. You can see the caliber through an exposed sapphire caseback. Like all the watches made at Grand Seiko’s Shinshu Watch Studio, they are inspired by the surroundings where they are created.
The jewels are the stars during the early days of winter; the dials are the frost-covered trees in the Kirigamine Highlands east of the Shinshu Watch Studio. While possessing similar dial motifs, the dial of the titanium version has a silver-tinged blue hue, while the platinum version features a slightly deeper blue dial. The hands and grooved indexes ensure legibility and the 37mm case has a mirror finish thanks to Zaratsu polishing.
A crocodile strap comes with the Platinum 950 version and the titanium version’s bracelet features a newly developed three-step micro-adjustment clasp that operates without a tool; allowing precise adjustments in 2mm increments for enhanced comfort.
Come June, the Platinum 950 version is limited to 80 pieces and are exclusive to Grand Seiko Boutiques; the High-Intensity Titanium version will be available at the Grand Seiko Boutiques and authorised retail partners worldwide
