Grade One Replica Watch

W&W 2025: Grand Seiko Presents Its Most Precise Movement Yet the New Calibre 9RB2

10 April 2025

Japan's rich cultural heritage evokes countless associations yet fine watchmaking is rarely among them. This is hardly surprising: many still perceive the Far East as a challenge to the traditional world of mechanical timepieces. After all, it was Japan more precisely, Seiko that launched the first commercially produced quartz wristwatch, the 35SQ, in 1969, triggering the quartz crisis that plunged the Swiss watch industry into turmoil.And yet, behind a culture shaped by anime and video games lies a country whose horological landscape is far more nuanced than it may first appear which brings us to Grand Seiko. Far more than just the prestige brand of the Seiko Group, Grand Seiko exemplifies the confidence and craftsmanship that Japanese watchmaking has cultivated over the past decades.Founded 65 years ago nearly a decade before quartz technology shook the European watch industry to its core Grand Seiko today boasts a fully integrated production process and a rigorously structured training system. This not only fosters long-term commitment among its employees but also enables clearly defined career paths within the brand's universe. (If you would like to delve deeper into the world of Grand Seiko, I recommend the article by my colleague Alexander Stilcken, who had the opportunity to visit the manufacture in Japan.)..................