Bit of a late one today, apologies for that — but I’ll send one next Friday too, so you know, swings and roundabouts.
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure where to start this week. Baselworld is ‘postponed’ till next year, and any modicum of certainty for 2020’s watch calendar has gone out the window. I don’t particularly have the energy to spend ‘what-iffing’ that scenario right now, as many other people, many of them far better informed than me, have already had a crack at that.
That’s the macro, and of course, it affects the micro. Everyone’s scrambling down here. Putting together ad hoc plans and the like. And that’s OK. It will, I suspect, be a year of hand-holding and working it out.
Before I *finally* get onto the business of looking at significant new releases (first out of the gate are Grand Seiko and Seiko, with some other brand embargoes lifting next week), I’ve got one major thought on the impact of the watch fairs from my media perspective. It will be really interesting to see how the gaggle of industry professionals, influencers, bloggers and all those in-between differentiate themselves when the barrier of entry that is attendance at the major fairs has been removed. How will your favourite watch media provider stand out if they don’t have early access to watches, at the same time as the rest of the world? Certainly relevant in Australia, where we’re often late to get local market access to the latest collections.
Grand Seiko’s 2020 releases in 30 seconds
OK, So Grand Seiko released their main batch of novelties the other day. And here’s my quick take …
New movement who dis?
For me the most significant releases were two new movements — a slimmer (5.00mm down from 5.8mm) Spring Drive, which offers 120 hours of power reserve (up from 70) and is now accurate to within 10 seconds a month (up from 15). An impressive update. I’ll admit I’m a little confused about the optics of debuting this slim new movement in a 46.9mm by 16mm thick diver, a 60th anniversary LE with the reference SLGA001.
Another movement advance is the 9SA5 — the latest hi-beat, which offers +5/-3 accuracy, 80 hours of power and a slimmer profile. The significant advances here are the new dual impulse escapement and some modern architecture. It debuts in this dressy gold number, the SLGH002. I like pretty much everything about it, except that ’80 hours’ on the dial. And the 45,000 Euro sticker price.
The big release is a trio of re creation models (SBGW257, SBGW258 and SBGW359 - the latter is the steel one), based on the OGS from 1960. Exceptionally classic, they’ll be catnip for collectors.
The last announcements I’ll cover a tied to place. Grand Seiko’s are mostly made in Morioka, in Shizukuishi. The brand is opening up a new studio in the space, expanding production, but also growing the public-facing capacity of Grand Seiko. Alongside that are some higher-end watches, including this incredible hand-engraved number. Even the logo on the SBGQ263 is carved out with a buren. Ridiculous.
Seiko’s 2020 releases in 30 seconds
Less grand, but still Seiko. The one that grabbed me the most (‘cos I’m a Ghibli tragic) was this Porco Rosso themed Presage. It’s a good fit and subtle. It’s also amazing to me just how much Seiko has evolved — this is precisely the sort of tie-in release I’d see coming from a big Swiss brand. However, my heart still goes out to the elusive (and possibly unauthorised) limited edition Porco Rosso Navitimer.
There’s some new Astrons, which is a seriously cool bit of kit and has been getting better and better with every iteration.
And finally, the big one. Seiko celebrates 55 years of Prospex this year, and they’ve done it was a trio of blue-dialled re creations varying in degrees of fidelity to the original. The SLA037 will be the fan favourite, for its purity of expression, with the Marinemaster redux SLA039 running a close second. My pick is the fourth option, the SPB149 (below) — a modern reinterpretation of the past: a lovely, subtle colour scheme and an honest diver. RRP is 1350 Euro.
Reading List
A short one for you today. For a recap of where we’re at with the 2020 fair situation head to Hodinkee for Joe Thompson’s analysis – it’s the clearest and the best so far, IMO. A bit of sad news in that one of my absolute favourite watch print titles, QP, is being closed by owners Hearst. On the Felix Front, I wrote up the hot Unimatic X Masenna LAB for Revo and played with a sports smartwatch (lol I actually love it) for Executive Traveller.