#Sbga211g full

#Sbga211g full

In the case of the Snowflake SBGA211, we have a full high-intensity titanium bracelet combining satin-finished surfaces and polished accents. Knowing that most Grand Seiko watches are in the EUR 5K to 10K category, these are direct competitors. If you look for instance at Rolex or Omega, their modern bracelets are pretty impressive, whether for their finishing, the precision of the assembly, the comfort or the overall durability. Reality is that it was sort of true and some of the watches can have rather flimsy bracelets. Why? I often read (and I even said it myself) that Seiko and Grand SeikoвЂ™s metallic bracelets are not on par with competing watches. Case and braceletДЇor once, IвЂ™m going to start a review with the bracelet. For once, weвЂ™ll leave our snobbery in the closet and weвЂ™ll give Spring Drive technology a chance вЂ“ well, in fact, weвЂ™ve been convinced by it for a long time now! In all objectivity, this Snowflake SBGA211 deserves some attention and offers an array of incentives to conquer the EUR 5K to 10K category. With this introduction, the door is now open for us to have a look at the Grand Seiko Spring Drive Snowflake SBGA211. The icing on the cake? Grand Seiko produces its quartz crystals in-house. The only difference is that the regulating organ isnвЂ™t a classic balance/escapement module but an electronic regulator combined with a quartz crystal. In 2004, Grand Seiko introduced a technology named Spring Drive where 80% of the movementвЂ™s components are shared with a mechanical watch, with no battery, and where energy is supplied from a mainspring and the motion of the hands results from a gear train. That it can even be pretty fascinating in terms of watchmaking expertise вЂ“ as long as you believe in modernity (something that was a prerequisite for todayвЂ™s article). One company decided that quartz didnвЂ™t necessarily have to be low-end. Emotions towards quartz are usually pretty negative, and in the Swiss watch industry, the words quartz and high-end will not be mixed easily.вЂќ This is a fact! And to make things worse, quartz usually appears in tandem with the word battery вЂ“ and thatвЂ™s where we usually stop looking at such watches. Quartz caused the infamous quartz crisis during which many Swiss watch brands got in trouble, or even went bankrupt. A concept that will be important to this article because, as Frank pointed out in his article, antipathy towards quartz has always prevailed: вЂњ Quartz is despicable. I recall that following his visit to the Seiko manufacture, our founder Frank Geelen came to the conclusion that: вЂњ Quartz CAN be high-endвЂќ. This watch is theВ Grand Seiko Spring Drive Snowflake SBGA211 and no, weвЂ™re not afraid to review it in this вЂњonline magazine dedicated to fine watchesвЂќ. And last but not least, this quartz crystal is part of a hybrid movement, mixing old-school mechanics and modernity. Secondly, this watch is made by Grand Seiko вЂ“ and weвЂ™ve already seen that it is committed to doing things in a different (better?) way. However, the watch that weвЂ™re about to review has a quartz regulator, but isnвЂ™t battery powered вЂ“ and that already makes things slightly different.

We love fine mechanics and Haute Horlogerie. IвЂ™m not afraid to say that and freely admit that we are watch snobs. QuartzвЂ¦ A word that you donвЂ™t often read on MONOCHROME.