Grand Seiko, a watch with the heart of an F1 machine

  • History / Brand
  • The Light and Shadow
Dec 26, 2019
0

The interesting point about the Grand Seiko (GS) timepieces, is that referring to them just as "good practical watches" is not enough. A good example is the Astronomical Observatory Chronometers produced on a small scale in the late 1960s. They had, on first look, a simple GS design, yet inside they were ultra-high-precision instruments.

Nowadays, watches with high-precisions movements are called "chronometers." To earn this name, a watch must meet strict criteria, and for mechanical watches the average accuracy rate must be +4-6 seconds a day. However, the GS movements are deliberately not called "chronometers," for the very fact that they have to meet standards of precision that are even stricter than those for chronometers.

In fact, there used to be a higher standard than the one a "regular" chronometer had to meet: the Observatory Chronometers Competitions. This was the general name for the precision timepiece competitions held in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, in what could be called the "F1 race of the watch industry."

Seiko participated in the competition for the first time in 1964, and over the next few years gained a better result each year, taking second place in the Series Prize at Neuchâtel in 1967 and first place in the overall ranking at Geneva the following year. It is not a well-known fact, but before overtaking the competition with its quartz watch, Seiko was already at the summit of the mechanical watch world. It seemed that the hosting country of Switzerland didn't appreciate this, and soon after Seiko managed to sweep the top positions, the competition was discontinued.

Interestingly, after that, Seiko put its movements—certified at the Neuchâtel Observatory Chronometers competition—into 18k pure gold cases to sell under the name of "Astronomical Observatory Chronometers." While a common GS surpasses a standard chronometer in accuracy, the accuracy rate in this model was at the pinnacle for mechanical watches.

Even now, the Astronomical Observatory Chronometer is the pinnacle of Japanese horology. By extension, the GS has its V.F.A. (Very Fine Adjusted) designation. With these, Seiko has exceeded our expectations, almost like releasing a world-class racing car onto the market.

 

The Astronomical Observatory Chronometers 45GSN model was launched in 1969. It was equipped with a 4520 caliber, a tuned version of the commercial 4500. It is believed that just 226 of the 45GS V.F.A. timepieces with the 4580 movement that had passed the Observatory Chronometers Competition with 18k gold cases were made before being discontinued.