As part of its Heritage collection, Grand Seiko has just released the new SBGY007 “Omiwatari” watch. True to Grand Seiko's style, the watch is inspired by and pays homage to an aspect of Japanese nature. In this case, the dial resembles “Omiwatari” (“God’s crossing”) - a natural phenomenon that occurs every winter when the waters of Lake Suwa freeze, forming wavy cracks and ridges up to one foot high.
The light icy blue dial of the SBGY007 model is crafted using a hammering technique to achieve a wavy and textured pattern. Grand Seiko has several very beautiful light blue dials, such as the SBGA407 with its “Snowflake” blue dial, but their shades are entirely different. Judging by the photos, the new SBGY007 model truly appears as “icy” as it does blue. The dark blue second hand is a kind of signature for Grand Seiko's watches with a “cold” theme, and here it feels right at home.
I truly believe that this case, used in the Elegance collection, is one of the most underrated for dress watches. I talked about the first version of the Elegance collection with model 9R31 when it debuted in 2019 at the 20th anniversary of Spring Drive, and since then I have not stopped admiring it. The perfect SBGY007 model, with a width of 38.5 mm and a thickness of only 10.2 mm, is equipped with the 9R31 Spring Drive manual movement. The movement with a dual-spring barrel and an accuracy of ±1 second per day has a 72-hour power reserve. You will also notice the power reserve indicator on the movement, which is visible through the case back.
This is simply a beautiful manually wound movement that cannot be mistaken for any brand other than Grand Seiko. It truly puts many “pure” mechanical movements to shame both in design and performance.
The Grand Seiko SBGY007 “Omiwatari” showcases what the brand does best - a magnificent icy blue dial with a pulsating texture, placed in a perfectly sized stainless steel case (with 30 meters of water resistance) with a wonderful movement that you literally won't find anywhere else.
The watch comes on a black crocodile leather strap with dark blue stitching and is priced at $8,300. For more information, you can visit grand-seiko.com.