Grand Seiko with Chronometer Certified: GS 5722A

Grand Seiko 5722; The third in line
(A piece of junk that needed a fresh dial to become a Jewel)

This is a Grand Seiko I picked up from a Hong Kong's ebay seller. I got it for a bargain price. Maybe its appearance scared off a lot of potential buyers..... Apart from its dial, this watch is in very good condition.

This is the first batch of 5722 or 5722A. 5722 is the third generation Grand Seiko. It is after the first Grand Seiko 3180 and Grand Seiko Taiyo 43999 (43GS). Both 5722A and 5722B shared the same casing with 43GS. The heavily-lugged stainless steel case is 37mm in diameter excluding the crown and is about 9.5mm in thickness. The case is well polished and brushed. The watch has an inclined bezel with domed acrylic crystal. 

This watch is originally characterized by an immaculate matte pearl silver sunburst dial with faceted, applied steel baton markers and subdues legends, and highly readable, faceted steel dauphine hands. The hands and applied markings are outstandingly formed and finished. There is an aperture for the date at 3 o'clock position that is highlighted with silver steel window frame. 

The dial is signed "SEIKO Chronometer" at just underneath the 12 o'clock hour marker. Above the 6 o'clock marker it is signed "Grand Seiko, Diashock 35 Jewels". It has a Applique Dial (AD) symbol on the dial which is a 3-pointed star inside a triangle indicating the Seiko logo is applique rather than printed on the dial. At the bottom of the dial; Made in Japan on a side and another GSS14H380-SD. Later versions of 5722 did not retain the "Chronometer" dial legend, and also don't have the AD symbol on the dial. 

The first generation of 5722 (5722A) was produced in 昭和41年 or 1966. This particular 5722A used the identical coarse-knurled crown of the 43999. The later 5722 has the fine-knurled crown. Both the 43999 and 5722 GS have the "W SEIKO" imprint on the crown.

This watch has a thick screwed-down case back with embossed 18K gold GS lion notation medal. It is waterproof to 50 meters. During the early 1960's the 18K solid Gold Lion medallion was used on the caseback to denote “chronometer-grade” Seiko timepieces. In the early 1960s Seiko displayed the 'Chronometer' name on selected, precision watches which had passed the in-house Seiko chronometer standard precision testing, the equivalent of the BO (Basel Observatory) Chronometer standard. The Grand Seiko Chronometer grade watches are characterised by relatively unadorned hand-screened and-assembled movements regulated by specially selected and trained watchmakers. Seiko stopped displaying the ‘Chronometer’ designation in 1966. 

This GS's caseback had worn off quite substantially. The initial caseback should look like the below:

The first batch of 57GS was equipped with Cal.430, the very same movement used in 43999. The cal.430 movement is termed “self-dater” because it has quick set date function. Cal 430 was later relabeled as Cal. 5722A. The otherwise identical 5722A (tadpole; 18,000 bph) or the 5722B ("rack & pinion" regulation; 19,800 bph) caliber are very similar to the original cal 3180 of the first GS. Both are rhodium-plated, 35 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, shock absorber, flat balance spring, index regulator, and with hack mechanism. Only a total of 81,000 pieces of Cal. 430 and Cal.5722 had been produced by Suwa Seikosha.

In 1966, the GS 5722 cost a breath-taking 27000 Japanese Yen; which is more than the monthly salary of a Japanese College graduate. Today, GS 5722s are selling for well above USD 1000, depending on condition. Despite the fact, you are probably spend more than buying a new luxurious watch, you are actually buying into an unbroken legacy of watchmaking, and historically significant timepieces. 

Any Grand Seiko watches displaying the ‘Chronometer’ designation are rarity and highly sought after by collectors. They symbolised the finest decade of Seiko's mechanical watches achievements in conjunction with the introduction of The Grand Seiko Standard and Seiko's victory at the Astronomical Observatory Competitions.

This watch is described on page 15, 45-47 of the book "Japan Domestic Watch Vol.1 - Seiko Crown".

5722A and 5722B are well mentioned in the Museum of Japanese watches page 94.

Grand Seiko 5646-7010

Grand Seiko 5646-7010 Day-Date

I wrote about 56GS in September 2010 HERE.

"The 56GS marked the era of mass production with the aid of robotic automated process. There are also concept of standardization of design and movement. Therefore the 56GS shared identical movement with King Seiko, and Lordmatics. However the GS movement had a better finish and was tweaked to GS standard accuracy."

This is a 1972's production of Grand Seiko 5646. This watch has a white dial with slim silver hour markers and hands. It is 36mm in diameter excluding its crown. This watch is with quick set day-date and the day date functions are at 3 o'clock position. One can choose between English and Kanji for the display of day. The crown is beautifully signed with GS. 

This watch still has the Grand Seiko original bracelet on it. The bracelet is very fine and well built. It grips on the wrist very gently and serves its purpose well. 

The only disappointment is the original embossing GS lettering had fallen off. 

The gold medallion at the case back is still intact with some minor defect. This watch used Caliber 5646A, which is a 28,800 bph automatic movement with 25 jewels. It can be manual winding and has hacking function.

Does not matter, whether it is contemporary or vintage; automated production or human finishing; Grand Seiko has stood for the same simple yet exacting ideal, perfect precision, legibility and beauty. A Grand Seiko watch is a watch for a lifetime and longer......

Extended-cut with better quality photos:

Another GS 6146: Grand Seiko 6146-8050

Grand Seiko 6146-8050

The contemporary Grand Seiko logo above reflects Seiko's attention to perfection and precision. Seiko chose the majestic lion as their emblem is an ambitious declaration of Seiko wanting to be the No 1 in watches industry. My apology, kind of carrying away by Grand Seiko 50th anniversary emblem. 

I have written about GS 6146 one or two years back. This is another variant of GS 6146 with a different casing.  It has been out of my sight and out of my mind.... but is a very important bit of my Grand Seiko collection.

This model was made during late 1960's and early 1970's. This watch was traced to be coming out of Seiko factory in 1972. I managed to grab hold of this watch from Philippines. What is unique with this unit of Grand Seiko is its faceted crystal. Another interesting bit is the fact that most vintage Grand Seiko has a white or silver dial, this one is with a black grey original dial. This watch is in mint condition with the original GS signed crown and the gold GS emblem at the back intact. The only disappointment is the buckle and the bracelet is belonging to normal Seiko. It will be a uphill battle to find an original GS metal bracelet. 

Another GS masterpiece; Grand Seiko SBGR019; 9S55-0050

This is the watch that appeared in so many watch magazines during the early 2000's. It is one of the most detailed watch among the Grand Seiko family of that era.  This is a full stainless steel watch characterised by its hexagon shaped bezel and crown. What sparked my interest in this watch is the oversized, highly polished arabic numbers six and twelve. My this particular GS was produced in 2001.

All the newer GS came with a dual curved sapphire glass with anti-reflective coating. This make the watch seems like without the glass. Worth mentioning is the dial on this watch... it looked black on this photo, but it has a carbon mesh patterned dial. The indexes and the hands are brushed and highly polished to make them easily visible even under very dime light.

Seiko affection to detail is just simply stunning. Just by appreciating the beauty of the crown, you will know what I meant. The crown is screwed in type and this watch has a water resistant of 20 bars. The four holes at the bracelet lugs remind me of older days Rolex.

The caseback is simply exceptional... The Lion engraving is my all time favourite. The Lion used to symbolise the status of Seiko Chronometer during the early 60's. Now Seiko declared its own in-house GS standard which is even more stringent than Chronometer testing. SBGR019 is powered with a 26 jewels automatic 9S55 movement that can be manually winded. 9S55 has an accuracy of  -3 to +5 sec per day.  

The bracelet on this watch is one of its kind... it is incredibly complex in a sense. In fact, per link of the bracelet is consist of 7 parts. Well, personally I am not a great admirer of this bracelet. I think a simple one will put more emphasis on this spectacular watch. This bracelet has a 3 fold clasp with push release button that ensure the watch holds ergonomically onto our wrist.

 This watch comes with the original Grand Seiko box which is a dark blue velvet box with the gold GS wording and lion symbol printed. What a shame, this watch is without its papers. Well life ain't perfect... we just have to make the best up of it and enjoy it. 

Grand Seiko 5646-7000

This is one of my 56GS. It was produced in early 1970's in Suwa Seikosha. The 56GS marked the era of mass production with the aid of robotic automated process. There are also concept of standardization of design and movement. Therefore the 56GS shared identical movement with King Seiko, and Lordmatics. However the GS movement had a better finish and was tweaked to GS standard accuracy.

What I like about this watch is the slightly widebody stainless steel case. Also the hour, minute and second hands are slim and quite characteristic in matching the white plain dial. The only downside of this particular watch is the aging stain at the 3 o'clock... nevertheless it is still a magnificent time piece. 

The5646A is a 25 jewels adjusted to 5 positions day-date movement with an amplitude of 28,800 beats per hour.

This is an all original watch... seeing is believing and one will never know how beautiful a GS is without holding it............ After the 56GS.... Grand Seiko perished for a while and Seiko putting all emphasis on Quart watches.... It was almost 20 years before Seiko reintroduce the best of its time pieces; the Grand Seiko range of mechanical watches.....