Combine art and spirituality. Create a new masterpiece that aims to pay homage to Japanese culture. Richard Mille presents the RM 47 Tourbillon, the culmination of nearly four years of in-depth thinking and design work. This is a new art watch with an extremely compact movement designed to make room inside the case for a completely handcrafted stylized samurai armor. The model was born out of a friendly dialogue between Richard Mille and Fernando Alonso, two-time Formula 1 world champion and partner of the brand, passionate about traditional Japanese arts and samurai codes of conduct.
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New Grand Seiko Tentagraph SLGC001
The world is a vast and mysterious place, and there are some facts you just can't understand. Did you know that Japan has the highest snowfall in the world, or that the word geoduck is pronounced "gooey-duck"? Or rather, to date, there has never been a mechanical Grand Seiko chronograph. This last one is shocking considering the popularity of mechanical chronographs among collectors and the brand’s rich history. The Grand Seiko brand high quality watches replica has always had Spring Drive chronographs, or mechanical chronographs if you'd rather go with Seiko, but there's never been a Grand Seiko mechanical chronograph.
Grand Seiko Tentagraph SLGC001 That finally changed this year when Grand Seiko launched the Tentagraph at Watches & Wonders. The name of the watch is a combination and play of words that describe the watch: Ten – its operating frequency in Hertz; T – three, the number of days of power reserve; A – automatic winding; and Diagram – for chronographs. With the Tentagraph, Grand Seiko has finally filled a critical market gap and can now compete with other mechanical movement chronographs in a similar price range. Here we bring you details and honest thoughts about Grand Seiko’s 2023 novelties and first-ever mechanical chronograph watch.
Case, dial and hands The Grand Seiko Tentagraph is a larger replica luxury Watches, measuring 43.2 mm in diameter and 15.3 mm thick. Most mechanical watches with this configuration feel top-heavy on the wrist, which is never a good thing. Luckily, the Tentagraph is unlike most watches. Made from lightweight titanium, the watch is 30% more scratch-resistant and, more importantly, lighter than stainless steel. This helps reduce the weight of the meter head. For added comfort and security, the lugs are gently curved to follow the contours of the wrist. The case also features a scratch-resistant black ceramic bezel with a tachymeter scale – a popular design for today’s sports chronographs. To complete the case, it is paired with a titanium bracelet with a three-fold clasp.
While the Tentagraph’s case and bracelet are excellent, the dial remains the highlight of the show. For those familiar with the brand, a Grand Seiko watch with a perfect dial is more of an expectation than a surprise. These dials always come with a story – and the Tentagraph dial is no exception. The dial pattern here is called "Mountain". “Iwate Pattern”, named after the mountain peak visible from Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi. Meanwhile, a deep blue paints the night sky. The combination of pattern and color creates some mesmerizing light effects – a feature of the brand’s first mechanical chronograph the best choice.
There are three recessed subdials on the dial, one at 9 o'clock for the minutes, another at 6 o'clock for the hours, and the last one at 3 o'clock for the running seconds. Instead of the Iwate Mountain design, these subdials are decorated with a more traditional concentric guilloche pattern. To further differentiate these subdials, they are placed on a lower plane than the rest of the dial; the idea here is to compartmentalize and improve legibility. The date window is cleverly integrated at the 4.30 position; whether the practicality of this complication is worth throwing the dial slightly off balance is another matter. Indicating the time are these brushed hour and minute hands with polished edges, as well as faceted hour-marker appliqués. These components feature lighting to improve visibility in low-light conditions. Interestingly, the central chronograph seconds hand is also coated with luminous material, while the other chronograph hands are not. The chronograph seconds hand can therefore moonlight as a running seconds hand (a benefit of the vertical clutch), rather than a diminutive seconds hand that is not treated with luminous material. men replica watches
Powering the Grand Seiko Tentagraph is the new 60-jewel Caliber 9SC5. The movement is based on the 2020 Caliber 9SA5, which for the first time is equipped with a “double-pulse escapement”, an in-house developed escapement that is more efficient than the classic lever escapement. In fact, Caliber 9SC5 is essentially Caliber 9SA5 with a timing module attached. As a vertical-clutch column-wheel chronograph, the Tentagraph’s chronograph mechanism can run indefinitely without causing additional wear and tear on the movement. Of course, the Caliber 9SC5 also inherits the 9SA5’s 5 Hz frequency, but due to the extra complexity, it has a slightly shorter power reserve of 72 hours (compared to 80 hours on the 9SA5). According to Grand Seiko, this is an industry-leading figure,
Matching the excellent specifications of the Caliber 9SC5 is the equally outstanding movement decoration. Compared to the earlier Grand Seiko movements (which were not from the Micro Artist Studio, because that would be cheating), the level of finishing of this new generation movement is closer to that of a high-end Swiss watch. Of note are the polished bevels on the edges of the bridge plates and stone countersinks. The bridge plates not only have ordinary rounded corners, but also sharp outward angles, which are more aesthetically pleasing but are laborious to make. Other aspects reminiscent of Swiss movements include the Côtes de Genève decoration on the top surfaces of the bridges, and the numerous polished screws that secure the bridges. Review replica watches
competitive landscape It took a while, but Grand Seiko finally has a true mechanical chronograph. True to its innovative spirit, the Tentagraph is thoroughly modern (for a mechanical watch, anyway), with an impressive and unique mechanism. It’s not just the details that are done well, the brand also goes the extra mile on aesthetics. Not bad for a regular production Grand Seiko timepiece.
When it comes to high-frequency chronographs, no discussion would be complete without mentioning the Zenith Chronomaster. The variant shown in the image below is the 2022 Chronomaster Open, which is very similar to the Tentagraph and also runs at 5 Hz. The open heart-shaped design of the Chronomaster Open is designed to make the high-frequency balance wheel of the El Primero movement as visible as possible. While it has a power reserve of "only" 60 hours, it's much more compact than the Tentagraph, measuring 39.5mm x 13.1mm. The Zenith Chronomaster Open in stainless steel costs approximately CHF 9,900, making it a great value for those in the market for a high-frequency mechanical chronograph. It lacks the fins of the Tentagraph, but it's more restrained in size and just as impressive mechanically. high quality replica watches
Interestingly, it’s also worth mentioning the Tag Heuer Mikrotimer Flying 1000, which won the 2011 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève for Best Sports Watch. The Mikrotimer is the ultimate high-frequency chronograph, its brilliance both intense and fleeting. The watch has two balance wheels – a traditional balance wheel that beats at 4 Hz for timekeeping, and a chronograph one that beats at 3.6 million times per hour, or 500 Hz. When activated, the Mikrotimer is capable of measuring time up to 1/1000th of a second.
As they say: "Better late than never". Grand Seiko’s belated foray into mechanical chronograph watches has been well worth the wait. With the Tentagraph, Grand Seiko sends the message: This is business. It may not be perfect, but when your first mechanical chronograph runs at 5 Hz, is beautifully decorated, and is priced competitively, it's a clear sign of intent. It will be interesting to see how the brand continues with its new line of mechanical chronographs. luxury replica watches