Grand Seiko’s Most Iconic Watch Style Is Now More Affordable Than Ever

Grand Seiko is known for its gorgeous nature-inspired dials, and several have become fan favorites in recent years, such as the Mt. Iwate, Lake Suwa and White Birch.

But none of them can hold a candle to the Snowflake.

First appearing as a Japan-exclusive on the titanium, Spring Drive-powered SBGA011 in 2005, the textured white “Snowflake” dial marked a new era for Grand Seiko and really laid the groundwork for the brand’s signature “Nature of Time” ethos.

The Snowflake’s legend grew exponentially when the SBGA011 evolved into the current SBGA211 in 2017 to coincide with Grand Seiko’s relaunch as an independent brand, and GS has since iterated on the style with other Snowflake-dialed variants, including the light-blue “Skyflake” and the gray “Mistflake” GMT.

Today, Grand Seiko has introduced yet another Snowflake (and Skyflake) variant, and it’s both the cheapest and thinnest the brand has ever made.

Grand Seiko

No two Snowflakes are alike

The latest Grand Seiko Snowflake and Skyflake are the SBGX359 and SBGX361, two identical watches that differ only in the color of their Snowflake dials: Pure white for the 359, and light blue for the 361.

The watches feature stainless steel cases and bracelets and are very compact, with their cases measuring just 33mm across and only 9.1mm thick. Grand Seiko watches have a reputation for being on the thicc side, so these are some welcome proportions. In fact, they make for the thinnest Snowflake watches we’ve seen yet.

The watches’ diminutive size comes courtesy of a brand-new high-accuracy quartz movement, the Caliber 9F51. The movement is the first new 9F movement in six years, and although it features all the bells and whistles as other time-only 9F movements — including accuracy to within 10 seconds per year — the caliber is shockingly small, measuring just 26.4mm in diameter and 2.2mm thick.

Grand Seiko

As a result, the SBGX359 and SBGX361 aren’t just the smallest Snowflake watches we’ve seen, but they’re also the smallest Cal. 9F-powered watches ever.

Of course, the main calling card of these watches is their Snowflake and Skyflake dials, which are exactly the same as on their larger brethren — complete with heat-blued steel seconds hands — just in a more compact size. The fact that they lack a date and power-reserve indicator also makes them among the cleanest examples of this dial style, which really allows for the gorgeous texture to shine.

The Zaratsu-polished case finishing, razor-sharp dauphine hands and faceted applied indices are all familiar fare for Grand Seiko’s Heritage Collection, where these two new references live. The watches are also water-resistant to 100m, making them especially suitable for daily wear, and feature AR-coated sapphire crystals on the front.

Grand Seiko

Availability and pricing

Over the past two years, Grand Seiko introduced 9F quartz-powered versions of the Snowflake and Skyflake, respectively, with the SBGX355 Snowflake and SBGX357 Skyflake. Both models are 37mm in High-Intensity Titanium and are priced at $4,100 each.

Thanks to their use of steel instead of titanium and their smaller size, the new SBGX359 and SBGX361 seriously undercut the price of those quartz Snowflake variants, coming in almost $1,000 cheaper at $3,200 each.

That’s by far the lowest price we’ve seen yet for a Grand Seiko Snowflake (or Skyflake), so if you’ve been hankering for one but didn’t have the cash, this may be the version for you. Both references are now available to preorder on Grand Seiko’s online boutique, with shipping expected this April.

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