- Grand Seiko has launched a new Spring Drive movement that’s accurate to within 20 seconds per year
- The revolutionary hybrid engine debuts in two striking new models
- One of the models, SLGB003, also features the brand’s first-ever quick-adjust bracelet clasp
Most luxury watch brands gave up the ghost long ago when it comes to their pursuit of accuracy. After all, when the cheapest quartz watches are more precise than even the most advanced and expensive mechanical watches, what’s the point?
But Grand Seiko didn’t get the memo. The brand’s Spring Drive technology — a proprietary battery-free hybrid of mechanical watch movements with quartz oscillators — has become a signature for the brand, offering the precision of quartz watches and the craftsmanship of mechanical watches. The best of both worlds, if you will.
Previous Spring Drive movements have topped out with an accuracy rating of +/-15 seconds per month, which easily bests the most precise mechanical watches. But Grand Seiko wasn’t satisfied. So now, the brand is introducing the first Spring Drive UFA (Ultra Fine Accuracy) movement, Caliber 9RB2.
UFA represents a massive leap for Spring Drive technology, with an accuracy rating of +/-20 seconds per year. That’s more precise than all but a handful of the world’s quartz movements, let alone other mainspring-powered movements. The improvements come via “enhanced manufacturing and processing methods for the three-month-aged quartz oscillator and a newly designed IC.”
