A Rare Bird - The Grand Seiko Blue Peacock SBGJ231 HiBeat

[benlee]

Just want to share with you this rare bird.

Most of you might have heard of the Grand Seiko Green Peacock but this one is more rare. While the green dial version is for the International market, this particular version is a Japan Seiko Premium Boutique exclusive and is not found outside Japan. It's feature a "blizzard" sunburst blue dial with the usual Zaratsu polishing on a Stainless case that is polished to perfection. While not a limited edition, production is very low and there is already long waitlist ( sound familiar? ).

I have the chance to preview this piece during my recent trip to Tokyo at the Seiko Premium Boutique Ginza. I am kind of a sucker for blue dial watches and Seiko makes some of the most gorgeous blue dial watches money can buy but this one is on another level and it's absolutely stunning. Sadly this piece is a show piece and not for sale. My only gripe other than the availability is I would have preferred the hands to be polished rather than brushed.

Here's a link to the GS Japan website :

https://www.grand-seiko.com/jp-ja/collections/SBGJ231/

More photos :

[Lol-x]

Great looking watch for sure.
How do you rate this high beat 36,000bph movement against the spring drive?
One tends to think the more beats per hour the more wear and tear on the movement for a given period of time.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Lol-x

Great looking watch for sure.
How do you rate this high beat 36,000bph movement against the spring drive?
One tends to think the more beats per hour the more wear and tear on the movement for a given period of time.

I'm not sure how much more wear and tear, Steve, or if 10 ticks per second instead of 8 is very significant in that regard. I guess any higher performance engine needs more attention.

Seiko produced what was only the second 36k movement, way back in 1967 (after the Girard-Perregaux Gyromatic came out in 1966), and stuck it in a Lord Marvel, as a test watch to see if it was reliable enough to fit in the Grand Seiko and counterpart King Seiko line. It was, and the Lord Marvel was still being produced as late as 1978, several years after the Quartz Revolution had put an end to GS (temporarily) and KS. But there was a time (late 60s to early 70s) when Seiko was churning out 28.8k and 36kbph movements as standard in these watches (as was Citizen, with the Leopard line) while the swiss were still chugging along at 21.6k.

I have two of them, from 1975 and 1978. One keeps almost perfect time (loses or gains a second every couple of days, depending how often worn), the other runs five seconds a day fast. Neither has had more than one service that I can tell. It's wonderful to see the vintage sweeping hand gliding round more smoothly than my modern Rolex pieces, and the sound is incredible.

Here'a an article about them: http://wornandwound.com/affordable-v...m5740-hi-beat/

[Gharddog03]

That’s GMT is absolutely beautiful!!!!!

[benlee]

Originally Posted by Lol-x

Great looking watch for sure.
How do you rate this high beat 36,000bph movement against the spring drive?
One tends to think the more beats per hour the more wear and tear on the movement for a given period of time.

I slightly prefer Springdrive for the enhanced accuracy but both are good movements. The high beat second hand swipe is also visually very smooth due to the high beat rate. Personally, I have not owned GS for long time ( as I just got into this brand quite recently ), but HiBeat has been in the GS stable for quite some time so I can assume they have must addressed any wear/tear issue by now.

[HL65]

Vey nice Ben!

[brminpin]

Love the blue dial!

[Rashid.bk]

Came in this sub forum out of curiosity. This was the first thread I clicked...
Was not disappointed. Wow this watch is gorgeous, too bad it's unobtainium.

[HK Islandboy]

Thank you for posting. What a stunning dial!

[PLNYC]

Stunning!

[Lol-x]

Thanks for the information Adam and Ben.
I saw the Spring Drive watches at the Seiko Boutique yesterday and was very impressed with the totally smooth sweeping second hand

[rolehex]

Ben, Gorgeous blue on that GS. Never seen the one before.

[mailman]

You have a nice Seiko collection Ben

[1William]

Beautiful dial.

[malarky_hk]

Why did they have to ruin the near perfect dial with the date window

[Rrpdc]

That’s a great dial !!

[yessir69]

GS knows how to do dials.

[Iflylo]

Beautiful watch Ben, look forward to your incoming.

[Rags]

Love that dial color.

[MATCH1969]

Very nice, have the Green one but this blue dial is fantastic !


Envoyé de mon iPad en utilisant Tapatalk

[Frampton]

The dial is a winner. I like the color and the interesting texture.

[Takonwong]

I thought the blue dial was limited? Limited to 250 or is that another model? And the peacock to 700

[Takonwong]

My mistake, the ‘Kasuri’ Grand Seiko SBGJ225 is the one limited to 250 and Asian market only

[crazymcmichael]

it looks cool!

[benlee]

Originally Posted by mailman

You have a nice Seiko collection Ben

It's not mine yet. Though I wish..

Originally Posted by malarky_hk

Why did they have to ruin the near perfect dial with the date window

Really? Having a date for practical purpose I guess.

Originally Posted by Iflylo

Beautiful watch Ben, look forward to your incoming.

Still in waitlist. Possibly few months waiting.

Originally Posted by Takonwong

I thought the blue dial was limited? Limited to 250 or is that another model? And the peacock to 700

It's not limited edition. But certainly limited production. It's only for sale in Premier Seiko boutique in Japan. And there's only two such boutiques as I understand. It's possible to purchase this on the grey market but at a premium.

[collarcity]

I prefer this to the green dial. That is a really stunning piece.

[CRM114]

I want one of these very, very badly.

[Halothane]

I love this watch.
I have a Peacock but really want a blue dial. Do I get SBGJ225 Kasuri or this one - the SBGJ231.
It may be tough to get either, as I don't have a Japan connection, lol.

[yessir69]

Yes, I would also like to know how to get one of those.

[ashbaug2]

The GS GMTs are beautiful, it's on "my list" of watches to get before I die, haha. That blue would be my choice, but a close second is the SGGJ201 with the Mt Iwate dial; it's almost exactly the same texture as this blue one, only in a white dial.