This is the best, most straight-forward explanation of the Spring Drive system I've ever seen. Grand Seiko evokes such a polarizing contrast of opinions from the watch community for reasons that I don't really understand. I respect a watch enthusiast who doesn't care for the styling of their line of watches as they are quite conservative in their designs. But to not acknowledge what an ingenious leap in horological technology Spring Drive represents is quite puzzling to me. I believe we should embrace all types of technologies, from solar to hand-wind to automatic to kinetic to quartz to Spring Drive if we truly love watches.
For people in the USA, Seiko is a mall brand. You see it at Macy's. It's just another watch. They don't get the history the company has, or the ingenuity that has come out of it.
Don't blame the consumer. Seiko has never given a damn about the US market. Consumers have to go out of their way to even buy a Seiko watch because most of their popular models Seiko does not even bother to sell in the US. You want to blame anyone, blame Seiko.
Well I bought 5 Titus vintage watches which have smooth seconds hand running function and I paid just 133 dollars for 5 watches. These watches are thought to be made from omega watch components and they use the technology named "tuning fork ". Yeah they run on a battery, but the seconds hand runs like that of a mechanical movement, and also the watches have jewels and other such parts which the mechanical movements include. I am loving my collection
So if I understood you correctly....there is a tiny Japanese engineer sitting inside the watch checking and regulating accuracy every now and then and if the watch deviates more than 2 secs in a day he will commit Harakiri. Impressive.
You got it all wrong: the tiny japanese engineer dangles a tiny little carrot closer or farther from a miniature horse to speed up or slow down the movement. The engineer only kills himself if he lets the watch stop.
actually if the tiny Japanese engineer commits Harakiri, the watch will be inaccurate...what he does is...he uses his Ninja abilities and at amazing speed corrects all inaccuracies that occur...tiny Japanese engineer Ninja defys time itself, so swiss snobs can see the true genius of The Grand Seiko.
What's really amazing, the watch starts running the instant you wind the crown at all. You should've stopped after a fraction of a turn. Look: 5:02 When I got mine, stone cold from the UPS box, wound it slowly a fraction of a turn, second hand raced about 8 seconds then settled down as the tri-synchro regulator took over. Also now after 5 years it still has a full 72 hr reserve. At least. And the reserve indicator is as accurate as the time! The incredibly detailed craftsmanship is beyond any high end watch I have seen- many of which cost far more than my Spring Drive Diver's 200M.
I agree that the engineering going into this is beautiful and astounding. But it’s odd that at the end of the day this watch has the same functionality and technically worse accuracy than a solar powered, radio controlled Citizen for $300. I understand that the finishing is different on that Citizen but that’s a separate issue from the movement. The spring drive is a beautiful feat of engineering that is sold in a case that would pass as a room in the Louvre but not anything that makes sense from any practical perspective. So $4,600-that’s still a lot of money.
Beautifully explained. Seiko has always been my brand of choice . Now that I am in a position to afford an expensive watch the grand seiko is the one for me. Thank you .
Well done! That was one of the best explanations of a Spring-Drive I've ever found! Your background in engineering and the ability to relay complex intricacies into understandable word pictures is a true gift. All the best Mark. Please keep up the great work.
I am thoroughly impressed. My local watch store got these in 3 weeks ago and I wasn't knowledgeable enough to appreciate their enthusiasm. I'll definitely be looking into this line. Thanks Mark!
Hands down the clearest, most understandable and relatable explanation of Spring Drive on the internet to date. Keep up the great work, Mark! Love the videos!
haven't looked into how this works until I watched this video. This is really incredible. My next luxury watch purchase might have to be a spring drive seiko. Let's be honest, they deserve the business
@@greenerick I have 6.75 inch wrists and prefer smaller watches aside from that. I hesitate to wear anything over 40mm, so I don't think I'd consider wearing 44+ mm watches any time soon... despite the incredible technology in them
Best description of how spring drives work for non-engineers I've heard. Now I understand the what's going on with this movement. Very interesting and thanks for posting.
I think the only reason these watches are still so relatively cheap is because most people can’t understand how much better they are than a classic mechanical watch from an engineering perspective. It’s really an achievement in engineering. I hope to own one soon.
What a brilliant explanation (especially with your accelerator/brake analogy &2 watches in one- with the quartz being a reference point). I now have a better appreciation of just how a serious bit of kit my recently acquired SBGC001 (chronograph GMT with the big pushers) really is. Cheers.
Its hard to appreciate the smoothness of Spring Drive until you see it in person, I mean other luxury watches are smooth to the naked eye but GS SD is on a whole new level of smoothness.
Just bought a GS SBGR311 20th anniversary. Came to this video to further understand about the movement. Perfectly short explained about the spring drive Thanx Mark 👌
I greatly appreciate Mark's earnest and unpretentious technical presentations. It's a pleasure to listen to instruction intended to teach and impress the viewer about the subject, rather than teach and impress the viewer about the teacher.
I agree with Lee! You gave the most straightforward and understandable explanation of this new Technology. I thoroughly enjoy all the engineering that I’ve had the Blessing to observe in my life time. The first Watch I purchased for myself was a Baylor (Zales brand - it’s claim to fame was a jeweled movement with the incabloc shock resistance system) Hand wind movement with a rotating time bezel and sold for about $25.00. For someone in High School in the latter 60’s that was a lot of money. As I commented to Lee, I was Blessed to work in the Jewelry Business in High School and learned about fine time pieces - I also became a “Watch Addict!” I still have the first expensive watch I purchased a Solid 14 Kt Gold Bulova Accutron 214. The “pin lever” was a jewel placed on index levers that were thinner than a hair. I do not recall how many times the index levers moved but the second hand “just seemed to float”. Omega won the Government Bid for our Astronauts and the Omega Speedmaster was NASA issued. Bulova was on Panels at NASA and instrument Panels of the Space Capsules. Dave Scott had his Crystal fall out On the Apollo 15 Mission and he had a personal Bulova Engineered for Space and he wore that August 2, 1971 and he completed the mission wearing the Bulova Lunar Model. (Citizen now owns Bulova, The reproduction has a Citizen “Tri-tuning Fork” operating at 262kHz) .. Seiko came out with a Quartz Movement that was very accurate and some people thought that was an end of Mechanical Movements. Watch makers proved mechanical movements could obtain a high level of accuracy... Now, Seiko has come out with Spring Drive! Thank You Marc, for your excellent explanation of this new Technology!!
Thank you for this fantastic video. You could be the only one outside of Seiko able to explain how his beast functions. Most so called "professional" or "experienced" watch lovers or collectors seriously prejudice and criticise about the branding of this watch, ignoring the fundamentals of watch appreciation such as time accuracy and innovations. They should be shameful about themselves. Thank you for the video again. You are the best.
I am literally lusting after this watch. I have a Seiko SGG599 Titanium that I love to wear daily but this one is just stunning. I think what I like most about it is the color of the dial and the beautiful hands. Wow!
Wow, just amazing ! 😱🙌 As a graduate in mechanical engineering a totally get it. This is amazing tech in such little space. They took the positives of each technology and make them " talk to each other ". They deserve more credit. 😎
I throughly enjoyed your Video! Thank You for the links! In high school my 2nd job was in a fine jewelry store and a diamond brokerage. We carried all ranges of fine watches. I learned about China, Silver, Gemology, Fine writing instruments and watches! The least expensive watch was s Bulova Caravelle. Other lines Breitling, Longines, Witnauer, Omega, Rado, Rolex, and had access to AP and other fine watches through a relatives store in San Antonio. I became s “Watch Addict!” My first “expensive fine watch” was a Bulova Accutron 214, in Solid 14Kt Gold, a Beautiful Cushion Shape and I just put a new battery in it a couple of Months ago. I still love the sound of the tuning fork “hum”.... It’s still very accurate and s beautiful time piece! Citizen now owns Bulova, I recently purchased a Bulova Lunar with s “Tri-Tuning Fork” and while it doesn’t hum, it has a movement that operates at 262 kHz. Very Accurate, The Omega Speedmaster wasn’t the only “watch in space”... I have 7 Seiko’s in my collection. I just put a battery in a Seiko Sports 100 Chronograph! Awesome Quartz time piece, Black Dial White Hands and Markers. Still very accurate! I love the looks of Seikos, and “Seiko” looks to be hand carved, Underneath the word Quartz, in Script under that “Chronograph”; Under that Painted “Sports100”... I love their attention to detail and this Chronograph has my Monogram engraved on the bracelet Clasp. I enjoy all my watches especially my Seikos. I will have to save up for a spring Drive but like all Seiko Products - I will have Seiko Deisgn, Engineering, Attention to Detail and their quality. All my Seikos second hands and in case of a analog chrionograph land directly on the indices of the dial. I am Blessed to have Bulovas, Casios (low to high - I love the Pro Trek 6000Y) Citizens, and Yes, I have some Swiss Brands... and quite a few Solar Models! I like engineering and technology. My Kids have Apple Watches and I like the technology... however, I like looking at my Analog Watches and immediately know what time it is.... call me old fashioned - I also still love the Mechanical movements! I love technology and engineering and most of all I love quality! Yes, I want a Spring Drive!
This is a great way to demonstrate how the glide wheel is really just a brake, and without that brake, how fast things would run. For those that say it’s a quartz and not worthy of being called mechanical, this shows how, like a normal escapement, the power would run out quickly if there wasn’t some form of a brake. It’s simply a different way to do it, but still fully mechanical in my opinion.
Mark - thanks for the best discourse on the ingenious yet easily misunderstood Spring Drive technology I have heard. For many, a Rolex or other high end Swiss piece is on their ultimate collection wish list. A Seiko Spring Drive is on mine.
My Seiko Spring Drive is currently running at +0.1 seconds per day. I’m a gardener and give it hell, and yet I’m still getting this accuracy. It blows my mind how Seiko created a movement this accurate.
Thanks Mark...A truly revolutionary movement. A fusion of quartz and automatic technology, that drives a watch beautifully crafted in titanium.... Perfection.
This is why I like honest competition between companies in the world. Every high end watch company has one area of engineering they are especially good at.
Great Stuff. GS is so very underrated. I have the spring-drive, the hi-beat, the quartz, but, it's the Three Centre Hands Manual Winding mechanism that gives me the most satisfaction. The epitome of high horology is the Three Centre Hands manual wind mechanism, with a long minute hand, and an even longer second hand. Even in Patek and Lange, the manual wind watches are either 2 hands or with a sub second hand. They reserved the Centre Three Hands for their highest range, so high that hardly anyone can reach them. For a connoisseur, a luxury watch maker must have a Three Centre Hands collection in their stable, the basis of all other good mechanical watches. For GS, there is the SBGW series. I bought the SBGW231, the latest for 3K. It runs for more than 3 days fully wound, and only off by +1 sec in that three days. The hands and indices sparkle like diamonds against an equally beautiful custard dial. My calatrava which cost many times more just cannot match up. The back case has more details than my Nautilus which is plain. As for the finishing of the mechanism itself, you put the two together and see for yourself. And mind you, the Nautilus cast a lot lot more. Then again, both the calatrava and the nautilus are not the Three Centre Hand mechanism. You need a very good mechanism to carry a long minute and second hand. I can see that my Hulk and Batman has very short minute hand as compared to my other GS sport watches. Where are all the good man!
Mark thank you for this fantastic review. With this video you drew me to the Spring Drive and then ultimately the purchase of one. Mine is simply the most beautiful piece I've seen. You were right , the fit and finish is simply amazing.
I have a Seiko 5 snxs77. It looks good, keeps great time, is purely mechanical and will probably never be serviced and still outlast me. It cost under £50. About 1% of a spring drive. Now that IS amazing!
As another mechanical engineer who specialized a bit in controls, thank you for that explanation and I have the same appreciation for this system. This is the best explanation I've seen of it by far! Hope i can buy my first GS through LIW :)
Long Island Watch EE anything is revolting to me. And the man involved with controls SAS awful, but I enjoyed combining them to automate something despite my disdain for and lack of knowledge of the electrical side of it haha.
I love these watch and learns. Spring drive has interested me for a while now. I think throwing in a few pictures, if only as analogies, might've helped a little bit, but the explanation was otherwise very concise and contained a lot of information missing from other spring drive intro videos out there.
Good review on spring drive technology. It has got the heart and muscle of traditional watch with a brain of modern tech - perfect marriage of tradition with contemporary elements. Quartz are used in the Microcontroller as timekeeper, it is the revolutionary tech of this century. Seiko has done a perfect job with Spring drive, respect the tradition while evolving. A watch that teases the geek out of me, and at the same time sings to me the traditional value of timekeeping..
I am so glad Seiko came up with this most amazing technology, when I first learned about spring drive my whole thought process was how the hell is that any different than a kinetic engine?.. the more I learned, the more fascinated I became. It was only right The Japanese came up with this tech that marriages quartz and mechanical in such a harmonious way. I can almost certainly say, the Swiss had no interest whatsoever in doing anything remotely close to this.
I was surprised to hear it not being officially certified, it being such a finely engineered mechanism. I hope to own one of these fine watches some day. Thank you for this review.
Hi Mark, I did not know about Seiko "spring drive"! Thank you very much for shoving me. Spring drive is very interesting movement, I am sorry only because is very expensive for me.Thank you again for shoving and explaining it.
New watch on my bucket list: a Grand Seiko or a Credo that contains the Spring Drive mechanism, with a tasteful white gold or platinum case, sapphire crystal. and on of their amazing dials!
Man that watch is awesome! I am becoming more and more appreciative of Grand Seiko's line of watches. I would really like to get my hand on one of the titanium dive watches. Thank you Mark.
As I said in my last comment - great episodes about the "other" technologies in modern watchmaking! Really love the Spring Drive concept, truly amazing. Will definitely have a Grand Seiko in my collection one day. Thanks Mark!
Mark thank you so much for this wonderful totally informative explanation of this amazing watch and it's technology. I'm saving up now to buy one. As with people, it's what's on the inside that matters most to me. Yes the finish and quality is second to None, but for me wearing such a watch as this, knowing the beauty that sits inside it is what makes me smile, all those years of development and the pain staking dedication to perfection makes such a watch as this such a joy to wear with utter pride. Thank you again for your openness and experienced wisdom through great gain of knowledge. Regards Steve 👍😊👍
Electromagnetic braking in a mechanical watch to regulate time, who would have thought of that!!! Pure poetry in motion. I can only hope Seiko will be able to mass produce these movements and bring the price down in the near future, then again, maybe that is not the goal.
I love your videos but this has to be the most interesting one I've seen. I just watched it (no pun intended) for the second (no pun) time (again, no pun). I'm an automotive tech and the feed back loop is how emissions control works on modern automobiles. The engine has an oxygen sensor in the exhaust manifold that monitors the exhaust and constantly richens or leans out the mixture of fuel to keep it averaging the perfect fuel to air ratio for a clean and most efficient burn. Incidentally, that technology started around the same time as this Seiko, around the early to mid 80s. Hey, you forgot to mention the water resistance rating, you were so caught up in the drive mechanism. Just kidding, who cares? That's the coolest watch made from an engineering perspective.
The 02 sensor is a good analogy which is funny because nobody would consider the average car an EV but some watch people basically do that in this watch equivalent.
Awesome video! i understand a little more about spring drive after this video. previously i totally have no idea how its work. using car as a reference to explain was a brilliant idea.
The concept behind spring drive reminds me of Denon's Direct Drive turntables. They have a tape recorder head mounted under the platter which reads magnetic pulses from the turntable platter as it goes around. The timing of the pulses are used to regulate the speed of the platter.
Before watching this video I was thinking why GS is so much costly and had no clue of Spring drive but it seems we have 3 kind of movement - Automatic, Quartz and Spring Drive. Nice explanation to grasp the subject. Thanks
There is only one movement: mechanical. Spring drive is the technology to generate electricity from the mainspring to drive the magnetic pulses to regulate the "escapement" and to drive the electronics and quartz regulator that brake or speed up the movement. So it is a mechanical watch with some electronic intelligence built in to keep time.
From an electrical engineering perspective, it's a bit like a phase locked loop adjusting the speed to the oscillations from a quartz crystal. Mind you, the oscillations of the quartz crystal are mechanical vibrations and like a tuning fork, there is one shape that works best and that was patented by Seiko, everyone else had to use less accurate crystal shapes. Obviously, Seiko works hard to keep extending their IP rights to that crystal design. It's how I stumbled onto automatic mechanical watches, I bought a Seiko 5 thinking I was purchasing one of the famed Seiko quartz designs I had heard of in my electrical engineering lectures, then when it didn't last on the dresser top over the weekend, I opened it up to check the battery only to find it was all mechanical. Come to think of it, I did an undergrad paper on signal filtering through mechanical vibrations of a physical substrate for an approximation of a flat phase response (very difficult, perhaps impossible, to achieve with electrical components alone).
I totally agree with you. Especially when i saw some Patek Phillipe models. I mean, even if you account for the jewelry and the gold altogether with that Swiss watch machine, the price still really doesn't make sense.
I have the classic Seiko 5 auto with a crystal front/back and sunburst dial with date (looks almost identical to the GS), by 'quality' timepiece standards it's cost is dirt cheap, but in reality it's an incredibly affordable, well made and beautiful watch that I'm proud to own and admire.
The more I see, and watch, and study, I am beginning to realize that the best VALUE in luxury wristwatches is Grand Seiko. An amazing watch.
Yes! Thank you.
💯 agree. Grand Seiko is for the watch enthusiast. Completely unpretentious yet luxury grade finishing and execution.
golfbuddy1969. Seiko is the best value at any level of the watch market. I think.
"Value" and "luxury" are mutually exclusive.
Value? That's a funny word to use. This stuff is jewelry. If you want value in timekeeping, get a cell phone and use it to tell the time.
This is the best, most straight-forward explanation of the Spring Drive system I've ever seen. Grand Seiko evokes such a polarizing contrast of opinions from the watch community for reasons that I don't really understand. I respect a watch enthusiast who doesn't care for the styling of their line of watches as they are quite conservative in their designs. But to not acknowledge what an ingenious leap in horological technology Spring Drive represents is quite puzzling to me. I believe we should embrace all types of technologies, from solar to hand-wind to automatic to kinetic to quartz to Spring Drive if we truly love watches.
I don't get the hate either.
I want one simply for the ingenuity of the movement.
I'd take a GS over a Rolex any day of the week.
For people in the USA, Seiko is a mall brand. You see it at Macy's. It's just another watch. They don't get the history the company has, or the ingenuity that has come out of it.
Long Island Watch well now grand seiko is its own brand , isnt that what was said this year at baselworld?
Don't blame the consumer. Seiko has never given a damn about the US market. Consumers have to go out of their way to even buy a Seiko watch because most of their popular models Seiko does not even bother to sell in the US. You want to blame anyone, blame Seiko.
Just three words: THAT. SECOND. HAND. Could look at it for hours.
Haha, super smooooooth
The whole watch has that smoothness.
Well I bought 5 Titus vintage watches which have smooth seconds hand running function and I paid just 133 dollars for 5 watches. These watches are thought to be made from omega watch components and they use the technology named "tuning fork ". Yeah they run on a battery, but the seconds hand runs like that of a mechanical movement, and also the watches have jewels and other such parts which the mechanical movements include. I am loving my collection
So if I understood you correctly....there is a tiny Japanese engineer sitting inside the watch checking and regulating accuracy every now and then and if the watch deviates more than 2 secs in a day he will commit Harakiri. Impressive.
You got it all wrong: the tiny japanese engineer dangles a tiny little carrot closer or farther from a miniature horse to speed up or slow down the movement. The engineer only kills himself if he lets the watch stop.
lmao
actually if the tiny Japanese engineer commits Harakiri, the watch will be inaccurate...what he does is...he uses his Ninja abilities and at amazing speed corrects all inaccuracies that occur...tiny Japanese engineer Ninja defys time itself, so swiss snobs can see the true genius of The Grand Seiko.
I'm so glad that I finaly got the true explanation of the operation from you guys. Always go to the internet for the truth. (Snicker)
草生える
The spring drive is now my dream watch. Wow it is amazing.
LOL, great!
What's really amazing, the watch starts running the instant you wind the crown at all. You should've stopped after a fraction of a turn. Look: 5:02
When I got mine, stone cold from the UPS box, wound it slowly a fraction of a turn, second hand raced about 8 seconds then settled down as the tri-synchro regulator took over. Also now after 5 years it still has a full 72 hr reserve. At least. And the reserve indicator is as accurate as the time! The incredibly detailed craftsmanship is beyond any high end watch I have seen- many of which cost far more than my Spring Drive Diver's 200M.
$4600 is not much considering the technology Seiko have invested in to achieve such a unique masterpiece.
Indeed.
Agreed
We're talking in terms of professional watches here mate.
Price
I agree that the engineering going into this is beautiful and astounding. But it’s odd that at the end of the day this watch has the same functionality and technically worse accuracy than a solar powered, radio controlled Citizen for $300. I understand that the finishing is different on that Citizen but that’s a separate issue from the movement. The spring drive is a beautiful feat of engineering that is sold in a case that would pass as a room in the Louvre but not anything that makes sense from any practical perspective.
So $4,600-that’s still a lot of money.
Beautifully explained. Seiko has always been my brand of choice . Now that I am in a position to afford an expensive watch the grand seiko is the one for me. Thank you .
Great, thank you.
Well done! That was one of the best explanations of a Spring-Drive I've ever found! Your background in engineering and the ability to relay complex intricacies into understandable word pictures is a true gift. All the best Mark. Please keep up the great work.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Agreed Well Done!
Tells you how Incredible these Grand Seiko watches are with out even mentioning the Best Watch Dial, Case and Band Finishing!!!
I am thoroughly impressed. My local watch store got these in 3 weeks ago and I wasn't knowledgeable enough to appreciate their enthusiasm. I'll definitely be looking into this line. Thanks Mark!
Anyone who knows about engineering will appreciate this watch.
Indeed!
Mark, your efforts are appreciated.
Horology is accessible thanks to you.
:)
Fellow engineer here Mark, first time I have really heard how spring drive operates.
A very impressive system indeed, thanks for the review!!!
Thanks for checking it out!
Hands down the clearest, most understandable and relatable explanation of Spring Drive on the internet to date. Keep up the great work, Mark! Love the videos!
Wow, thank you!
Truly a milestone in watchmaking technology and innovation. A mechanical watch with the accuracy of a quartz.
Wow! Thanks! Now I not only understand the spring drive, I can also appreciate the marriage between the mechanical & electrical systems!
It's a perfect balance.
This man is a genious of Watch wikipedia's. Absolutely splendid. MARC you are.
haven't looked into how this works until I watched this video. This is really incredible. My next luxury watch purchase might have to be a spring drive seiko. Let's be honest, they deserve the business
Have a look at the Seiko LX PROSPEX Spring Drive
@@greenerick I have 6.75 inch wrists and prefer smaller watches aside from that. I hesitate to wear anything over 40mm, so I don't think I'd consider wearing 44+ mm watches any time soon... despite the incredible technology in them
@@BarbellBinks Try it on in the shop you would be so surprised
Best description of how spring drives work for non-engineers I've heard. Now I understand the what's going on with this movement. Very interesting and thanks for posting.
I think the only reason these watches are still so relatively cheap is because most people can’t understand how much better they are than a classic mechanical watch from an engineering perspective. It’s really an achievement in engineering. I hope to own one soon.
It’s because the technology was obsolete from day one.
A nice invention at the wrong time.
What a brilliant explanation (especially with your accelerator/brake analogy &2 watches in one- with the quartz being a reference point). I now have a better appreciation of just how a serious bit of kit my recently acquired SBGC001 (chronograph GMT with the big pushers) really is. Cheers.
UA-cam should have a star grading system because this video definitely deserves a 5.
Wow! Thank you!!!
A long time ago they did. ;)
Its hard to appreciate the smoothness of Spring Drive until you see it in person, I mean other luxury watches are smooth to the naked eye but GS SD is on a whole new level of smoothness.
Just bought a GS SBGR311 20th anniversary. Came to this video to further understand about the movement. Perfectly short explained about the spring drive Thanx Mark 👌
I greatly appreciate Mark's earnest and unpretentious technical presentations. It's a pleasure to listen to instruction intended to teach and impress the viewer about the subject, rather than teach and impress the viewer about the teacher.
This is a Phase Locked Loop (PLL) watch, in which time is the feedback signal. A brilliant engineering design!
Couldn't have said it better!
The quartz crystal is phase-locked with the rotor. Wow! An electro-machanical PLL.
I agree with Lee! You gave the most straightforward and understandable explanation of this new Technology. I thoroughly enjoy all the engineering that I’ve had the Blessing to observe in my life time. The first Watch I purchased for myself was a Baylor (Zales brand - it’s claim to fame was a jeweled movement with the incabloc shock resistance system) Hand wind movement with a rotating time bezel and sold for about $25.00. For someone in High School in the latter 60’s that was a lot of money. As I commented to Lee, I was Blessed to work in the Jewelry Business in High School and learned about fine time pieces - I also became a “Watch Addict!” I still have the first expensive watch I purchased a Solid 14 Kt Gold Bulova Accutron 214. The “pin lever” was a jewel placed on index levers that were thinner than a hair. I do not recall how many times the index levers moved but the second hand “just seemed to float”. Omega won the Government Bid for our Astronauts and the Omega Speedmaster was NASA issued. Bulova was on Panels at NASA and instrument Panels of the Space Capsules. Dave Scott had his Crystal fall out On the Apollo 15 Mission and he had a personal Bulova Engineered for Space and he wore that August 2, 1971 and he completed the mission wearing the Bulova Lunar Model. (Citizen now owns Bulova, The reproduction has a Citizen “Tri-tuning Fork” operating at 262kHz) .. Seiko came out with a Quartz Movement that was very accurate and some people thought that was an end of Mechanical Movements. Watch makers proved mechanical movements could obtain a high level of accuracy... Now, Seiko has come out with Spring Drive! Thank You Marc, for your excellent explanation of this new Technology!!
Seiko is a beast. Best brand for the price point.
Can't argue there.
The way the hands catch the light is so beautiful 😍
Indeed!
Thank you for this fantastic video. You could be the only one outside of Seiko able to explain how his beast functions. Most so called "professional" or "experienced" watch lovers or collectors seriously prejudice and criticise about the branding of this watch, ignoring the fundamentals of watch appreciation such as time accuracy and innovations. They should be shameful about themselves.
Thank you for the video again. You are the best.
Thank you.
'Hands down' the best explanation I've seen for this movement.
I am literally lusting after this watch. I have a Seiko SGG599 Titanium that I love to wear daily but this one is just stunning. I think what I like most about it is the color of the dial and the beautiful hands. Wow!
Now I know the difference between Spring Drive & Kinetic. You made it so easy to follow.
Wow, just amazing ! 😱🙌
As a graduate in mechanical engineering a totally get it. This is amazing tech in such little space.
They took the positives of each technology and make them " talk to each other ".
They deserve more credit. 😎
Outstanding explanation of Seiko’s Spring Drive technology. Thank you.
That’s the best description of spring drive so far, thank you
Amazing . I understand it all now . Some watch guys say they would never own one . Wtf. It's beautiful . Thank you Mark.
Fascinating! A symbiotic relationship between quartz and automatic movements... great explanation - Grand Seiko worthy
The sweep of that seconds hand is just mesmerizing to watch.
I throughly enjoyed your Video! Thank You for the links! In high school my 2nd job was in a fine jewelry store and a diamond brokerage. We carried all ranges of fine watches. I learned about China, Silver, Gemology, Fine writing instruments and watches! The least expensive watch was s Bulova Caravelle. Other lines Breitling, Longines, Witnauer, Omega, Rado, Rolex, and had access to AP and other fine watches through a relatives store in San Antonio. I became s “Watch Addict!” My first “expensive fine watch” was a Bulova Accutron 214, in Solid 14Kt Gold, a Beautiful Cushion Shape and I just put a new battery in it a couple of Months ago. I still love the sound of the tuning fork “hum”....
It’s still very accurate and s beautiful time piece! Citizen now owns Bulova, I recently purchased a Bulova Lunar with s “Tri-Tuning Fork” and while it doesn’t hum, it has a movement that operates at 262 kHz. Very Accurate, The Omega Speedmaster wasn’t the only “watch in space”... I have 7 Seiko’s in my collection. I just put a battery in a Seiko Sports 100 Chronograph! Awesome Quartz time piece, Black Dial White Hands and Markers. Still very accurate! I love the looks of Seikos, and “Seiko” looks to be hand carved, Underneath the word Quartz, in Script under that “Chronograph”; Under that Painted “Sports100”... I love their attention to detail and this Chronograph has my Monogram engraved on the bracelet Clasp. I enjoy all my watches especially my Seikos. I will have to save up for a spring Drive but like all Seiko Products - I will have Seiko Deisgn, Engineering, Attention to Detail and their quality. All my Seikos second hands and in case of a analog chrionograph land directly on the indices of the dial. I am Blessed to have Bulovas, Casios (low to high - I love the Pro Trek 6000Y) Citizens, and Yes, I have some Swiss Brands... and quite a few Solar Models! I like engineering and technology. My Kids have Apple Watches and I like the technology... however, I like looking at my Analog Watches and immediately know what time it is.... call me old fashioned - I also still love the Mechanical movements! I love technology and engineering and most of all I love quality! Yes, I want a Spring Drive!
This is a great way to demonstrate how the glide wheel is really just a brake, and without that brake, how fast things would run. For those that say it’s a quartz and not worthy of being called mechanical, this shows how, like a normal escapement, the power would run out quickly if there wasn’t some form of a brake. It’s simply
a different way to do it, but still fully mechanical in my opinion.
Is it a brake? It is a spinning gear that is braked.
@@robertbrandywine it’s not a gear…gears have teeth that intermesh creating a direct drive. This is a wheel…..with a magnetic brake.
Even 2 years later, your videos Rock!
Amazing review -- way better than many technical talks I hear in conferences.
LOL!
Mark - thanks for the best discourse on the ingenious yet easily misunderstood Spring Drive technology I have heard. For many, a Rolex or other high end Swiss piece is on their ultimate collection wish list. A Seiko Spring Drive is on mine.
My Seiko Spring Drive is currently running at +0.1 seconds per day. I’m a gardener and give it hell, and yet I’m still getting this accuracy. It blows my mind how Seiko created a movement this accurate.
What about if u compare to tissot pr100 chrometer automatic?
IMHO, this is the benchmark of timepieces. It's stunning in every respect.
Thanks for checking it out!
Thanks Mark...A truly revolutionary movement. A fusion of quartz and automatic technology, that drives a watch beautifully crafted in titanium.... Perfection.
The second hand movement is hypnotic 👌🏻
Wow. I’m impressed by this watch technology.
This is why I like honest competition between companies in the world. Every high end watch company has one area of engineering they are especially good at.
Amazing watch! And that dial and minute hands look perfect🤩
Just saw the video on the Grand Seiko Spring Drive technology. Truly fascinating, one of your best. I'll have to start saving my pennies!
Great Stuff.
GS is so very underrated. I have the spring-drive, the hi-beat, the quartz,
but, it's the Three Centre Hands Manual Winding mechanism that gives me the
most satisfaction.
The epitome of
high horology is the Three Centre Hands manual wind mechanism, with a long
minute hand, and an even longer second hand. Even in Patek and Lange, the
manual wind watches are either 2 hands or with a sub second hand. They reserved
the Centre Three Hands for their highest range, so high that hardly anyone can
reach them.
For a
connoisseur, a luxury watch maker must have a Three Centre Hands collection in
their stable, the basis of all other good mechanical watches. For GS, there is
the SBGW series. I bought the SBGW231, the latest for 3K. It runs for more than
3 days fully wound, and only off by +1 sec in that three days. The hands and
indices sparkle like diamonds against an equally beautiful custard dial. My
calatrava which cost many times more just cannot match up. The back case has
more details than my Nautilus which is plain. As for the finishing of the
mechanism itself, you put the two together and see for yourself. And mind you,
the Nautilus cast a lot lot more. Then again, both the calatrava and the nautilus
are not the Three Centre Hand mechanism.
You need a
very good mechanism to carry a long minute and second hand. I can see that my
Hulk and Batman has very short minute hand as compared to my other GS sport
watches. Where are all the good man!
Mark thank you for this fantastic review. With this video you drew me to the Spring Drive and then ultimately the purchase of one. Mine is simply the most beautiful piece I've seen. You were right , the fit and finish is simply amazing.
Great, glad I could open your eyes.
Wow I knew a bit about it but I didn't understand how it worked. Truly revolutionary.
Excellent breakdown. Thank you!
I have a Seiko 5 snxs77. It looks good, keeps great time, is purely mechanical and will probably never be serviced and still outlast me. It cost under £50. About 1% of a spring drive. Now that IS amazing!
this model Seiko looks even better in the flesh. it's very nice. thanks for the vid
It is. The dial color needs to be seen to be appreciated!
The Spring drive movement is hypnotic
As another mechanical engineer who specialized a bit in controls, thank you for that explanation and I have the same appreciation for this system. This is the best explanation I've seen of it by far! Hope i can buy my first GS through LIW :)
Thank you! Controls was probably my least favorite subject, well, next to EE courses.
Long Island Watch EE anything is revolting to me. And the man involved with controls SAS awful, but I enjoyed combining them to automate something despite my disdain for and lack of knowledge of the electrical side of it haha.
That second hand is smooth as butter, it is remarkably pleasant.
Who are the freaking tools giving this a thumbs down? Thanks for a great first hand look at the Grand!
They don't understand the more complex systems out there
Rolex owners lol
I love these watch and learns. Spring drive has interested me for a while now. I think throwing in a few pictures, if only as analogies, might've helped a little bit, but the explanation was otherwise very concise and contained a lot of information missing from other spring drive intro videos out there.
Funny you should say that; I was going to do some doodling but decided against it.
Good review on spring drive technology. It has got the heart and muscle of traditional watch with a brain of modern tech - perfect marriage of tradition with contemporary elements. Quartz are used in the Microcontroller as timekeeper, it is the revolutionary tech of this century. Seiko has done a perfect job with Spring drive, respect the tradition while evolving. A watch that teases the geek out of me, and at the same time sings to me the traditional value of timekeeping..
I am so glad Seiko came up with this most amazing technology, when I first learned about spring drive my whole thought process was how the hell is that any different than a kinetic engine?.. the more I learned, the more fascinated I became. It was only right The Japanese came up with this tech that marriages quartz and mechanical in such a harmonious way. I can almost certainly say, the Swiss had no interest whatsoever in doing anything remotely close to this.
Another good lesson. Spring-drive, my favorite movement.
Thanks for taking the time to check it out.
Finally a watch that displays the true nature of the passage of time: continuous movement.
I was surprised to hear it not being officially certified, it being such a finely engineered mechanism. I hope to own one of these fine watches some day. Thank you for this review.
Hi Mark, I did not know about Seiko "spring drive"! Thank you very much for shoving me.
Spring drive is very interesting movement, I am sorry only because is very expensive for me.Thank you again for shoving and explaining it.
Thanks for checking it out.
New watch on my bucket list: a Grand Seiko or a Credo that contains the Spring Drive mechanism, with a tasteful white gold or platinum case, sapphire crystal. and on of their amazing dials!
Excellent presentation of a unique watch. keep up the good work. learnt so much.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
Man that watch is awesome! I am becoming more and more appreciative of Grand Seiko's line of watches. I would really like to get my hand on one of the titanium dive watches. Thank you Mark.
Wow! Seiko is truly an innovative brand.
Great explanations, I finally got it straight in my head!
A very good spring drive tutoriel. Would like another one putting out more clearly the difference with Seiko Kinetic. Thank you.
That was covered in a previous video.
Beautiful Grand Seiko watch, Seiko Spring Drive technology combining a quartz and mechanical technology revolutionize the watch industry.
So the VTec kicked in at the beginning.
Talk about tokyo drift
Exactly.. The morons cannot comprehend it...
🤣
As I said in my last comment - great episodes about the "other" technologies in modern watchmaking! Really love the Spring Drive concept, truly amazing. Will definitely have a Grand Seiko in my collection one day. Thanks Mark!
That would be awesome!
Good explanation,thanks Mark, now I appreciate GS more !
It's the little things that matter; it is amazing.
Mark thank you so much for this wonderful totally informative explanation of this amazing watch and it's technology.
I'm saving up now to buy one.
As with people, it's what's on the inside that matters most to me.
Yes the finish and quality is second to None, but for me wearing such a watch as this, knowing the beauty that sits inside it is what makes me smile, all those years of development and the pain staking dedication to perfection makes such a watch as this such a joy to wear with utter pride.
Thank you again for your openness and experienced wisdom through great gain of knowledge.
Regards Steve 👍😊👍
Electromagnetic braking in a mechanical watch to regulate time, who would have thought of that!!! Pure poetry in motion. I can only hope Seiko will be able to mass produce these movements and bring the price down in the near future, then again, maybe that is not the goal.
Sieko watches are the best I ever owned, they make the best automatic watches
This is the Grand Seiko model I so want. Thanks for the eye candy Mark.
great demo of SD. Appreciate your clear & succinct explanation.
Thanks for checking it out.
Great overview of Spring Drive. Thanks, Mark.
Glad you enjoyed!
I love your videos but this has to be the most interesting one I've seen. I just watched it (no pun intended) for the second (no pun) time (again, no pun). I'm an automotive tech and the feed back loop is how emissions control works on modern automobiles. The engine has an oxygen sensor in the exhaust manifold that monitors the exhaust and constantly richens or leans out the mixture of fuel to keep it averaging the perfect fuel to air ratio for a clean and most efficient burn. Incidentally, that technology started around the same time as this Seiko, around the early to mid 80s.
Hey, you forgot to mention the water resistance rating, you were so caught up in the drive mechanism. Just kidding, who cares? That's the coolest watch made from an engineering perspective.
The 02 sensor is a good analogy which is funny because nobody would consider the average car an EV but some watch people basically do that in this watch equivalent.
Awesome video! i understand a little more about spring drive after this video. previously i totally have no idea how its work. using car as a reference to explain was a brilliant idea.
Thank you.
Ahhhjh, it's like an AVR on a generator, the excitor is just the em brake. Sweet! Thanks for the video
The concept behind spring drive reminds me of Denon's Direct Drive turntables. They have a tape recorder head mounted under the platter which reads magnetic pulses from the turntable platter as it goes around. The timing of the pulses are used to regulate the speed of the platter.
Before watching this video I was thinking why GS is so much costly and had no clue of Spring drive but it seems we have 3 kind of movement - Automatic, Quartz and Spring Drive.
Nice explanation to grasp the subject. Thanks
There is only one movement: mechanical. Spring drive is the technology to generate electricity from the mainspring to drive the magnetic pulses to regulate the "escapement" and to drive the electronics and quartz regulator that brake or speed up the movement. So it is a mechanical watch with some electronic intelligence built in to keep time.
Thank you!
Thanks for clarification. Truly appreciate that.
You could be a teacher. Awesome job.
I'm probably filling that void with this series. Always liked explaining stuff.
Absolute brilliant video, I feel a little wiser. Thank you.
Great!
From an electrical engineering perspective, it's a bit like a phase locked loop adjusting the speed to the oscillations from a quartz crystal. Mind you, the oscillations of the quartz crystal are mechanical vibrations and like a tuning fork, there is one shape that works best and that was patented by Seiko, everyone else had to use less accurate crystal shapes. Obviously, Seiko works hard to keep extending their IP rights to that crystal design. It's how I stumbled onto automatic mechanical watches, I bought a Seiko 5 thinking I was purchasing one of the famed Seiko quartz designs I had heard of in my electrical engineering lectures, then when it didn't last on the dresser top over the weekend, I opened it up to check the battery only to find it was all mechanical.
Come to think of it, I did an undergrad paper on signal filtering through mechanical vibrations of a physical substrate for an approximation of a flat phase response (very difficult, perhaps impossible, to achieve with electrical components alone).
What an amazingly made watch
Sure is.
What a great video! Thanks for bringing the engineering light to shine on time-keepers!
This watch looks amazing. Very beautiful detail.
It's a stunner.
Price of this watch shows how absurd swiss watch prices are
It shows what heritage and reputation can do for price, is what you mean.
I totally agree with you. Especially when i saw some Patek Phillipe models. I mean, even if you account for the jewelry and the gold altogether with that Swiss watch machine, the price still really doesn't make sense.
kealke no, it’s marketing and sponsoring...😉
Нови Сад Србија i would buy one of these before i would buy a rolex!
@@zzyzxzee6374 that's because you can't afford the latter....
thanks for making this. you did a great job explaining all the parts someone just getting started in the watch game
Thanks for watching.
They really are too humble. I've got 3 seconds fast in 6 months. Insane.
Fantastic tutorial of a spring drive basics. Thank you.
Thank you!
Awesome video! Explanation was perfect!
I have the classic Seiko 5 auto with a crystal front/back and sunburst dial with date (looks almost identical to the GS), by 'quality' timepiece standards it's cost is dirt cheap, but in reality it's an incredibly affordable, well made and beautiful watch that I'm proud to own and admire.