I own a Seiko quartz that I bought for a little over $100 and I get compliments all the time from it. It looks way more expensive than it is and I enjoy wearing it. It’s been my favorite watch. It’s not the cost, it’s how it makes you feel that matters. 😉
Hi Nick Great video and exactly why I got the Seiko 9f quartz as my first luxury watch . Mine has the champagne dial and also has a few scratches as I have owned it from new for over seven years. Since then , I have been lucky enough to now have a few high end mechanical Swiss watches as the collection has grown but each time I put on the GS , I cannot help but smile at the quality of finish , the way the sunlight makes it sparkle and of course, my watch is accurate to approx 2/3 seconds per year. The 9f movement is superb and still assembled by hand and also looks great. Still my favourite watch and will always stay in my collection . Cheers Dave
Love Grand Seiko Quartz, affordable, stunning and sits amazing on the wrist. I got one, also a GMT, about a month ago and I am blown away, the finish is outstanding. Not my first watch, have a Tag, Oris and a Tudor since before, but now I am really sold on GS, and love the Quartz, just grab and go, but if course I gotta have a spring drive at some point, but this is not my last Quartz, definitely not, thanks for your video and your story.
My first good watch was a Rolex Datejust 16234. No longer with me, but I now also have a GS SBGN007, and absolutely love it. Rated at +/- 5 secs per year, but in reality it’s more like +/- 1 sec. The green dial really sings in direct sunlight, and the fit and comfort on my wrist is superb. I can’t complain about the 50 year service interval either!
All good dude. Nothing wrong with a high-end “lifetime” quartz movement. Perfect for an everyday wear too. And +/- 5 seconds a year accuracy. Without the need for wireless syncing to an atomic clock, I think is still very impressive.
Yes! At last someone else who rates this piece. I bought it when I was in Japan, from BIC Camera of all places, and love it!! Mine is just 30 pieces from yours!
He's not kidding, truly the most comfortable bracelet you're going to wear. I just picked up an sbgp013, and absolutely love it, character and all. Love it. It's more bling than a diamond ring.
It's special to see a brand give quartz enough respect to show it off with an exhibition caseback. The two-tone of the SBGV238 is also pretty special as you don't see too many GS references with it. - Nick
I literally made the exact same decision for my first good watch. I love my 007 and while I have picked up a number of amazing watches since, this one will never leave my collection. As an aside, my particular watch (when tracked over one year vs atomic time) gained less than 1.5 seconds. I think that fact alone makes this watch super cool.
Where I come from, this pretty much makes us blood relatives. Great choice on the watch, and also interesting to hear how much more accurate your 007 was than the 5secs GS promises. I'll have to track mine for a year! - Nick
Your story and reason for buying that specific watch makes perfectly sense👍🏻I am born in 1969, and celebrated the 50 years buying (in 2019) both the SBGN001 and SBGN009🤩
I have the same watch/model as well. Thx for raising the price a little. I have quite a few automatics but found the grand seiko quartz to not be lacking in and department. My watch collection went to one. Something that never needs to be wound and also looks good. Taking anything else out with me seems like a waste.
My first decent watch was a Tag Heuer Kirium quartz on bracelet with a beautiful blue dial. I bought it in the late 90s when i was in my late 20s. Probably paid 900-1000 for it back then. I wore that watch everyday for probably 15 years. A battery leaked ruined the movement and that was it. I have moved on to mechanical and more expensive. But i miss that Tag and i haven't found a one watch to replace it.
Awesome watch! I went the SBGA001 Spring Drive as my first "good watch". But the GS Quartz watches are amazing too. I think the SBGA001 needs a quartz cousin in the collection.
I have a early 1980's Seiko SQ100 quartz, in 35 plus years it has never been serviced, only battery changes every 3 to 5 years, a fantastic super reliable watch, compare that with any automatic watch
I bought a GS Quartz SBGX 265 and it on its way to me from Japan, instead of Tudor or B&R.... after a deep thought.. a quartz need less maintainance, a 9F Quartz is a very reputable quartz and last atleast another 50 years.. its build for last.. and also being looking hard for a spare parts of display/exhibition caseback.. because I really appreciate the look of GS quartz movement.. or maybe going to saving money again for SBGV019g or SBGV238 😅
I completely understand the allure mechanical watches have, and the craftsmanship. For me however, the lack of accuracy (~30s per day) is just not what i'm after. I prefer top accuracy. It's all personal choice, and there's no right or wrong choice.
I baught the longines vhp carbon fibet dial 1000$ and does -+5 second a year. Although i like it alot especially for the price point, i think this GS is the best and want to get it as well. Nothing beats GS
I bought the exact same model when it came out. Loved it but found myself not wearing it much because it was too dressy for a day to day watch for me in a job that is very casual and where I occasionally get dirty. On occasions when I dressed up it didn't seem dressy enough if that makes sense. If I worked in a standard office environment it probably would have been my everyday watch, it is stunning in person and having a "high end" quartz watch is cool. The accuracy was never a selling point but the amount of effort that goes into producing the 9F movement makes it fascinating to me and I probably will own another one at some point.
@@Timeandtidewatches I ended up buying the SBGP001. Initially, whilst the amazing accuracy and finishing were evident, I struggled slightly to connect with it. I think the somewhat generic bracelet (that you see on so many other GS's) detracts from the distinctive case and the subtely of the dial. Then I bought a burgundy horween strap for it, from Molequin - and now it is perfect! Amazing the difference a strap/bracelet makes.
Great choice! I had sbgx093 as the first good watch and have since purchased several mechanical watches but any time I needed to quickly get out with no time to adjust the watches .. the gs quartz is the one I slap on knowing the time is accurate!
I've gone the full gambit from a Grand Quartz in 1981 to Rolex. I started gravitating back to quartz after becoming disillusioned with a very bad servicing experience on a Rolex. The price RSC charges these days is another huge factor in my decision to make the switch back to Seiko. Recently picked up a sweet 9943-8000 and plan on collecting the entire range of 1970s twin quartz models before moving on to the newer ones. Not sure what percentage of mechanical movements have an exhibition back, but it's pretty small. For me, this was the biggest deciding factor of all; I can't see it, so it no longer makes sense to me to pay a lot of money on a watch and servicing when what drives it is hidden from view.
My first ''good'' watch was the doxa sub 300T Divingstar, i dont know what you mean by good watch, but id assume like upper tier luxury. The Doxa is a mix of tooly design and may not classify as such, but i was eying grand seiko quartz. I want to experience grand seiko finishing but at a price i can afford to do so, so i am still considering GS quartz to this day.The watch you have is great, but still deciding on my ''good watch''
The Doxa is a very solid choice, nice work. If you're still thinking about the GS quartz, make sure you scratch that itch one day. You won't regret it. - Nick
Grand Seiko quartz really is an under-the-radar secret weapon. Quality as high as their mechanicals and Spring Drives, but accuracy that is nigh-on unparalleled (one or two exceptions like the Longines VHP movement).
personally I'd go mechanical, it's ultimately about what hit's the spot for the individual, and to have something that's off by a few seconds and has it's own quirks adds character imo
If Patek offers a quartz then you know there is nothing wrong with them. I'm waiting for GS to offer quartz with an open case-back in the white dial....
beginning watch collectors look down on quartz and feel that mechanicals and esp those with open case backs are the sophisticated way to go. It is such bullshit because a big part of mechanical movements in watches south of $2000 or even $3-4000 for certain brands are mass produced, machine built. Not as romantic as what they see in their dreams. Many of them also have accuracies that leave much to be desired. The important thing is not to confuse modern mass manufactured mechanical movements with true proper horological work. At that level yes justified. At the same time, GS quartz movement is not your $20 casio movement. It easily has much greater refinement and sophistication than your run of the mill ETA automatic movement. Too much to say here, so for those curious, just read up to educate yourselves.
I think I know what happened you wanted to buy the best watch you could possibly afford and avoid servicing costs while doing so, hence you landed a watch that costs a couple grand with a 50 year service interval🙈 how about you get a micro with an nh35 run it for 20 years no servicing and then just replace the whole movement for $30 on AliExpress 👀
There's nothing wrong with quartz watches. You've chosen a brilliant watch mate, well done.
Thanks Craig, couldn't agree more! - Nick
I own a Seiko quartz that I bought for a little over $100 and I get compliments all the time from it. It looks way more expensive than it is and I enjoy wearing it. It’s been my favorite watch. It’s not the cost, it’s how it makes you feel that matters. 😉
Hi Nick
Great video and exactly why I got the Seiko 9f quartz as my first luxury watch . Mine has the champagne dial and also has a few scratches as I have owned it from new for over seven years. Since then , I have been lucky enough to now have a few high end mechanical Swiss watches as the collection has grown but each time I put on the GS , I cannot help but smile at the quality of finish , the way the sunlight makes it sparkle and of course, my watch is accurate to approx 2/3 seconds per year. The 9f movement is superb and still assembled by hand and also looks great.
Still my favourite watch and will always stay in my collection .
Cheers Dave
Love Grand Seiko Quartz, affordable, stunning and sits amazing on the wrist. I got one, also a GMT, about a month ago and I am blown away, the finish is outstanding. Not my first watch, have a Tag, Oris and a Tudor since before, but now I am really sold on GS, and love the Quartz, just grab and go, but if course I gotta have a spring drive at some point, but this is not my last Quartz, definitely not, thanks for your video and your story.
My first good watch was a Rolex Datejust 16234. No longer with me, but I now also have a GS SBGN007, and absolutely love it. Rated at +/- 5 secs per year, but in reality it’s more like +/- 1 sec. The green dial really sings in direct sunlight, and the fit and comfort on my wrist is superb. I can’t complain about the 50 year service interval either!
Exactly right! It might lose or gain just over four minutes in half a century! Pretty impressive stuff! - Nick
I've made the same decision and bought a seiko astron last year. Couldn't be happier
The Astron is a cracking collection, congrats! - Nick
Great choice! I love my SBGN005, it's super accurate, easy to wear, great travel watch and just perfectly finished!
Absolutely, the bezel is a little sporty, and the dial is a great shade of blue. - Nick
All good dude. Nothing wrong with a high-end “lifetime” quartz movement. Perfect for an everyday wear too. And +/- 5 seconds a year accuracy. Without the need for wireless syncing to an atomic clock, I think is still very impressive.
Or get a Longines Conquest VHP, 5 seconds per year, and pocket the price difference.
Exactly right on all points, there is a lot to love! - Nick
@@jeanlefranc3817 Longines is another great option - Nick
@Stefan Schweizer absolutely. That was exactly my rationale for buying a platinum DayDate to celebrate an important anniversary.
Yes! At last someone else who rates this piece. I bought it when I was in Japan, from BIC Camera of all places, and love it!!
Mine is just 30 pieces from yours!
I love my Grand Seiko Limited Edition SBGP007. A quartztastic masterpiece!
He's not kidding, truly the most comfortable bracelet you're going to wear. I just picked up an sbgp013, and absolutely love it, character and all. Love it. It's more bling than a diamond ring.
I've done the same thing! My first luxury watch was the GS SBGX261, 9F62 movement!
Everything you need, nothing you don't, great choice. - Nick
This is awesome. My 2020 watch gift to myself was the SBGV238. Love the exhibition case back on it.
It's special to see a brand give quartz enough respect to show it off with an exhibition caseback. The two-tone of the SBGV238 is also pretty special as you don't see too many GS references with it. - Nick
I literally made the exact same decision for my first good watch. I love my 007 and while I have picked up a number of amazing watches since, this one will never leave my collection. As an aside, my particular watch (when tracked over one year vs atomic time) gained less than 1.5 seconds. I think that fact alone makes this watch super cool.
Where I come from, this pretty much makes us blood relatives. Great choice on the watch, and also interesting to hear how much more accurate your 007 was than the 5secs GS promises. I'll have to track mine for a year! - Nick
I bought one 6 months ago.
OMG!
1.5 sec. per year!
I’ve got a GS SBGN003 and it’s fantastic. Buy what you like.
Your story and reason for buying that specific watch makes perfectly sense👍🏻I am born in 1969, and celebrated the 50 years buying (in 2019) both the SBGN001 and SBGN009🤩
Love this watch. Want one myself. Thanks!
I own 6 GS watches. Three of them are the 9F quartz. Beautiful watches
I had an omega railmaster trilogy 1957 as my first luxury watch but Nowdays I would go to a GS quartz as the sbgn003 or the sbgx259
The Railmaster is a great choice! - Nick
Great choice and a beauty. Accurate, GMT,, 10 bar water resistance & date complication. All that one needs.
I did just the same. SBGP005.
OUTSTANDING AND pleasing to the eye.
A great choice, that blue dial is lovely. - Nick
At $3K, its either a quarts Grand Seiko or MM300 automatic. You can't go wrong with any of those! Well done!
Thanks Kiko. It's a competitive price point with a lot of good options. - Nick
@@Timeandtidewatches I chose to get the 151 143 and 187... $3k for 3 awesome watches...
I chose for a BB58 but I'm now considering these GS GMT models as well. Great bang for buck at around 3k
I have the same watch/model as well. Thx for raising the price a little. I have quite a few automatics but found the grand seiko quartz to not be lacking in and department. My watch collection went to one. Something that never needs to be wound and also looks good. Taking anything else out with me seems like a waste.
Exactly. While I love winding my mechanical watches, there is something nice about picking up a watch and knowing it'll be perfectly accurate. - Nick
My first decent watch was a Tag Heuer Kirium quartz on bracelet with a beautiful blue dial. I bought it in the late 90s when i was in my late 20s. Probably paid 900-1000 for it back then. I wore that watch everyday for probably 15 years. A battery leaked ruined the movement and that was it. I have moved on to mechanical and more expensive. But i miss that Tag and i haven't found a one watch to replace it.
It's a great watch, you'll need to set up some eBay alerts to find another one! - Nick
Awesome watch! I went the SBGA001 Spring Drive as my first "good watch". But the GS Quartz watches are amazing too. I think the SBGA001 needs a quartz cousin in the collection.
Great choice! The champagne dial is a real stunner! - Nick
I have a early 1980's Seiko SQ100 quartz, in 35 plus years it has never been serviced, only battery changes every 3 to 5 years, a fantastic super reliable watch, compare that with any automatic watch
Brilliant
Awesome video, I agree with all your points, great choice mate.
I bought a GS Quartz SBGX 265 and it on its way to me from Japan, instead of Tudor or B&R.... after a deep thought.. a quartz need less maintainance, a 9F Quartz is a very reputable quartz and last atleast another 50 years.. its build for last.. and also being looking hard for a spare parts of display/exhibition caseback.. because I really appreciate the look of GS quartz movement.. or maybe going to saving money again for SBGV019g or SBGV238 😅
I completely understand the allure mechanical watches have, and the craftsmanship. For me however, the lack of accuracy (~30s per day) is just not what i'm after. I prefer top accuracy. It's all personal choice, and there's no right or wrong choice.
I baught the longines vhp carbon fibet dial 1000$ and does -+5 second a year.
Although i like it alot especially for the price point, i think this GS is the best and want to get it as well. Nothing beats GS
Good taste. Got the same VHP at a steal ($595] and kept saving for the SBGN023… just got it yesterday. It will outlive me for sure. Love it.
I bought the exact same model when it came out. Loved it but found myself not wearing it much because it was too dressy for a day to day watch for me in a job that is very casual and where I occasionally get dirty. On occasions when I dressed up it didn't seem dressy enough if that makes sense. If I worked in a standard office environment it probably would have been my everyday watch, it is stunning in person and having a "high end" quartz watch is cool. The accuracy was never a selling point but the amount of effort that goes into producing the 9F movement makes it fascinating to me and I probably will own another one at some point.
Omega De Ville automatic. Leather strap, ss case, gold bezel, crown, hands and indices, silver dial.
Grand seiko quartz came out in 1988, my birth year. Damn you look good for your age bro!
Great watch! Have my eye on a SBGP001 at the moment. I find the accuracy of the 9F movement kind of fascinating.
I love the SBGP001, such a clean design. The dial reminds me of a quartz version of the SBGW235, with an off-white dial and blued seconds hand. - Nick
@@Timeandtidewatches I ended up buying the SBGP001. Initially, whilst the amazing accuracy and finishing were evident, I struggled slightly to connect with it. I think the somewhat generic bracelet (that you see on so many other GS's) detracts from the distinctive case and the subtely of the dial. Then I bought a burgundy horween strap for it, from Molequin - and now it is perfect! Amazing the difference a strap/bracelet makes.
Great choice!
I had sbgx093 as the first good watch
and have since purchased several mechanical watches but any time I needed to quickly get out with no time to adjust the watches .. the gs quartz is the one I slap on knowing the time is accurate!
The SBGX093 is a great choice, the case design is super sharp. - Nick
I've gone the full gambit from a Grand Quartz in 1981 to Rolex. I started gravitating back to quartz after becoming disillusioned with a very bad servicing experience on a Rolex. The price RSC charges these days is another huge factor in my decision to make the switch back to Seiko. Recently picked up a sweet 9943-8000 and plan on collecting the entire range of 1970s twin quartz models before moving on to the newer ones.
Not sure what percentage of mechanical movements have an exhibition back, but it's pretty small. For me, this was the biggest deciding factor of all; I can't see it, so it no longer makes sense to me to pay a lot of money on a watch and servicing when what drives it is hidden from view.
My first ''good'' watch was the doxa sub 300T Divingstar, i dont know what you mean by good watch, but id assume like upper tier luxury. The Doxa is a mix of tooly design and may not classify as such, but i was eying grand seiko quartz. I want to experience grand seiko finishing but at a price i can afford to do so, so i am still considering GS quartz to this day.The watch you have is great, but still deciding on my ''good watch''
The Doxa is a very solid choice, nice work. If you're still thinking about the GS quartz, make sure you scratch that itch one day. You won't regret it. - Nick
I'm struggling with this decision right now. I'm eyeing the SBGN009 as my first good watch. But still not sure if I want a Quartz.
100% agree! 9f86 the best
One of the all time greats. - Nick
Well...for whatever my silly opinion means, I think that you've made an excellent first purchase. Wear it in good health.
Thanks Henry, I will! - Nick
My first great watch was rolex coke gmt 2, it never kept good time. I have two gs quartz..
Grand Seiko quartz really is an under-the-radar secret weapon. Quality as high as their mechanicals and Spring Drives, but accuracy that is nigh-on unparalleled (one or two exceptions like the Longines VHP movement).
If you know, you know. - Nick
personally I'd go mechanical, it's ultimately about what hit's the spot for the individual, and to have something that's off by a few seconds and has it's own quirks adds character imo
Absolutely. Each to their own, but buy what you like, nothing else. - Nick
Yo same birth year hype.
5 seconds a year. Ok that's something. Stunning GS.
nice
If Patek offers a quartz then you know there is nothing wrong with them. I'm waiting for GS to offer quartz with an open case-back in the white dial....
Always find it hilarious hearing 25 year old dudes talking about buying a really good watch they’ll keep for the rest of their lives. 😃
Check back in with me in 50 years and see if I've still got it in the collection, because I reckon I will - Nick
@@Timeandtidewatches would love too, mate, but I will be long dead by then. 😂. Let’s be less ambitious and say 5 years
@@jeanlefranc3817 haha, I hope not! 5 years it is then, send me a DM and we'll make it happen 😂 - Nick
I would quartz is no maintence so yes i will do
Quartz is just a different mechanism.
quartz way better than mechanical. never have to ajust the time when I pull it out of the drawer. sevices are ten times cheaper than mechanical.
beginning watch collectors look down on quartz and feel that mechanicals and esp those with open case backs are the sophisticated way to go.
It is such bullshit because a big part of mechanical movements in watches south of $2000 or even $3-4000 for certain brands are mass produced, machine built. Not as romantic as what they see in their dreams. Many of them also have accuracies that leave much to be desired.
The important thing is not to confuse modern mass manufactured mechanical movements with true proper horological work. At that level yes justified.
At the same time, GS quartz movement is not your $20 casio movement. It easily has much greater refinement and sophistication than your run of the mill ETA automatic movement. Too much to say here, so for those curious, just read up to educate yourselves.
first watch: Orient Bambino automatic
I think I know what happened you wanted to buy the best watch you could possibly afford and avoid servicing costs while doing so, hence you landed a watch that costs a couple grand with a 50 year service interval🙈 how about you get a micro with an nh35 run it for 20 years no servicing and then just replace the whole movement for $30 on AliExpress 👀
You're giving me too much credit, that's a very clever idea though! - Nick
I don't have money to spend few grand on a watch. Im a certified poor human being