The Grand Seiko SBGR077 and SBGR079 are probably the most surprising watches I've reviewed from Grand Seiko in a while. They're part of our new boutique collection, special models available at only a small number of dealers, which have tended to be a lot sportier than most other Grand Seikos (with a few exceptions), but these two are sporty even among this crowd. In fact, these are among very few GSes I'd dare call a "tool watch". How'd they do? Read on to find out.
The boutique collection has been a bit of a surprise in terms of how sporty it is. Grand Seiko has always been known for its dress watches, with only the occasional (although popular) departures like the SBGE001 and SBGA029, but the boutique collection is a majority-sports watch collection.
Among the sportiest of this collection, however, and certainly the sportiest 3-handers, are the SBGR077 and SBGR079, which we look at today.
There are many attributes that contribute to the sporty look (and feel) of these two. The most obvious, of course, is the red writing, used to signify the powerfully anti-magnetic design of the watch.
The SBGR077 and SBGR079 have taken the Rolex Milgauss approach to anti-magnetic design with a protective iron core inside of the case to protect the movement. This too has contributed to the sporty design because the watch is both thicker and much heavier than other Grand Seikos. It feels remarkably solid, like it’s forged from a single solid piece of iron.
It has other elements that are unusual to Grand Seiko as well, like luminous hands and markers.
Of course, it also has an in-house 9S65 automatic movement. This movement is extremely respected for its accuracy, reliability and long power reserve (72 hours). Despite these great qualities, it isn't typically offered in an anti-magnetic variety, either via an Omega approach with silicon components or the Rolex approach of shielding. The 9S65 here, however, has excellent protection from magnetism. Because these two watches have solid backs, and because of I've already covered the 9S65 extensively in a few other reviews, we won't be spending too much time there in this article.
The dial, although a bit sportier than usual, is still a Grand Seiko with all the good things that implies.
Unlike most tool watches, for instance, it still has applied markers and a date frame.
Other non-tool watch aspects that survive into the SBGR079 and especially this SBGR077 are the famous Grand Seiko dials. In this case, they're both quite beautifully vertically brushed.
The black dial has a shiny lacquer effect to it, and you'd be forgiven for not even noticing its brushed finish. Yet, under sufficiently bright light, you can detect this subtle detail. They're really quite beautiful.
A sporty aspect returns in the form of this white/silver chapter ring which, interestingly, seems to be very similar, or perhaps identical, between black and white dialed variants.
The hands, aside from the obvious addition of lume, remain the traditional Grand Seiko dauphine design. On the silver-white dial, seen here, they are fully polished.
On the black dial, the traditional approach continues. Like most other dark-dialed Grand Seikos, the top facet of the hands is now brushed, which makes the hands more legible against their typically shiny dials.
An area where the watch quite boldly steps away from GS tradition is the red writing and GS logo on the dial. This is not subtle, but it does look cool.
As good as it looks on the silver dial, it looks even better against the black dial. It's a very bold watch by GS' standards. The GS logo is actually red on top of a slightly larger silver GS logo, so you can just barely see a mirror polished metallic outline around the red.
The date, conversely, is quite typical of the brand, with a nice frame that matches the hour markers.
Pleasingly, although not atypical for Grand Seiko (yet, for some reason, a bit rare in other brands) the date ring matches the dial well on both.
The hour markers are also pretty standard for GS. This white dial gets the polished surfaces.
The hour markers on the black dial are brushed on top, matching the hands. Grand Seiko design tends to be extremely cohesive in this way.
Perhaps the best aspect, at least with regard to the dial, is the addition of luminous paint.
The use of lume is fairly reserved, however. Only the cardinal markers, and of course, the main hands, receive any. Even then, it's basically a thin strip down the middle of each. Still, it's sufficient to make it quite legible at night. The "it won't replace your diver" cliché applies here, but then, it isn't a diver.
So, a tool watch, yes, but nonetheless a Grand Seiko. On one hand you've got gratuitous red anti-magnetic writing and a chapter ring, as well as, of course, lume.
On the other hand, a lot of the dressier, more traditional Grand Seiko elements survive. The dauphine hands, applied markers and beautiful dial finishing remain, so this is a pair of models that has one foot firmly in the tool watch category and the other back in conventional GS.
The case is an even bigger departure towards the tool watch motif. In many ways it's a throwback to the old 44GS case (Grand Seiko fans, like me, are required to connect every model to some legendary ancestor) with a straight edge where the bracelet meets the case.
Another aspect that display a focus on "business" over play is the solid back, quite unusual in the world of automatic Grand Seikos. This was, of course, necessitated by the use of an iron core inside the watch, which not only takes more space but would also block the view of the movement anyway. A lot of fans really like solid backs in their more serious watches, so this is certainly coherent with the overall design. I also like that the back of the watch still has the “medallion”, another throwback to the GSes of the 1960s.
The case of the SBGR077/079 is one of the larger in GS' automatic collection at 41mm, a size more often associated with its spring drives. It's a great all around size and the watch has a lot of wrist presence.
The crown screws down for the typical 100 meters. On a watch like this, it's only natural it'd have a screw down crown (while I question its presence on dressier GSes).
The most noteworthy dimension is the thickness. The watch has been thickened, relative to other Grand Seikos, by quite a bit, no doubt to fit the anti-magnetic cage inside of the watch. Interestingly, the crystal is flat, another nod to a well thought out tool watch design as it tends to keep the crystal out of harm’s way. That said, because Grand Seiko doesn't use anti-reflective coating on the outside of the crystal (it is on the inside), the sapphire is much less vulnerable in the first place.
An attribute you can't see is the weight. It's absolutely massive at 192 grams. For purposes of comparison, the similarly sized (slightly smaller) mechanical SBGH001 is 151 grams and the titanium Snowflake, famous for its low weight, is just 100 grams. Thus, an SBGR077 weighs nearly as much as two entire Snowflakes.
The three link bracelet, Grand Seiko's most utilitarian, is wisely used on this model.
Check out our video of the SBGR077 here and our video of the SBGR079 here.
The SBGR077 and SBGR079 came as a complete surprise to me. I'm a bit neutral towards tool watches. There are those I like, the North Flag, DA36 or Ingenieur, for instance, but there are plenty I don't like as well. It's not one of my mainstays.
I knew I'd like these two watches, don't get me wrong, I like almost every Grand Seiko. What I didn't predict is that these two would be perhaps my favorites in the entire boutique collection. There's one other I'll be reviewing later that may be a competitor, but for the moment, having seen the entire lineup in person already, these two are my favorite. Didn't see that coming.
I've always gone to Grand Seiko for their dress watches like the Snowflake or SBGH001. The SBGA029 and SBGE001 are truly great watches, deserving of their popularity, but they've never been my personal choice.
Yet, I find myself completely charmed by these two. Although I didn't anticipate it from looking at the photos, it was also not something I needed days of time with them to learn either. It was apparent the moment I picked one up.
It's a watch that, on paper, doesn't seem to be something I'd really be into.
Yet there's something just so genuine about them. For some reason, I'm really pleased with the degree to which Grand Seiko has pursued a three hand tool watch approach. They could have gone halfway in this pursuit, and while they didn't go as far as they could have (the next watch I'll be reviewing is a spring drive that pretty much does go all the way), they did succeed in creating what they wanted to: a very utilitarian, very practical, very tough, Grand Seiko automatic.
The black dial, this SBGR079, grew on me a lot during my review. I think it's probably the more coherent design, insofar as I mentally associate black dials with tool watches, although this one is very polished. If you're looking for the most aggressive of the two, the red-on-black writing is, while a bit subtler than the red on silver (white), the more serious looking as well.
It should come as no shock, however, that I prefer the light dial, as I so often do. But there's a little more to it than just being lighter. I like that the chapter ring matches the dial, for one thing (a personal preference), I prefer the polished surfaces of the hands and applied markers, but perhaps most of all I like the vertical brush finish. The SBGR079 has that too, but it's extremely subtle in 99% of lighting. It's entirely possible that this SBGR077 is my favorite Grand Seiko of the entire boutique collection. We'll see if that holds up going on as there is one other that is a challenger, but right now, much to my surprise, this is my favorite of this collection of GSes, one of the least GS-like options available.
