Grand Seiko Hanami Pink Dial SBGW313 37mm Hands On Watch Review

Hi, this is Tim of The 1916 Company. Welcome and thanks for logging on. If you love this watch, email me, Tmosso at the1916company.com, for purchase pricing and availability questions concerning this watch. Today, something fun that was launched as a US market exclusive back in 2023 from Grand Seiko of Japan. This is the SPGW313 Pink Ouate. The timepiece features the 1967 to 44GS case, an iconic form factor for Grand Seiko. The steel watch has a dial that is evocative of the tradition of Haname, the late spring spectating of the cherry blossoms at the foot of snow peaked Mount Ouate. There are two Grand Seiko studios and the Shizuku Ishi studio in Morioka is where the mechanical watches are made and that is close to Mount Ouate, where you can see these snow-capped peaks at the same time the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. And so, that tradition of spectating near Mount Ouate and seeing the cherry blossoms as they rise in late spring is absolutely critical to understanding the culture of the Shizuku Ishi studio and its region. So, the timepiece right here has that snow scatter dial, the pink tones, the green shoot of spring, and then a case size that's only 36.5 millimeters in diameter, 12 millimeters thick from lug to lug to 43 millimeters, 47.4 if we go from end link to end link, total distance across the wrist, 18 millimeter spacing between the lugs. So, Haname in the spring, it's sort of like leaf spectators in New England in America during the fall. This watch is nicely sized. It's for men, it's for women, it's for him, it's for her. It's a nicely proportioned watch too. So, sizes, well, the dimensions. Proportioning though, that has more to do with aesthetics. It's the relative size of pieces when judged against each other. It will easily fit underneath the cuff. You can see from over the top, the lugs are nowhere near the edge of my wrist. The same visible down the barrel. I'd recommend it for a wrist as small as 13.5 centimeters circumference. We'll get back to pink Ouate in a moment. Let's take a look at the bracelet. As you can see, in stainless steel, we have polished and satinated links, outer faces are polished. It's a steel Grand Seiko bracelet. So, you can see that the links are fixed by screws. So, no pin sleeves here. We have an intermediate size link on each side to help you fine tune the fit. If you find yourself in between sizes, a twin trigger clasp with a combination of media blast, polished and satin, snaps shut, twin triggers open it up, cannot open accidentally. We have here a watch that does have a solid case back with a historic Grand Seiko lion logo. Then below that, you can see 9S64, 72-hour automatic mechanical movement and 100 meter water resistance proudly made in Japan. The 44GS case, this launched back in 1967, polyhedron end lug profiles. We have creases, we have curves. It is a distinctive design. And for a company that is primarily known for its dial designs in the modern era, a distinctive case shape is something to cling to and promote every chance you get. Of course, this is the famed tinplate Zaratsu mirror polishing you've heard of at Grand Seiko. It takes about three years to master this through apprenticeship. So, this is a true hand-finished case. And you could see this lovely little sling between the peaks of the lugs. There's that dip around the bezel, a really lovely look. We have a conical flared bezel with a hard edge. You can see a Grand Seiko logo on the crown with media blast and polish. We have a little bit of a box and camber to this Sapphire, and it is a Sapphire. And then the peak of Mount Iwate. Celebrated on many mechanical Grand Seiko watches, what it's designed to evoke is the snow scattered cap or peak of the mountain, but also the cherry blossoms that bloom in its proximity. Of course, as a nod to spring, we also have this green varnished seconds hand. And what'll really set this apart isn't maybe even the color or the texture of the dial, but the dial furniture. Look at the logo. Look at these micro-faceted blade-like mirror-polished hands. Now, look at the same micro-faceting and mirror polish on the indices. All these parts are cut using diamond-tipped micrometric milling tools by artisans who make these parts by hand, place them, and then caulk them by hand. And I've often said Grand Seiko and Rolex have the best quality in the mainstream luxury class, but Grand Seiko gets there with hand craftsmanship. Rolex does it with automation. Now, if you look really close, you can even see that the indices for the seconds and the minutes are little green shoots as well. The watch has a lovely balanced no-date dial. We've got stop seconds and very little dead angle between the time you start to turn the crown and the time the hands move. Inside, we've got a 4 Hertz beat rate, and we've got 6 position adjustment, and the movement is timed to run no worse than minus 3 plus 5 seconds per day. So even a little bit better than a chronometer. It's a 24 jewel movement, again, a 3-day power reserve, and all of this protected down to 100 meters. So this is designed to be an all-arounder, neither strictly a dress watch, nor strictly a sports watch, neither strictly a man's watch, nor strictly a lady's. It is a very versatile timepiece, beautiful and evocative of the manufacturer that has built it. So if you love this watch, reach out to team also at the1916company.com for purchase and pricing details.