Seasons change
The latest additions to Grand Seiko’s Heritage Collection are naturally elegant. By Ken Kessler
For complexity and mystique, Japanese culture is hard to top. From the folding of an omelette to the manner in which one bows, everything is seemingly based on attention to detail, with a spiritual component built in. This concern for minutiae renders one particular revelation as unsurprising: that Japan observes not just four but 24 seasons.
Dissecting the calendar into approximately fortnightly periods doesn’t obviate the country’s recognition of quarterly seasons, nor the Gregorian calendar, essential for functioning globally. Rather, the 24 seasons – or sekki – have since ancient times divided the solar year to celebrate more elusive changes in the weather.
“The appreciation of the precious, fleeting essence of time and nature’s changing beauty is a particularly Japanese concept,” explains David Edwards, managing director of Seiko UK. “It is this concept that has inspired the latest 24 Seasons Collection, as well as lying at the very heart of Grand Seiko’s ethos.”
While the sekki have inspired the look and feel of the series (launched within Grand Seiko’s Heritage Collection), all the watches address another element of Japanese culture: craftsmanship. Each Grand Seiko timepiece is crafted by in-house takumi, or master craftspeople, who are stimulated by their surroundings.
This combines with a skill set that goes beyond Japan’s borders – that of high-end watchmaking. For Grand Seiko, as with haute horlogerie practitioners around the world, achieving perfection is paramount. “The idea of ‘just as long as it naturally takes’ extends to these artisan watchmakers, who constantly strive to create the almost impossible: the ideal watch,” says Edwards.
“They are continuously aiming to craft the most accurate, easy to read and practical timepiece it is possible to make by hand. It took 28 years for one particular talented craftsperson – Yoshikazu Akahane – to bring the brand’s signature unique Spring Drive movement to life and it is recognised [today] as one of the most significant developments in recent watchmaking history.”
Views from the Kengo Kuma-designed Studio Shizukuishi, which opened last year, inform recent releases such as the White
Birch, the Omiwatari and, arguably the most popular of the Grand Seikos, the Snowflake. These required watchmaking that could balance light, shadow, texture and colour.
Now, with 24 seasons to represent, Seiko’s takumi express the subtleties of changes that might only represent a matter of days: picture the glitter of winter snow in the sunlight and the subtle pink of the mountain cherry blossoms. Respecting this reverence for the passage of time, Grand Seiko has reimagined the classic 62GS case design from 1967.
Eight sekki have been honoured so far, in two groups of four. Launched in February in the UK, following their US unveiling, were Shunbun for the spring equinox and Shosho recalling summer southern winds, both with 9S86 mechanical Hi-beat movement.
The Kanro, meanwhile, suggests autumn moon dew and Toji the bracing chill of winter snow. Both are powered by the 9R66 Spring Drive movement.
Recently released is the second quartet, comprising the Shunbun for the Sakura spring season (sharing a name with the spring equinox) and Taisetsu for deep winter snow. This pair employs the 9R65 Spring Drive. Lastly, the Rikka tells of early summer and Shūbun autumn equinox, both driven by the 9S85 mechanical Hi-beat movement.
“The Nature of Time concept extends from representing the transition between light and dark on the dial to designs that emulate the natural surroundings of Grand Seiko’s studios, and to the incorporation of the natural flow of time within the engineering of the movement calibres themselves,” says Edwards. Mother Nature would be flattered. Grand Seiko Heritage 24 Seasons Collection, from £5,780; grand-seiko.com