Watch of the Week: Grand Seiko Blue Ceramic Hi-beat GMT “Special” Limited Edition

When you have something to celebrate, you better do it right! That is what Grand Seiko must have thought when they created the Blue Ceramic Hi-beat GMT “Special” Limited Edition to mark the 20th anniversary of their highly acclaimed 9S-movement. With a diameter of 46.4mm, and being 14.6mm thick, Grand Seiko has created a serious sports watch, fully committed to performance and wearing comfort. That last might not seem too obvious when you take in consideration the size of its case, but Grand Seiko uses a special kind high-intensity titanium for the inner case and outer bracelet links and combines this with blue ceramic. The result is a very strong, yet featherlight watch.

Blue is not only the color of the ceramic, but also of the dial which features an intricate, and mesmerizing, design. This dial gives this Grand Seiko most certainly an extra level of sophistication, because watches like this are not bought only because of their ruggedness and performance, but all the more so for their visual appeal. Functionality remains, however, a key part of the design of the watch. The time can be easily read, and the regular hands are quite different from the GMT-hand, which uses the outer, blue ceramic bezel to indicate the time in another time zone.

The dial also provides us with some key-details what makes the movement inside, caliber 9S86, so special. First of all is it a high-frequency caliber, meaning that it runs at 36.000 vph. Secondly, it is adjusted to Grand Seiko’s ‘Special’ standards. This means that it needs to meet even more strict requirements than a regular Grand Seiko and that its deviation range has to fall between -2 to +4 seconds a day.

Grand Seiko also indicates this at the back, where we can see that the oscillating weight of the movement is set with a lion medallion crafted from 18k rose gold. This is a testimony to the pursuit of excellence to which Grand Seiko has dedicated itself, as well as a promise to the future because while the 20th anniversary of the 9S movement is one of looking back, it is also a moment to look forward toward to horizon and see what is in store next for this amazing movement.