Horological Meandering

KIH
[Purist]
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BaselWorld 2013: SEIKO Novelties Review (especially 44GS re-issue)

I was invited to SEIKO Office by PR team for the 2013 Novelties show.


To me, the highlight was/is the re-issue of 44GS.  I know some people prefers "original" and so do I whenever it is possible.  But this re-issue is a different story, IMHO.

Please read on for what is so special about this 44GS re-issue.


From left to right - PG (LE of 70), YG (70), WG (70), and SS (700).




SS




WG




YG




PG




SS




WG (blued second hand)




YG




PG




SS




WG




YG




PG






As some may remember, the factory as well as the equipment of the GS case supplier, Hayashi Precision ("Hayashi"), were almost completely lost.  Keep this in mind reading through.
(read my 130th Anniversary Edition article here, at the very bottom -> home.watchprosite.com )


So, why did they decide to re-issue this particular model?  Actually, this is being done in series - the first one being the original GS re-issue as SEIKO's 130th Anniversary LE a few years ago (or maybe the re-issue of Quartz Astron before that...?).  And now this one - being remembered one of the best hand wind, non-hi-beat GS (18,000 vph).  Perhaps the next one - don't know when - may be 45GS, the best hand wind hi-beat whose movement which actually won the Observatory Chronometer Competition in late 60s..... 
44GS, launched in 1967, was chosen this anniversary year because it is THE GS that established the definition of "GS Style" design code going forward - one of the best Japanese watches ever made for sure.

What is so great about this one?  What is the fuss (at least in Japan, this was causing lots of buzz and fuss)?  Well, it's rather the case than the movement inside.  Umn, don't get me wrong.  The movement is the "normal", modern, the today's best GS hand wind mechanical movement 9S64 (+5 ~ -3 sec per day, 72h power reserve) the same as the one in 130th Anniversary LE - SBGW033).  But the case is what make this model stand out.


37.9mm (original being 38mm).





















Why the case?

"44GS is a good example of BAD case design" because good designer should NOT design such a low productivity case.  It just took too long a time to make.  At the time of 44GS, it took a veteran crafts man two hours to polish just one surface and he could make just a few per day.  No wonder they stopped production in a relatively short time.

SEIKO thought the schematic for the 44GS case must be at Hayashi somewhere, but all were lost at the 3.11 Earthquake disaster.  So they had to look for it elsewhere - there was only one left at Customer Service center.


There were several hurdles they had to surpass:

- The glass diameter is now 1mm unit, not 0.5mm.  44GS glass is 32.5mm and they wanted to re-create the faithful re-issue, thus had to change the machine only for this model.

- Hayashi had lost most of the equipment at 3.11 disaster but now has got new machines and this 44GS was given the most advanced technology for case production.

- GS cases are made almost exclusively with forging.  Forged cases tend to have "dull" angles or edges, but it is not the case (pun not intended) for GS cases.  Hayashi forges GS cases 13 times (!), each time heated at 1100C for 15 minutes (in cases of 18K gold, 800C) in between.  And the sharp edges are made possible by machining AFTER forging.  They make cases a bit larger (0.03mm) first and after forging, surfaces were machined away by CNC.

- Blackpolish on the bezel.  Hayashi made five new machines only for blackpolishing using tin plate for this 44GS.  New 44GS finish is definitely a few notches better than today's other GS.  And the way they polished was the traditional way since 50s.  Blackpolishing was NOT taken into account in the estimate to SEIKO, but Hayashi wanted to do this way "because this is 44GS".






Blackpolished bezel



















Sharp edges.








With those not-too-visible or obvious "attention to details" process, SEIKO/ Hayashi may have thought the price was too low, but they did what they did because this is, after all, THE re-issue of 44GS. 



And the modern interpretation of 44GS - newly designed case with automatic movement GS - SBGR083 (to be available July 8th)












Wrist shot of WG




YG




and PG version





Now the next big topic was Astron.

Kintaro Hattori (founder of SEIKO) LE















































And other new Astron designs.....  Red second hand is cool.








Sporty Blue/Black dial.








Orange/Black dial...








Yellow green second hand is a nice touch - only available in non-Japan markets.








Spartan look black/white dial.








Very cool rubber strap, orange/ black dial - only available non-Japan markets.  Very cool...  Why not in Japan? :-(












That's it!

Thank you very much as always - SEIKO Watch PR Team!
Also, special thanks to Mr. Hirota who provided some behind the scene stories of 44GS re-issue project.

Best,
Ken

This message has been edited by KIH on 2013-08-19 09:51:48

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