The Grand Seiko SBGA413 (ShunBun) - A Year On My Fuzzy Wrist
Photo by Chris Antzoulis
This watch proves that tastes change, and sometimes the watch you think you want is not the watch you truly desire at all. I spent nearly a year fawning over an Omega Speedmaster Professional, only to one day try on my first Grand Seiko (muahahaha gotchya). I had seen photos of the SBGA413 before, but it only became interesting once I saw it in person and tried it on. I immediately understood everything the GS fanboys and fangirls were shouting from the rooftops. The polishing, the lightweight titanium, the spring drive movement, and THAT DIAL THO! It all won me over, melted into my wrist, and I purchased one of my own a few months later. Now, after a year on the wrist, the question is: do I still feel the love?
Photo by Stephen Nichols @talkingabouttime
The answer, truthfully, is "yes," and even more so. I don’t wear it every day or as often as I did in the first couple of months that I had it, but I wear it once or twice a week. I have more than my fair share of watches, and I wear my GS on days when I want to feel special without drawing too much attention to myself. I’ve found that the ShunBun is the perfect watch to wear covertly. People don’t notice its beauty unless they sit directly beside me or across from me at a table.
It appears unassuming until you focus on it; you get lost in it. There has not been a single instance when I’ve looked at the watch to check the time, noted it, and then looked away. Instead, my eyes consistently linger for a few moments, and sometimes for a solid minute or two—taking stock of the dial color in the particular lighting situation I’m in, following the glide of the second hand as it sails over a backdrop that resembles floating flower petals, and finally observing the shimmer of the sharply cut indices as they shift the light from their edges to the center. By the time I snapped out of the trance, I may have forgotten where I was or where I was supposed to go, but it was worth it.
Overall, I love the fit and feel of the watch. I am a massive advocate for titanium watches, as I prefer lighter watches; I only want to remember I’m wearing a watch when needed. That said, there are a couple of things I wish were different. First, I will take the briefest of moments to bitch about the common complaint—the bracelet. I love how it looks and feels, but for the money, it should have on-the-fly micro-adjustments, quick-release spring bars, and fully-screwed links instead of pins and collars. For almost $6,900 MSRP (at the time of publication), this should be a non-issue.
Photo by Chris Antzoulis
The only other gripe I have with the watch is one that I knew about the first time trying it on, and that is the gold foil Grand Seiko lion on the inside of the exhibition caseback. I will never understand it when watch brands decide to expose their movements and then COVER THEM UP! I'm sorry for getting loud, but that warrants all-caps-level frustration. Like…what the fuck?! The 9R65 is a beautiful movement, certainly the most beautifully decorated I own. Seeing that gear train moving in one fluid, frictionless direction is a wonder. The motion and decoration combine to create something as pleasing to gawk at as the dial. But it’s silly that I have to noodle it around to catch incomplete glimpses. This bothers me much more than the more common bracelet complaints, but it didn’t stop me from purchasing the watch.
Photo by Chris Antzoulis
There is another small element to this watch that some might not like, but one that I find ironic in a funny way is the action of winding the crown. If you’ve never wound a spring drive movement, I promise the first time you do what you feel and hear will be jarring initially. Everything about the watch bursts with finesse and careful consideration — calming elements that reflect a vision of floating cherry blossom petals. So, when you go to make that first crown twist, and the crown stem feels like it’s wrapped in sandpaper, creating the sound of very tiny screws whirring in an equally mini garbage disposal, you may take a step back. I legitimately thought the movement was broken the first time I did it. But it turns out that is just what it sounds like. So, if you’re used to the butter-smooth wind of something like the MT5402 movement in the Black Bay 58, or even a Sellita SW-200, you may have some initial mixed feelings about the 9R65 Spring Drive. I get a chuckle out of it. This watch that is so graceful and dignified goes through what is the wristwatch equivalent of pulling the ripcord to start a lawnmower. The juxtaposition is just fun because once that spring drive movement gets going, it’s smooth, glorious sailing.
The Grand Seiko SBGA413 represents technological and mechanical ingenuity packaged inside something so tranquil that every time you look at it, your mind can’t help but wander there. After a year of wearing it, I am still baffled that I could squirrel enough away to have something I once thought was unreachable in my collection.
