Two new limited edition watches known as the Grand Seiko SBGT241 (all steel) and the Grand Seiko SBGV238 (steel and 18ct gold) were just announced in honor of the 25th anniversary of the popular Seiko 9F movement family. Grand Seiko originally introduced the caliber 9F in 1993 after a reported five years of development – in order to be the finest "daily wear" quartz watch movement in the world. Seiko is no doubt proud of the fact that many people (including myself) still consider the 9F movement family to represent the best performing quartz movements in the world.
The second of the two limited edition 9F 25th anniversary watches is the Grand Seiko SBGV238. More limited (limited edition of 600 pieces), this watch is visually different than the SBGT241, which is a bit odd since they are being debuted in the same move. The SBGV238 has a steel and 18ct yellow gold case which is 40mm wide and 10mm thick (water-resistant to 100m). While most of the case and bracelet are in steel, this model has a gold bezel with matching gold hands and hour markers. Also, unlike the other model, this dial has just the date – but the same cool 25th anniversary dial. Over the dial of both of the watches is an AR-coated sapphire crystal. According to Seiko, the case of the SBGV238 watch is inspired by the 1967 Grand Seiko 44GS (and other watches in the Grand Seiko collection have this case design as well).
Price-wise, quartz has certainly seemed more affordable in other instances (even at Grand Seiko), and each watch is said to be available in May of 2018. The limited edition of 1,500 pieces Grand Seiko SBGT241 has a retail price of $3,400 USD, and the limited edition of 600 pieces Grand Seiko SBGV238 has a retail price of $4,800 USD
ABTW
