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Grand Seiko reps....

BlakeDrinkHard

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6/5/19
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Does anyone know if there are grand seiko reps out there? I love the look of the spring drives , just dont love the price
 

Ams55557

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I don’t think you’ll find one as they aren’t all that popular. But out of curiosity, are you trying to find a clone of the movement too or just the dial /case?
 

Art Tic

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I have an older Grand Seiko (not SD) that I wore daily for years when I was in my thirties, and every facet of the watch exudes exquisite craftsmanship. Too bad the brand is sort of underrated by the watch collecting community.
 

yongsum

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that movement seems like it'd be tough to clone. i have a gen grand seiko, forget the reference atm but i do love it. i don't love that's it's worth less now than when i bought it lol, but i don't care
 

BlakeDrinkHard

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6/5/19
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I'm not specifically looking for the spring drive movement. I just want something that is luxury and not every Tom dick and harry have one. I like getting the "what kind of watch is that" question when wearing something. Not the immediate "that's a fake" or "is that real" question
 

erekose

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The point of a Grand Seiko is the exacting detail...not seeing how any rep could come close.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 

m800

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The point of a Grand Seiko is the exacting detail...not seeing how any rep could come close.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Which gen manufacturers have, as an objective, to see how many reps can come close?
 

BenjaminButton

You're Saying I Can Sell?
14/8/14
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They can't. And the spring drive movement is not going to be repped anytime soon.

Of course they could rep a GS if they thought there was a demand. The quality of replicas these days is outstanding. No one reps any movement to the extent of the unique mechanical features some high end watches have to any truly excellent extent. They just dress ‘em up. Absurd to to think a simple old GS couldn’t be copied. But people want recognisable luxury with their replicas and therefore probably not seiko. Although there have been some rubbish seiko fakes. Perhaps there is or will be a GS replica soon as Seiko are really pushing the line and creating some very high value pieces so who knows what the future holds.
 
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PlastikMan

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The Grand Seiko Snowflake is one of my grail watches and I wouldn’t mind paying gen
 

Troklo

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I will own a gen GS one day only luxury watch that I think is really worth the money
 

Hinclimincli

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I'm not specifically looking for the spring drive movement. I just want something that is luxury and not every Tom dick and harry have one. I like getting the "what kind of watch is that" question when wearing something. Not the immediate "that's a fake" or "is that real" question

The thing is that a Grand Seiko is exactly the opposite to that. No one will ask you what watch is that because for most of the people except the true conoisseurs, it will just be a Seiko. And whoever that knows what really is a Grand Seiko, they will know that the beauty of a GS is in the detail, not in the general feeling. There was already a discussion about that, check the detailed photos of the zaratsu-polished hands, compared to Rolex, Omega and Patek (only the Patek ones are close): https://forum.replica-watch.info/forum/replica-watch-general-discussion/6912964-grand-seiko-repped
 
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Troklo

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^^^Thanks for pointing towards that thread somehow I missed it. After looking at that I'm even more convinced that I will get a GS as soon as I can, truly beautiful master pieces!
 

Ams55557

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Was thinking about this today. Purely speculative and not based in reality, but what would it take for a rep to capture a GS with a spring drive... I figure it would start with a movement that is really high beat. As I don’t think there is a 36k vph automatic readily available I’d think the precisionist quartz movement would work pretty well. When I put my sbga387 next to my Wilton, I gotta say that the second hand moves very similar.
You would have to use a fake power reserve, but that’s ok.. your on quartz. Also. You’d give up an open case back, but that’s no big deal since the GS doesn’t look all that awesome from the backside. The sword/dauphine hands could be sourced from a pressage... they are readily available. I have no idea about how the dials are actually made but I’d bet some enamel with silica would be close enough.
Dunno. I guess it’s possible... just not likely as the demand is more on the rolex, omega, breitling side of things.
 

erekose

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Was thinking about this today. Purely speculative and not based in reality, but what would it take for a rep to capture a GS with a spring drive... I figure it would start with a movement that is really high beat. As I don’t think there is a 36k vph automatic readily available I’d think the precisionist quartz movement would work pretty well. When I put my sbga387 next to my Wilton, I gotta say that the second hand moves very similar.
You would have to use a fake power reserve, but that’s ok.. your on quartz. Also. You’d give up an open case back, but that’s no big deal since the GS doesn’t look all that awesome from the backside. The sword/dauphine hands could be sourced from a pressage... they are readily available. I have no idea about how the dials are actually made but I’d bet some enamel with silica would be close enough.
Dunno. I guess it’s possible... just not likely as the demand is more on the rolex, omega, breitling side of things.
Nothing you mentioned above is related to the Spring Drive movements. And it would be impossible.l to mimic that GS level of finishing elsewhere.

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Ams55557

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erekose I don’t know. I think the movements would be close enough for a rep. When put side by side they have “similar enough” sweep. If I could figure out how to upload an animated gif I’d upload a clip to show you what I mean.
No one is talking nwbig... but close.
 

Hinclimincli

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erekose I don’t know. I think the movements would be close enough for a rep. When put side by side they have “similar enough” sweep. If I could figure out how to upload an animated gif I’d upload a clip to show you what I mean.
No one is talking nwbig... but close.

I think what we are trying to say is that a Grand Seiko rep would either:

A) Be affordable, and look like a normal $200 Seiko SARB
B) Be tremendously expensive, and still not being close to that real thing look.

Check these out: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/grand-seiko-spring-drive-snowflake-review

The thing is that the Grand Seiko look only works when it's done right in all aspects. If the hands aren't properly done they will look like normal dauphine hands like on any low range watch, no shine at all and pretty dull. The bevelled edges on the case will be just meh, and the most important thing: the dial.

The perfect snowflake dial with all the exact amount of sparkly light reflection is kind of the kkey here. Do it wrong and it'll look like a Hello Kitty sparkly dial, which will be just plain wrong.

If you want a rep Grand Seiko, just save up a little and get this, the closest to the real thing: http://www.gnomonwatches.com/presage-automatic-white-quot-baby-gs-snowflake-quot-ref-sarx055
 
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Moadib

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Interesting thread, and agree on conclusion, other than for WIS GS is ll in the details. No-one has seen mine on my wrist and asked, but a couple of co-workers have asked, after we've been sitting for a while having coffee and they can see the sparkle of the indices and hands.
It seems like that would be an incredible amount of work to rep, and while possible, the end market might not be enough to justify it? Not that many people looking for GS unfortunately. Which is a shame, as some of the watches are stunning.