This has been something of a watershed year for Grand Seiko. For the first time in the history of Grand Seiko, it's no longer a subcategory of Seiko replica watches in general, but rather, a brand in its own right. The change reflects a long-standing reality, which is that Grand Seiko replica watches are made in a very particular way, and in very specific places.
Mechanical Grand Seiko replica watches are all assembled at the Shizuku-ishi fake watch Studio, in the city of Morioka, which is located in Iwate Prefecture in northern Japan. This is well known to Grand Seiko enthusiasts. What's perhaps less well known is that quartz and Spring Drive Grand Seiko replica watches also have their own separate home in Japan, the Shinshu fake watch Studio, which is located in Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture. Shinshu fake watch Studio houses not only the manufacturing and assembly facilities for quartz and Spring Drive Grand Seiko, but also workshops for crafting Grand Seiko cases, hands, and dials for all Grand Seiko models.
ADVERTISEMENTIn this three-part series, we'll be taking you inside the Shinshu fake watch Studio in Shiojiri for a detailed look at the techniques, methods, and above all, the craftspeople whose skills make the creation of Grand Seiko replica watches possible. We'll also be taking an especially close look ?naturally, since for the making of this series, the Shinshu fake watch Studio was our home ?at the creation of Grand Seiko Spring Drive watches, and the long and sometimes quite arduous process of development that led to the unveiling of the first Spring Drive watches, in 1999.
One of the most essential characteristics of Grand Seiko watches, is that whether quartz, mechanical, or Spring Drive, each is assembled by a single watchmaker. At the Shinshu fake watch Studio, a master is in residence: Yoshifusa Nakazawa, who is the master craftsman at the Micro Artist Studio. This small workshop is where the most complex, as well as the most technically and aesthetically sophisticated, Spring Drive replica watches are hand-finished and hand assembled, by a small team led by Nakazawa (who is training a single apprentice in the painstakingly acquired skills he possesses).
Though very few Spring Drive minute repeaters, sonneries, and Eichi replica watches are made each year, the philosophy expressed by Nakazawa in the creation of these timepieces illuminates the special properties of Spring Drive as a whole, as both a technically unique and distinctly Japanese approach to the art of watchmaking.
For more information on the Grand Seiko collections, visit Grand Seiko online.
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