Grand Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph Titanium / Ceramic / White / Bracelet / Black Ceramics Collection ref SBGC221

Grand Seiko · Spring Drive

Spring Drive Chronograph Titanium / Ceramic / White / Bracelet / Black Ceramics Collection

SBGC221
Titanium / CeramicWhiteFixed, 24 HourSpring Drive46.4mm100m

Case

Diameter

46.40 mm

Height

16.20 mm

Material

Titanium / Ceramic

Glass

Sapphire

Caseback

Open

Water Resistance

100.00 m

Bezel

Fixed, 24 Hour

Dial

Color

White

Indexes

Stick / Dot

Hands

Dauphine

Shape

Round

Other

Gender

M

Production

2017–present

Movement Specs

Caliber

9R86

Grand Seiko in-house

Caliber Brand

Grand Seiko

Type

Spring Drive

Power Reserve

72 h

3 days

Jewels

30

Complications

Date, Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Additional 24 Hour Hand (adjustable), Power Reserve Indicator

About the Movement

9R86 movement

Caliber 9R86 is a self-winding movement with column-wheel chronograph and GMT function, based on Seiko's Spring Drive technology. A column wheel system is used to control the starting and stopping of the stopwatch. Its system ensures precise, error free control of the chronograph operation. The column wheel is designed to reduce stress on the clutch and lever, minimizing impact on the movement when the start/stop button is pushed. A vertical clutch system was created to prevent the second hand from jumping when the stopwatch START button is pressed. In the vertical clutch system, when the stopwatch START button is pressed, the start-stop lever opens, the fourth wheel and the clutch ring are engaged by the pushing force of the clutch spring, and the stopwatch begins to measure time. Achieving a level of stopwatch accuracy equivalent to the accuracy of the Spring Drive caliber itself would not have meant much if this accuracy were lost in the operation of the stopwatch. To minimize time measurement errors when the chronograph buttons are pressed, the operation of the buttons was made as precise as humanly possible. A two-step READY/START mode was adopted to ensure that the stopwatch operation would be error-free. It is the same mechanism as is used in Seiko’s hand held stopwatches for professional sports use. The chronograph enters READY mode when the push button is lightly pressed. A further press then starts the stopwatch.

About the Family

Spring Drive is Grand Seiko's most original contribution to watchmaking — a movement technology that exists nowhere else in the industry. Invented by Yoshikazu Akahane and developed over 28 years before its 1999 debut, Spring Drive combines a traditional mainspring with an electronic regulator: the mainspring drives the gear train, but instead of a mechanical escapement, a tri-synchro regulator converts the mechanical energy into electrical energy to drive a quartz oscillator that governs the speed of the hands. The result is a perfectly smooth, gliding seconds hand — no tick, no sweep — and accuracy of ±1 second per day, an order of magnitude better than mechanical movements. It is simultaneously mechanical and electronic, and entirely neither.

About this reference

The Grand Seiko SBGC221 was introduced in 2017 in the context of Seiko's Black Ceramics Collection. It features a case in titanium & ceramic and a matching bracelet. It is powered by the Spring Drive caliber 9R96.