The SBGN 001 sports an anthracite dial stamped with a repeating “GS 9F” pattern, interrupted by a stylized “25” right over the 5 o’clock marker to denote the 25th anniversary of the 9f movement. This summer, I’ll probably alleviate these concerns by just throwing the watch on a strap strap changes are made easy thanks to drilled lug holes, though the 19mm lug width does pose a slight challenge when it comes to strap choices. Overall, it’s a pretty comfortable bracelet, though on hot days or when traveling on planes my wrist tends to expand a bit making the bracelet a little tight and causing me to yearn for some kind of toolless micro-adjust system. The stamped, double-pusher folding clasp has no micro-adjust but the bracelet does come with two half links to help with sizing. The oyster-style bracelet is mostly brushed, with some polished details that add a nicely refined quality to the piece. The watch offers 100m water resistance and features a screw-down signed crown with fairly substantial crown guards that swoop up gracefully from the case. The case sports a mix of brushed and zaratsu-polished finishes ( zaratsu, or “sword” is sort of just a marketing term to denote the very high degree of finish that Grand Seiko applies to its polishing) and is backed by a solid case back sporting the trademark Grand Seiko stylized lion. This allows the watch to feel comfortable on a fairly wide range of wrist sizes for reference, my wrist is about 195mm around and the watch fits great with plenty of room to spare. It was released as a limited edition of 800 pieces alongside two non-limited quartz GMTs, the SBGN003, and SBGN005.Ĭase, Bracelet, Dial, and Finish: Grand Seiko Through and Throughįirst off, the watch itself: the SBGN001’s stainless steel case sports a case diameter of 39mm, 46mm lug-to-lug, and just over 12mm depth, which is quite modest for a Grand Seiko sports watch. The Grand Seiko SBGN001 was introduced in mid-2018 as one of three Grand Seiko 9f86 quartz-powered GMT watches in celebration of the 9f movement’s 25th anniversary.