We could sit here and wax poetic once again about how much we love and truly admire Grand Seiko’s dress watches. Not only does the Japanese brand craft some of the most accurate and innovative movements in the world, especially with its Spring Drive hybrid calibers, but its knack for visual dial design is special, often taking inspiration from culture and the world around it.

The watchmaker’s latest release recognizes its lineage, launching as a premium offering from Seiko in 1960 only to later become an independent entity in 2017. Yet still, Grand Seiko hasn’t forgotten where it came from, as you can tell by its latest release, a pair of watches that revive the iconic 45GS while featuring its former parent’s logo right on the dials.

Why the 45GS Is Important

For Seiko’s 100th anniversary in 2013, Grand Seiko revived the 44GS, which originally came out in 1967 and sort of became the blueprint that the brand would follow henceforth, especially championing the design philosophy of Taro Tanaka. 

In 1968, they came out with the 45GS, which pushed the needle forward yet again, further leaning into Tanaka’s storied “Grammar of Design” tenets along with implementing a manually-wound hi-beat movement. For the first time, arguably, the aesthetics of the watch and what made it tick were of the same caliber, so to speak. The 45GS was produced until 1973 but has been revived today in two forms.

Grand Seiko SLGW004 & SLGW005 Basics

Paying homage to the 1968 originals, the new SLGW004 and SLGW005 watches from Grand Seiko are faithful recreations. The launch references of the 45GS came in stainless steel and gold-capped cases, while these revivals take this one step further by equipping the SLGW004 in actual 18k yellow gold. Pretty cool!

Proving the timelessness of the ‘60s models, the new watches are pretty spectacular in their own right. Measuring 36.5mm across, the cases are slightly smaller than the 38.8mm originals. The steel version is paired with a white opaline dial, while the gold gets a creamier white color — both with indices and handsets to match the cases. And most importantly, both feature the same dual-branding of the ‘68 watches, which is the first time this has happened since before Grand Seiko went independent 7 years ago.

As for its movement, the watches are given their biggest update in the way of Grand Seiko’s Hi-Beat 9SA4, which debuted earlier this year as the brand’s first manually-wound caliber in 50 years. You can check it out through the case back with its decorated details, including golden engravings and perlage on the mainplate. It’ll also offer a whopping 80 hours of power reserve with a -3/+5 seconds per day accuracy. Lastly, the watch comes with either a black or brown crocodile leather strap.

Spec Sheet

Pricing & Availability

While the yellow gold SLGW004 is limited to just 200 pieces priced at $30,000, the steel SLGW005 has a slightly larger edition size of 1,200 at a more affordable $9,700. Both will be available from Grand Seiko’s website and boutiques in November.

Grand Seiko SLGW004 & SLGW005

Grand Seiko revives its 45GS from 1968 with an updated manually-wound movement and co-branding with its former parent company Seiko.