Forces Of Nature

Two strategically released pieces in Grand Seiko’s Watches and Wonders Geneva repertoire of novelties promise an exciting future for the Japanese Manufacture.

- SUFFIAN HAKIM

THE GRAND SEIKO BOOTH at Watches and Wonders Geneva was very on-brand. Bathed in a pristine white, and filled with motifs inspired by natural elements, especially Japanese flora, it was a perfect representation of the brand — a Japanese Manufacture that deals in ideals of harmony, balance, and aesthetics derived from nature.

Two of the novelties released at the fair in Geneva’s sprawling Palexpo, however, captured the imagination. They were unlike most of the Manufacture’s repertoire, and hinted at a new dawn in Grand Seiko’s approach to watchmaking, one marked by bold innovation and risk-taking. It’s an exciting development, to be sure, and it can perhaps be summed up by the following two timepieces.

KODO CONSTANT-FORCE TOURBILLON IN ‘DAYLIGHT’

Grand Seiko has developed a strong reputation for its beautiful dials, meticulously handcrafted by Japanese artisans drawing inspiration from elements of Japanese art and culture.

With the open-work nature of its Kodo Constant-force Tourbillon, however, it shows that it can take risks in design and stray from the codes that have garnered it a large following. First introduced in 2022, the Kodo Constant-force Tourbillon is the first creation from the Manufacture’s Atelier Ginza to feature a mechanical tourbillon (it can be argued that the Kodo is Grand Seiko’s first mechanical complication), the first to feature a constant-force mechanism, and also Grand Seiko’s first skeletonised watch.