Inside Grand Seiko, Episode Two: The Evolution Of Spring Drive
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ธ.ค. 2017
- In the second installment of our three-part series in partnership with Grand Seiko, we go in-depth on the history and development of Spring Drive.
Spring Drive is one of the most widely known of all the innovations created by Seiko in its entire history - but perhaps also the most misunderstood. This is partly because nothing like Spring Drive exists anywhere else in modern watchmaking: a watch regulated by a quartz oscillator, but one which is driven by a mainspring, has a completely conventional gear train, and has no battery.
For the full story, go to www.hodinkee.com/articles/ins... - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
it's GRAND Seiko for a reason.
my next one will be a spring drive.
mad respect.
I have a couple of GSs in my collection and two of them are SD. I love them a lot, based on a truly admirable technology, surrounded by a brand that is different. To find another person wearing it in the „real world“ will create immediate alliance....✅
jogu123 fully agree. Quietly know on holiday who is who. Without saying anything. Very discrete and unassuming excellence.
Another great video!
Hopefully one day I will own a spring drive, they are true pieces of engineering art
And?
As a swiss, I came through Swatch, then mechanical, but what I'm craving for now is the timekeeping of a quartz, paired with a mechanical power source. This is what the spring drive provides (hopefully). As soon I've got the money to spare, I'll buy one!
Like being swiss add more value to your comment
@@invinsible1987 our trains run on time, do yours?
Have you been able to purchase one yet?
So, 5 years from now, do you have one?
I purchased one of the very first Spring Drive, the Seiko SNR005 and after 15 years it still runs flawlessly and accurately like day one without having to even open the case back. That’s right! Never needs service even after 15 long years and my gut feeling is that it may run forever with the same accuracy as when it was new. Once go Spring Drive, never go back. I have many Swiss and Japanese but nothing can touch Seiko Spring Drive.
hmm, each to their own I guess. I have a GS spring drive, but I enjoy my Rolex and Omega immensely more. There's something about holding a watch and not hearing a tick which puts me off. Plus the bracelet is piss poor compared to Rolex and Omega.
I highly recommend send watch to service each 3-5 years.
Some of the best watch videos by Hodinkee
Will you buy a GS? Make a video of that experience
In 6 years I've never seen a more beautifully satisfying watch than my Spring Drive. That sweep second hand still gives me a kick every time I see it.
Well done video. I have several Rolex and Swiss mechanical movement watches, which are classic, but with very little technical improvements in the last 50 years. This is really a monumental change in watchmaking. The accuracy of quartz in a hybrid mechanical.
Watching the spring drive's hand sweep is so relaxing.
I find my self more related to Japanese watch than a Swiss I don't know why
mohammad ziad you are not alone :)
The Japanese are very meticulous and take great pride in their work. I'm with you on this.
@@Jon81G Both the Swiss and Japanese are very meticulous and take great pride in their work. I think it's primarily people rooting for the underdog, or at least wanting to see something other than Swiss, German and French watches in the luxury market.
Cause they are better and if you know the Japanese work ethic, you know it's just something else.
@raioni Seiko was never an underdog. They created one of the first quartz watches, which caused the quartz crisis in the 1970s
I want one of these more and more every day. Seiko has really got it together.
Excellent video! I visited a Seiko boutique for the first time this year and saw the snowflake in action. It really is something I’m considering to add to my collection.
The very early springdrive Seiko's were so different to what we see nowadays with Grand Seiko. Amazing transition into high(er) horology
I quite like the SPURING DURIVUH! Very tempting.
nurkijao
Spuringu duraibu.
Great video guys! This really explains the technology well. I had no idea how the Spring Drive worked up till now and it's brought forward a new appreciation for Seiko's breakthrough innovation. Seems like they were going for the best of Quartz and Mechanical in a single movement.
This was such a wonderful series. Thanks so much for the efforts Jack, et.al. I can't wait to hold a spring drive timepiece someday.
I’m usually not a fan of any watch that is not solely mechanical, but that is an engineering feat I can appreciate...
It’s incredible the way they designed it. One of the few electronic watches that I think many watch lovers can truly appreciate.
I agree and I think many people misunderstand Quartz to mean battery- the use of quartz itself is not what turns me off normal quartz watches it’s the disposable nature of most of them and the lack of craft... that cannot be said about spring drive 👍🏽
It is a solely mechanical movement. It just has a quartz unit that the mechanical movement checks to see whether it's running fast or slow.
Thomas Christopher White- I understand what your saying. But typically in watch terminology, a mechanical movement has no electrical components whatsoever. So while the quartz unit is not a part of the gear train, it is part of the complete movement. Meaning it is not solely a mechanical movement (not by modern definition, because all watches are mechanical by def. but by common watch terminology)...
The statement "the mechanical movement checks" is not correct. There is an IC which stands for "integrated circuit", which is in layman's terms "a computer chip". The movement speed is controlled by an electromagnetic mechanism via an electrical closed loop logic circuit which references quartz. As much as I am intrigued by the electromagnetic aspect, it's basically an electronic quartz watch masquerading as mechanical by utilising a spring to store energy instead of a battery, and an electromagnetic brake to draw attention away from the IC and quartz which are the heart of the watch.
As a mechanical nerd that brought me to tears
One day I'll own one
Loved this.
I am so fascinated by the combination of mechanical and electrical engineering in these. I love quartz for their accuracy but I prefer mechanical for their function and beauty. In the spring drive we get the best of both worlds.
I love that smooth running second hand.
Beautiful.- Seiko i Love You.-
Why would one want a run of the mill Rolex compared to this? I've I could only have one watch it would be a Spring Drive. Surely I'm not alone.
I have a GS spring drive, a GS 9F quartz and. Rolex...... Rolex is better value retention... The GS are simply better watches
etherealx23crisis wear, I’ve bought and sold an Omega 3888, Panerai 005 (really regret selling it) and a Tudor Black bay blue ETA. But I think I’ll be keeping my Milgauss and my two GS’.
Mark of genius, remarkable innovation! Blending mechanical and quartz technology to achieve and surpassed the so called chronometer, a quartz accuracy without need for battery!
Great video. Keep up the good work, Hodinkee!
It was a Seiko add? Just because it's HODINKEE presents, doesn't stop it from being a 4:50 minute advertisement.
This is an amazing thing that you guys have started...Seiko you are just out of this world...truly a technological feat - Spring Drive...
So proud to be an owner of the Snowflake with the amazing Spring Drive technology
Awesome video / excellent camera work!
Love this video series and really enjoying getting to know more about Japanese watchmaking. I am finding there is as much to admire in the Japanese as the Swiss.
I had to watch this twice. Once for the subtitles. And once for the nice camera work.
The sweeping is so smooth..
I have two Spring Drives, the GS SGGA259 (golden Snowflake) and Ananta SPS090 SD Chrono 1/300. The spring drive is something so unique and has become my daily wear.
Hope you guys do a Credor video too
A GS Spring Drive is a nice addition to any watch collection. Seiko has a great watch for every budget.
A GS Spring Drive is my grail watch. Everybody who isn't into watches knows Rolex and Omega. But for me, the engineering marvel and meticulous finishing of a GS hits home.
Really fascinating
Amazing, a grand Seiko is my grail
I love Japanese culture and history
And the spring drive encapsulates what a Japanese watch is
Excellent!
Seikos are always the best
I just love watchmaking videos like this. There are few other leaps in horology in recent times (George Daniels' co axial escapement springs to mind)
The fact that this has a Quartz oscillator, checking and regulating the speed of this movement will put some people off and the fact of it being 'only a Seiko' will put off some others. It really shouldn't though, it's just another evolution in watchmaking, plus they're great on the wrist.
Quartz is like going from powerplants based on coals to nuclear powerplants. Ingenious
In my opinion, the Grand Seiko Spring Drive is an Master Engineering “Marvel” without question...
Thank you for this video. I must say technological breakthrough in watchmaking industry. Mr.Akahane invention of "spring Drive" is very insightful of piezoelectric. - ( I studied same field. ) crystal quarts has its frequency by electron pass-through. So its goes to generate a small electron energize watch. So small magnet - like a motor needed to frequency to convert mechanical motion to electric power.
One day, I'll definitely get a Seiko with a Spring Drive. For now, I'm happy with my Seiko Green Sumo 2019 SPB103J1 with the updated 6R35 caliber. :)
I Have the Spring Drive SNR005, it absolutely The Best.
Beautiful
Great technology!
No swiss watch has ever compared to this.
You can think of Seiko what you want but they got the cool stuff.
It's like an S2000 with Vtec. Love it
very nice
I know There is a Hodinkee x GS limited edition coming. I’m patiently waiting, guys!
#springdrive is a hell of a piece of technology. in fact, it is the best moment ever created.
I remember several years back, when I was not so much into watches, would scoff at the idea of comparing GS to Rolex. Oh how different things are now
Really enjoyed that thank you!
At first I felt the Rolex Explorer was the most perfect watch, aesthetically. Then I learned about the Grand Seiko Spring Drive
Spring Drive is like poetry in motion.. some of the Swiss tech (you know who I mean) is like a "nightmare in motion"..
Don't forget Zenith's Defy Lab Movement. It is also pure innovation!
@@Irnbruist Yes, a great innovation, but not by Zenith. They purchased that tech from Flexous Mechanisms.
Not only an engineering wonder, but also one that's firmly rooted on the traditions of Seiko and, in the case of the Snowflake, in Japan as well. It's a total work of art.
I just recently started hearing and learning about the spring drive but I can't quite wrap my mind around how it actually works. My take on it so far is that there is an electromagnetic brake that slows the second hand gear in order to cancel the tiks and allow it to sweep smoothly. So does that mean that the brake effectively regulates the time then too since without the brake the second hand sweeps very fast?
I'm still trying to figure it out.
Yes, essentially. Although there are no ticks, at all.
Think of a traditional mechanical watch... A mainspring is wound to store energy to run the movement. That unwinding mainspring unwinds through a series of gears geared to provide a slowly moving hour hand, on to another gear to spin a minute hand faster and on to another gear to spin a second hand even faster...
At the end of all this, there is an escapement connected to a balance wheel which is allowed to oscillate with a hairspring, which slows the unwinding down to a more or less regular rate.
Spring Drive is the same, with the exception of the last part with the escapement, balance wheel and hairspring. Spring Drive movements lack these time keeping mechanisms and replace them with something that is really very innovative.
Spring Drive instead uses a glide wheel at the end of the mechanical movement. This glide wheel facilitates three functions...
1. Generation of electrical power.
2. Measurement of glide wheel spin speed.
3. Frictionless electromagnetic braking.
The generated electrical power is fed to an Integrated Circuit comparator, which references both the vibrations of a quartz crystal and the speed of rotation of the glide wheel and then varies the speed of the glide wheel through frictionless electromagnetic braking.
The end result is a mechanical watch with the accuracy of quartz timekeeping, with no battery, no capacitor, no solar, near constant torque with no jarring stops and starts and a seconds hand which constantly moves smoothly with no perceptible speed up or slow down.
It’s SD is like a hybrid? Combine between mechanical & quartz ?
anyone know what the music for this is?
This design is best for power source
I wish there was more 38mm spring drive watches.
Wish Seiko would start putting this into their lower end mechanical watches, then they would probably rule that arena, (which they already do) but even further.
maybe in the future but right now its just too expensive.
Genius
Is the diameter of a springdrive-movement a state secret?
I wish there was a spring drive in a smaller form factor. Grand Seikos all look enormous. Chunky and thick…not very enticing.
Wish spring drive tech was in a lightweight and more inexpensive design.
Why did 9 people dislike this? I'm genuinely curious to know why.
Nick Way jealousy or ignorance
The captions were quite small and hard to read
is that a reason to dislike?
@@alex_inside it may be for some
The tourbillon is a marvel, but, now you can have one for 500usd. The spring drive is a standing marvel, testament of piaget's 70k failure.
can you put the subtitles much smaller please?...
What was Seiko's first SD watch and what did it cost?
Around $5000
@@jastinep.3659 do you have a model #?
@@wreckage-vs5jv SNR003 i just google it... And its not $5000 hahahah
@@jastinep.3659 Thank you. So here it is.. th-cam.com/video/rjY4He103xg/w-d-xo.html
SBWA001
Wowowowowowowowow
Does the spring drive have a hack?
So this is call hybrid?
Yes
Seiko wins
I'm just a poor guy. I can't afford to buy a Grand Seiko. But I think it is a work of art and a testament to Japanese ingenuity. 👍🏼😮
Brilliant combination of engineering and art. But Seiko needs to stop putting Spring Drive in their "Seiko" watches, it's totally diminishing the Grand Seiko exclusivity.
can this technology used in CARS???
Spring drive is nice, but your local watchmaker will not repair it...
I still have trouble understanding the whole point of the Spring Drive system. They said in the video it was originally developed to avoid the annoyance of changing the battery in quartz watches, but instead you will need to have Spring Drive watches serviced every few years. How is this more convinient than just quartz? Grand Seiko itself has quarz watches that have battery separate with other conponents, which means you can change the batteries easily without touching the movement, and you only need to service the watch every fifty years or so, isn't this just a better and simpler solution comparing to the Spring Drive?
From what I understand (which is probably a little wrong) the Spring Drive system is a mechanical watch that uses the potential energy of the spring to both power the movement and the quartz crystal (like a kinetic watch). The watch is not quartz but utilizes the quartz crystal as a reference to regulate the mechanical movement via the brake mechanism. In this way you have a traditional mechanical watch that uses concepts of kinetic watches to power a quartz crystal to regulate the mechanical movement to allow it to be as accurate as a quartz but at it's heart still mechanical.
Gus Cantu that was my understanding as well. And you have the bonus of a sweeping seconds hand, which has no pratical application but is really nice.
Marcin Grzegorczyk yes, it is redundant. But then again, all mechanical watches are these days, no?
because it is mechanical. and for the record they say 3 years. moest of the time that can easily be streched to 10 years.
@@quokkamode1484 It's MUCH closer to a quartz imo. It lacks what is the core of mechanical timekeeping: the balance and escapement, and replaces them with a quartz cristal, microchip and electromagnet. The fact the kinetic energy comes from the main spring rather than from a battery and step engine is secondary. The spring drive technology, unlike a mechanical calibre, is scalable and prices will not stay on par with the hi-beats for sure.
Nevertheless, it is a great watch. I love the sweeping second hand and am seriously pondering buying one.
the Swiss cant make that movement
so the spring drive use a batery to operate the movement cause the swept of the second hand very smooth than swiss mechanical movement that doesnt use any batery to operate the movement?
No battery, no capacitor, no solar. Just powered by a wound mainspring.
Mainspring can be hand wound or automatic.
how can make it more affordable ?!
Great question. Would be awesome if the Spring Drive were eventually implemented in the Seiko line. I could actually afford one then.
That would ruin the GS brand..
please make subtitles smaller, I can still read them 🙄
My only problem is they don't hold value like rolex but the technology is rapidly advanced than rolex
This is the closest thing to magic humans have invented.
A narrative translation would have been nice, instead of reading the small print. Quite a remarkable time piece.
Hodinkee have no money for audio translate ??)))
Phist
Aria Kowsarian, Ha Ha, respectos.
Sweet! Phast and phurious. Respektos!
Respectus in pepperoni
Aria Kowsarian sir you are phierce. Respektos.
Respektos Brethren Kowsarian!
26 swiss fanboys dont like this video 😆
I just don’t get the purpose, the beauty of a mechanical watch is how precision everything has to be to achieve accuracy of just a couple of seconds a day in a purely mechanical device the spring drive doesn’t feel like an evolution of this by improving accuracy but rather a cheat by using a circuit to compensate for what you couldn’t achieve mechanically. If you want accuracy go with quartz, if the idea is so you don’t have to replace a battery, but an eco-drive for a fraction of the cost. All that’s been done here is to build an average quality movement and put a quartz crystal, IC and brake circuit to compensate for its lack of accuracy rather than invest in actually building a better system.
Grand seiko > rrolesx
Founding out the spring drive actually is a quartz without the battery is quite a dissapointment :)
Its a hybrid to be fair
Shame they spoil every watch with the stupid power reserve complication
amcluesent it's a great complication to have
In a Spring Drive it‘s useful. They have a high 72h power reserve and you hardly ever set the time because as long as they run, those watches are on time to the second. You just grab them in the morning totally rely on it. I set my other watches after my spring drive. So a visual confirmation that it has enough power to keep on running is very assuring. Any other watch I adjust and rewind before putting on after a day break of wearing it.
amcluesent The night sky Spring drive has no frigging power reserve on the front of the dial. It's on the back. But the silly thing costs like 70 grand...
gmshadowtraders That‘s a manual wound. And 70k is Seiko version of playing the fuck you game Patek and AP have mastered so well. Hey, let‘s sell the same perpetual calendar we are building for 70 year but with a new reference no and let‘s raise the price by 20,000$, then we buy and dispose our own old stock from the market so we are super rare and pay Hodinkee and other guys to praise us for no particular reasons. Cannot blame Seiko for wanting a share of this cake. But 70k is ridiculous nevertheless. A Spring Drive starts at 5000. That’s a lot on money, bet those are simply the best mechanical watches available.
Martin R. Krause I don't know. Their 8 day power reserve spring drive had actual diamond dust on it. It could be justified for Seiko, but I have a vintage omega constellation with fake diamond dust that looks just as good and only cost me about $500. Bring back the 1970s I say.
Putting electrical current into a mechanical watch is like putting a suppressor on a musket. You're missing the point entirely.
i understand and respect seiko for what they are, and the grand seiko is something special, but i cant get my head around paying submariner prices for a seiko. it just seems like seiko are taking the piss. but as they say, a fool and his money are soon parted. if the grand seiko was priced like a patek im sure there would be enough idiots in the world gullible enough to buy it. for the same money give me rolex or a similar piece, its rock solid investment. cant say the same for grand seiko.
Oh the bias towards Rolex you have. A GS is objectively a better manufactured watch in terms of both movement and finish. The fact that you mention "investment" is telling since it shows that you have the intention that you might sell your watch in future (understandable). I digress, but the fact of the matter is that you don't buy one of these watches to impress others, you buy it for yourself - to use your same train of thought I don't know why anyone would ever want to sell this watch (my own bias). Btw my I humbly suggest reading Kahnemann's "Thinking Fast And Slow".
PartiZAn18 i have many pieces in my collection, including rolex, not a single seiko though, not looking to add one either. they dont hold their value, simple as that. the whole rationale with resale is if some day times are tough, as life does get tough sometimes, and one needs to flip their collection in a hurry, with rolex and similar pieces, you will generally get your money back, sometimes even make a little. not so for most other brands, breitling, tag, omega etc, including big guns like jlc. they tank in value. so a seiko, although they are good, they just dont tick alot of boxes that i need ticked.
ozzycarnut no one cares about your boxes. Don’t like the GS? Move on, son
Alex Drastico totally agree, thats why i dont have any in my collection : )
I don't understand this mentality. It involves the word "investment." As I progress into my late 30's and early 40's, I'm going to invest in things that hopefully/supposedly increase in value, somehow, such as stocks and annuities, and also into some precious metals for locking in value. When I think of my grandparents selling assets to pay for yet another heart surgery, I don't think of selling (by then decades old) used Rolex's to some rando for cash when I'm 70+ years old dying from cancer, or trying to figure out how to buy this week's groceries. I've seen the used Rolex market, and the more common models now sell for $2k or less, unless they were the super high end limited models, or kept in an air tight safe preserved for decades. And they look really bad, in sorry condition, lume/radioactive materials cracked barely working.
So I don't know which watch I buy over the next few years will last until I'm old enough to deplete my financial reserves. But I'd rather be concerned with whether or not it can be serviced, and not whether it 'held its value and can be sold on ebay/pawn shop for groceries.'
electronics in a mechanical watch? no thanks.
So basically it's an overpriced quartz?
Great, but I'm missing the soul.
Same with me, I couldn't see any soul in a Rolex.