Grand Seiko Spring Drive Watches

Spring Drive : Flow of the Time

Spring Drive is a unique watch technology! Its history began in 1977, when Yoshukazu Akahane, a young engineer working for the company, tried to achieve what at first seemed impossible: a "timeless" watch. His goal was to create a traditional watch powered by a mainspring, capable of guaranteeing a daily rate accurate to one second. Twenty-eight years later, after 600 prototypes were completed, his dream finally came true with the launch of the first Spring Drive watch on the market. To achieve this result, this caliber combines the best elements of mechanical and electronic watches. Like all other mechanical watches, the Spring Drive movement is driven by a mainspring. This traditional way of generating power allows the watch to be completely self-sufficient, without the need for a battery or other power source. Secondly, the Spring Drive uses an exclusive speed control mechanism, the "Tri-synchro", which includes an integrated circuit, an electronic brake and a quartz crystal that transforms this energy source from the mainspring. The advantages of the Spring Drive are numerous: The precision is of the order of 15 seconds per month, and even 10 seconds for the special editions. The power reserve is 72 hours for the classic models, and can reach eight days for the brand's Masterpiece models. Moreover, the fluidity of the seconds hand is hypnotic, it glides over the dial, smoothly, in absolute silence! It measures time in a perfectly continuous movement, representing the true nature of time.

A wide range of watches

Spring Drive calibers can be found in many Grand Seiko models! Indeed, they equip references present in all the collections of the Japanese brand: Evolution 9, Heritage, Elegance and Sport. These calibers are available in several forms: automatic chronograph, manual mechanical version, GMT or even automatic 3-hand version. The Spring Drive has also undergone a revolution with its latest iteration, the caliber 9RA2. Indeed, the 9RA2 caliber is the Spring Drive movement that best embodies these skills and their passion. It has a precision of ±10 seconds per month and uses the new Magic Lever to reduce the thickness of the movement by 0.8 mm compared to other Spring Drives. By moving the crown back, the center of gravity of the watch has also been lowered. The 9RA2 caliber has a double barrel to provide a 120-hour power reserve. The one-piece central bridge ensures the strength, durability and shock resistance of the movement. Together, these innovative technologies define the new generation Spring Drive movement, Caliber 9RA2.