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GRAND SEIKO – Hi-Beat GMT SBGJ203 Review | Time & Tide GRAND SEIKO – Hi-Beat GMT SBGJ203 Review | Time & Tide

GRAND SEIKO – Hi-Beat GMT SBGJ203 Review | Time & Tide

Time+Tide

GRAND SEIKO – Hi-Beat GMT SBGJ203 Review | Time & Tide

If you were looking for a go-anywhere-do-anything type watch (and honestly, aren’t we all?), then a stylistically versatile steel GMT on a bracelet would tick a lot of the boxes. And as far as versatile steel GMTs go, there aren’t too many options that offer quite as much as Grand Seiko’s SBGJ203. It’s got the looks: a distinctive, angular and exceptionally well-finished 40mm case, paired with a rich dial that sets an exceptionally high bar for the competition.

There’s fine detail at play, but it’s not a watch to peacock its virtues, or to sacrifice comfort and function in favour of style. And then there’s movement. Grand Seiko’s 9S86, released in 2014, is a connoisseur’s choice, a well-finished automatic that beats at an accurate 5Hz rate, with an anti magnetic balance spring and 55 hours of power reserve. Not to mention the user-friendly GMT itself, which shows two time zones from central hands, and allows for quick, hour increment adjustments of the local time, a more logical implementation than the GMT hand adjustment, which is more common. The Grand Seiko Hi-Beat GMT SBGJ203 is a high-quality watch that delivers on all fronts.

PRICING

Grand Seiko Hi-Beat GMT SBGJ203, $9,200 AUD