Seiko 9S85
The 9S8x (and similar 8L5x) family of Hi-Beat watch movements is the flagship mechanical watch product of Seiko.
Overview
The 9S family is intended to compete with limited-production Swiss movements from companies like Rolex. The 9S family are carefully finished with Tokyo Stripes and rhodium plating and are adjusted to six positions and are only used in Grand Seiko watches.
The 9S8x family includes many notable Seiko movements:
- 2008 "Super Hi-Beat" 8L88 featuring a 12 Hz (43,200 vph) design
- 2009 resurrection of Hi-Beat 10 Hz (36,000 vph) 9S85, following a tradition begun with the "Hi-Beat" automatic Grand Seiko 61GS, manual Grand Seiko 45GS, and ladies' Grand Seiko 19GS from the 1960's
- 2018 8L55, a lower-finishing version of the 9S85
- 2018 9S85 V.F.A., a tuned version of Cal. 9S85 with a variance of just -1 to +3 seconds per day
The Calibre 9S families are assembled at Seiko's Shizukuishi Watch Studio in Morioka, Iwate prefecture, Japan, along with other high-end Seiko movements.
Hi-Beat (9S8x)
Seiko embarked on creating a new generation of Hi-Beat movements once the new mechanical Grand Seiko was established. The first fruit of this project was a special and extremely rare 43,200 "Super Hi-Beat" watch, the Credor GBBX998. Priced at over US$600k, only a single example was ever produced in 2008. The Hi-Beat Grand Seiko with the 9S85 movement went into full production the following year. In 2014, Seiko introduced a Hi-Beat GMT Grand Seiko using the related 9S86 movement.
Hi-Beat Movements
| Year | Movement | Winding | Beat | Hands | Date | Subdial | Jewels | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 8L88 | Automatic | 43,200 | Hour, minute, seconds | None | Power reserve indicator | 41 | Credor GBBX998, "Super Hi-Beat", -10 to +15 secs/day |
| 2009 | 9S85 8L55 |
Automatic | 36,000 | Hour, minute, seconds | Date | None | 37 | 55 hours power reserve, +5 ~ -3 seconds/ day or +4～-2 seconds/ day |
| 2014 | 9S86 | Automatic | 36,000 | Hour, minute, second, GMT | Date | None | 37 | +5 ~ -3 seconds/ day |
Hi-Beat Applications
- 8L88 (2008) - Super Hi-Beat Credor GBBX998
- 9S85 (2009) – Hi-Beat automatic SBGH001, SBGH003, SBGH005, SBGH019, SBGH020, SBGH022, SBGH023
- 9S86 (2014) - Hi-Beat automatic GMT SBGJ001, SBGJ003, SBGJ007
- 8L55 (2018) - Hi-Beat automatic SLA025 Prospex Diver
External links
- Four Hundred Years After, Part II, The Legacy of Seikosha
- Where My Watch Came From
- Shizukuishi Watch Studio
- Interview: Akira Ohira - watchmaking "Father" of modern mechanical Grand Seiko
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