8 days A new masterpiece from the Micro Artist Studio

High up in the hills of Nagano Prefecture is the facility where all Grand Seiko’s quartz and Spring Drive watches are designed, manufactured and assembled. Deep within this large facility is a small studio where, since 2004, an elite team of the company’s most skilled and talented watchmakers have been creating masterpiece watches based on the unique Spring Drive technology. Their creations include a Minute Repeater, a Spring Drive Sonnerie as well as the much lauded Eichi series. In English as well as Japanese, a sign on the wall quietly announces the Studio’s aim, namely “to create watches that are reliable to wear until grandchildren” and the “pride of Japanese”. The language may be awkward but the sincerity, strength and humanity of the ten-strong Micro Artist Studio team shine through it.

In 2016, twelve years after its establishment, the Micro Artist Studio made its first ever watch for Grand Seiko. It was worth the wait. It was a Spring Drive watch with a new calibre that offered a longer power reserve than any other Grand Seiko watch. This remarkable calibre is accurate to ten seconds a month and has a power reserve of 8 days.