Mere seconds spent with this piece is a dead giveaway that it comes from Grand Seiko’s Elegance range. The sleek, sharp hands and equally as disciplined minute markers ooze style. Released in June 2019, the Grand Seiko Blue Snowflake (nicknamed the Skyflake) comes in at 40.2mm in diameter and 12.8mm in thickness. Whilst it does initially seem chunky for a dress watch, the illusion fades after wearing it for a couple of days. By, at which point you’re left with a small, circular case with a stunningly textured cool blue dial that is inspired by the Hotaka mountain range – which is the watchmaker’s backdrop at Grand Seiko’s Shinshu Watch Studio.

The open case back offers us a look at the modest movement but as people are starting to realise more and more, Springe Drive movements are about function over design. The calibre 9R65 Spring Drive is said to be ±1 second a day and really only needs a handful of winds before it is operating at full capacity. Fortunately, this particular piece seems to be even better still being spot on five days after it was set. The seconds hand also quite literally sweeps uninterrupted around the dial – boasting its slender, blue profile that becomes almost three dimensional when the light catches it right.

Speaking of light – one of the best aspects of this piece is its plethora of highly-polished surfaces that glimmer depending on the angle. Adjust it to the right angle and every polished surface on the dial will sparkle – including the GS logo and date window border. The danger with this is that you may not be able to tell the time as you’ll be constantly distracted by the almost-rainbow effect that the light delivers. If you manage to get the Grand Seiko Blue Snowflake SBGA407 under a loupe then you’ll be equally as blown away by the meticulous detail that’s gone into crafting the multi-layered dial.