The Grand Seiko SBGW231 is part of my watch collecting “hobby” (reads: sickness)story. Like many, my obsession was spiralling out of control and my appetite for buying more watches grew by the day, I started consciously putting some roadblocks to prevent myself from acquiring new timepieces. At the time, Grand Seiko had been taking the watch world by storm and was the darling of every major watch publication. The words Zaratsu polish and the spring drive had become household names, well, at least in my household. To prevent myself from acquiring one, I decided that I would eventually buy a Grand Seiko when I visit Japan, sometime in the distant future. I was helplessly trying to avoid buying another watch by tying it to a trip that was not happening anytime soon while also building up some sort of narrative about how special it would be to acquire a GS in its birthplace.

My noble plan went all out the window once I saw the perfect cream dial of the Grand Seiko SBGW231. As a victim of the hype mind, my collection had so far consisted mostly of sports watches and a sole dress watch: a JLC Reverso. There had been something missing. A classic (read: round) dress watch. In my mind, the ultimate dress watch is a round case, manual wind, no date, and no fuss. Patek’s reference 96 comes to mind. I started noticing the SBGW231 thanks to Instagram’s algorithm and it was love at first sight. Satisfying my criteria almost to a T.

The watch case is beautifully proportioned and measures 37mm in diameter and 11.6mm in thickness. The lug-to-lug measurement of the watch is 44.3mm. It would have been easy for any watch company to use a white dial in a simple entry-level watch like this, but not Grand Seiko. The cream dial just manages to elevate it above any of its competitors and just make it that tiny bit more interesting. The dial furniture is superb owing to the Zaratsu polishing technique of all polyangular hour markers and dauphine hands.

The Grand Seiko SBGW231 is powered by Grand Seiko’s 9S64 manual wind movement that is regulated to +5 to -3 when static and +10 to -1 seconds per day with normal use. And has a 72 hour power reserve. Thankfully, Grand Seiko “forgot” to slab their logo on the back of the transparent caseback giving us an uncontested view of the movement. The onion-shaped crown is appropriately sized and the winding is smooth as butter. While the level of finishing on the movement may be less spectacular than the dial, I wager that it’s better than any sub 5k watch I may ever see in my life. Well, unless it’s another Grand Seiko.

The leather strap with a handsomely finished pin buckle is very comfortable save for the 19mm lug width which renders all my 20mm straps useless.

The Grand Seiko SBGW231 is a watch that under promises but overdelivers. On the wrist, it’s simple, elegant, and easily slips below a shirt cuff. A smile is due almost every time I pull it from under my shirt cuff to check the time. It’s a watch with modern specifications and components that just gives off mid-century watchmaking vibes.

At a first glance, Grand Seiko have many more impressive watches in their current catalog but on deeper inspection, this entry-level Grand Seiko SBGW231 is all you need. It’s the best-kept secret in horology and you can thank me for unraveling it.