Grand Seiko SBGX337 Quartz Diver Or maybe the . . . “Blue Hammer Head Shark”

This watch is greater than the sum of its parts. I’m a Grand Seiko veteran, so I’m used to the quality and finish, but this watch spends more time on the wrist than I ever thought it would.

The Grand Seiko SBGX337 is the blue dial version of the more standard SBGX335 and limited edition SBGX339. It was a JDM model from 2019, but I first saw it in the London GS Boutique.

It features a more squared case aesthetic than its SBGA229 spring drive brother, the lugs being a work of art with 8 sides in total. I’m always staring at them! There are polished and brushed surfaces, but the sides and top of the case are brushed in keeping with its firm tool watch feel. The 8mm screw down crown sits at 4 o’clock which means no irritating red mark on the back of my hand from wrist movement. With a case 43.6mm in diameter, 49mm lug to lug, and at just 13mm thick it wears easily under a shirt cuff. The case back screws down and the whole package weighs 195g, heavier than its spring drive sibling by 10 grams or so, which considering its quartz is interesting. A slight but strong tank of a case to protect that 9F beauty!

The sapphire crystal is flat, no anti-reflective coating, and is surrounded by a legible 120 click bezel with running track all the way around. A submariner irritation of mine is the 15 minute track, as timing a 20 minute opera interval is far more important to me than a 10 min regatta. The bezel insert is DLC steel with a pip of lume at 12 and it has a very deep lustre which could be easily confused for ceramic.

The Grand Seiko SBGX337 houses the incredible, and quite possibly best quartz movements ever made. This is the 9F61 variant of Grand Seiko’s 9F series which is keeping time to less than 0.5 seconds a year, gaining 0.1 seconds in 127 days according to the watch tracker app. Incredible without any external aid. The second hand lands right on the markers and it has some kind of incredible double click witchcraft that’s too fast to be seen by human eyes to stop any wobble. The only slight oversight is that for those of us with daylight changing times we have to stop the second hand to change the hour, so if your going to be frustrated with a 57 second wait to return the crown to closed twice a year this may upset you.

The bracelet is in a 3-link oyster style with none of the polished bits found on other Seiko bracelets in the GS range. It’s solid and sturdy but the buckle is thick due to the very useful ratcheting extension system. The bracelet has a polished edge, and if you prefer a screw to pins I’m afraid GS hasn’t gone that far. I’m not sure why.

The Seiko lumibrite is incredible and the large brushed steel hands burn bright well into the night. The lollipop on the second hand is at the wrong end for time telling, but a brief look into Seiko history will reveal that its function was simply to let the diver know the watch is still working, as well as having some other balancing properties for the hand on earlier quartz divers. Some heritage there.

The Grand Seiko SBGX337 has a deep blue sunburst dial with raised applied markers which is mesmerising under light. The raised GS logo at 12 and the simple words “Diver’s 200m” at 6, with no date, make for one of the simplest and uncluttered GS dials I’ve seen with the yellow second hand and indices adding a flash of colour that works perfectly.

At the moment, I tend to wear the watch on a Seiko Z22 Blue rubber diving strap, or the grey J22 from my SBBN029 but with a 22mm drilled lug the options are almost endless.

And. . It has a 50 year service interval.

My verdict. Of course, I Love it! My “Blue Hammer Head Shark” isn’t going anywhere!