Yet another exiting reference number from Grand Seiko, thankfully this model has got another name, the “white birch”. Even tough I can see the birch forest in the dial maybe it’s a bit to silvery to be named the “White birch”.

Let’s not get stuck in the whole name thing.

When the Grand Seiko SLGH005 was released in 2020 it was a watch that all the big watch channels talked about on YouTube. It was an evolution of the snowflake, at least that’s what we were told and that’s what I thought my self until I got my hands on it.

Now that I have owned it for a while I must say it’s not an evolution of the snowflake, but an evolution of Grand Seiko. This evolution 9 concept is Grand Seiko taking their sports models to the next level. The case of the Grand Seiko SLGH005 is more modern in its shape, more refined combinations of the zaratsu polishing and fine brushing and more wearable dimensions. 40mm diameter, 47mm lug to lug and 11,7mm thickness makes it a comfortable and modern looking sports watch.

The dial is what everyone is talking about, with its aggressive and deep pattern, it’s the first thing that catches your eyes and this is what Grand Seiko is known for. The Grand Seiko SLGH005 has taken this dial to the next level. The entire face of the watch has been modernised with its more sporty sets of hands. The chopped hour hand with a line of texture in the middle of it is a perfect match against highly finished hour markers.

The marker at twelve o’clock is also a more modern and wider that reflects the light so well.

For me the real highlight of the Grand Seiko SLGH005 is what’s inside. The new high beat 5Hz, 9SA5 movement. This is a huge evolution. With its new more energy efficient dual impulse escapement and the two barrels improves the power reserve from 55 hours that we have seen earlier in Grand Seiko Hi Beat watches, to a whopping 80 hours. And you can tell that Grand Seiko are proud of their achievements. They have decorated this movement to a level I haven’t seen on earlier models and they are showing it with an exhibition case back.

The bracelet has also been trough an evolution with its better finished clasp but can also improve more. The micro adjustment could be better and maybe a bit more tapering on the bracelet too.

There is one evolution that’s not so good for us watch enthusiasts, the price. With it’s $9000 price tag, it’s much higher that we are used to with Grand Seiko but this is something we have seen in the whole watch market with brands increasing their prices.

The birch has evolved in to a whole line of watches with the green model, the black model and the white one with springdrive. So if you like this style of watch there is a big chance you will find it with a colour for you.

If you get the chance, go try out this or some of the other colours and you will see that it’s not a evolution of the snowflake, it’s something else, something of an evolution of Grand Seiko itself.