Grand Seiko SBGX261 after a year with 10 watches in rotation

This is my Grand Seiko SBGX261 after a year of use with 10 watches in rotation. Worn about 40 times. Used as a sporty dress watch / dressy sport watch. Light, very comfortable, easy to live with, looks amazing. Beautiful dial, hands, indices, and case. The zaratsu polishing is out of this world and definitely worth experiencing. Bracelet very comfortable, I dare say luxurious, but with no adjustment. Just half links.

The quartz.
Some say it has no soul and usually I would agree. But with Grand Seiko it's a trade of rather than a loss. Automatic or Spring Drive is 40% more expensive to buy and maintain and the servicing can be troublesome. Yes, both automatic and Spring Drive are known to have superb accuracy, but buying is just the beginning of expenses. Quartz on the other hand gives the case slimness, light weight, comfort and very little to no maintenance at all. +/- one second a month!

One negative - all little scratches are very visible and polishing them would spoil the ultra sharp original zaratsu experience. I'm not saying it scratches easily. But on the prefect mirror finishing, minor imperfections stand out more. They are ok from wristcheck distance, but in the photos they stand out.

Zaratsu polishing can be repaired in specialized shops like at "Lapinist" - Kamil Dunkowski jewelers. It is said to be expensive with extensive waiting list.

I considered changing it to Black Bay 36 or Aqua Terra, but BB would actually be a big downgrade and I consider GS to be a definitely a better quality. Omega Aqua Terra is a better watch, but not 4 times better, to pay 4 times the price.

To sum up.
I highly recommend Grand Seiko SBGX261 as a first GS or as Rolex Explorer or Omega Aqua Terra cheaper alternative with its own character.
When buying second hand, check the sharpness of zaratsu. If it was renewed and polished then the experience may not be full. Look for the distortions on the bezel and compare with new.

37mm / 10mm / L2L 44 / 120g on a bracelet (17cm wrist) / F9 quartz

@Big_Black_Clock #mychrono24

[daveopincar]

I had my SBGX261 for 16 months put watch on premium Seiko rubber strap. Lov the watch an on strap makes wearing very comfortable. All the best

[hawkeye]

This is the everyman’s Date Just. Very beautiful watch. I wish they still made a day-date. It’s a set it and forget it type functionality for those people who live busy lives.

[erikbouma]

I have this one as well and mine looks a lot better after more or less the same amount of days wearing. Although in your defense the watch is very sensitive to scratches and my watch literally only touches my wrist and soft materials. Mine has scratches just from the watch itself😅 It is absolutely gorgeous and for a 21 year old a really proud artifact.

[pafeso]

«Omega Aqua Terra is a better watch, but not 4 times better, to pay 4 times the price.» Great wording here, i couldn't agree more!

[SaSpursFan]

So I’m assuming their is no coating like how seiko puts día shield on their divers

[stevesmith]

Put mine on a black gater strap Now i have a 5227 g lookalike 😂 Fantastic watch and for the money a steal!

[mattiaslindstrom]

Love this watch, crazy nice hands, but why no micro adjustments

[pafeso]

«When buying second hand, check the sharpness of zaratsu. If it was renewed and polished then the experience may not be full. Look for the distortions on the bezel and compare with new.» Great advice, where would be a good place do buy theses used?

[tngchinghwa]

that's maybe 30 days a year, how tf you scratch the watch so badly after wearing for roughly 30 days

[micahd]

Love this watch and its variants (especially the white dialed version), but really wish it had a screw down crown. I know it's a silly thing to get hung up on, but for some reason it doesn't feel like a true sports watch without one. At least to me. What do you think?

[Dominik-dpww]

What is the difference between Sbgx265 and sbgx261 ? They look completely the same

[NOLASkaGuitarist]

More like 10 years with one watch in rotation. I find it hard to believe that watch was worn 40 times. Doing what? Playing beach volleyball? Did you change the strap each time you wore it, because it looks like someone gouged the undersides of the lugs with a spring bar pusher and pushed the springbar against the case more than a handful of times, even though this watch has drilled lugs? And since you set one side of the spring bar in place, you only have to push one, so how both sides are scratched so evenly is beyond me. I'm not trying to put you down or anything, you're free to buy as many watches as you want and wear them how you want. If you honestly wore this watch only 40 times, you definitely are a rougher pilot than I. I thought I was wild for drumming with my autos and working around drumkits wiggling my hand between drum hardware to tighten wing nuts and such and knicking the watch now and then, but my more affordable stainless auto (that I've worn hundreds of times over the three years I've owned it) with high polish on the case still looks close to new, with only the clasp showing the level of wear of that SBGX261.

[pafeso]

Why did you end up looking for the titanium version over the steel? I'm not sure what I prefer...

[avronaut]

Sorry. What are you doing? This is not what my watches look like after 10 years.

[tomasnovak]

Lmao now I know why used ones are almost 50% off