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Grand Seiko’s nature-inspired collection celebrates legacy with contemporary touch
The watchmaker celebrates the seasons with a new collection.
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The Grand Seiko 2021 Elegance collection. (Seiko/Courtesy of Grand Seiko)
J
apanese watchmaker Grand Seiko has unveiled its 2021 Elegance collection, inspired by Japan’s seasonal cycles, to help adventurers and travelers sense the passage of time as they immerse themselves in nature.
The Japanese culture marks time in a more specific and precise manner than Western cultures in general.
The Japanese culture breaks down the seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall into six smaller phases, or sekkis, per season, hence the Japanese habit of celebrating 24 sekkis, instead of just four seasons as Westerners tend to understand it.
Each seasonal phase freezes the frame on a decisive moment that marks the subtlest changes of time within a single season as revealed by nature, such as the exact time of spring when the flowers start to blossom.
The Japanese culture’s heightened sensitivity to these subtle changes marks its closeness to nature, which has become Seiko’s brand DNA. It also explains why Seiko is especially popular among adventurers who have lived through the harshest natural conditions by sea, by air and by land, such as Japan’s iconic explorer, Naomi Uemura.
The new collection comes in four timepieces, each marking a distinctive seasonal phase, while embedding the colors, textures and contours of nature into their design. They are Shunbun (spring), Shōsho (summer), Kanro (autumn) and Tōji (winter).
The new timepieces bring a contemporary touch to Grand Seiko’s design legacy, where the highest level of precision and durability takes precedence, according to Seiko Watch Corporation president director and chief operating officer Shuji Takahashi.
