Hands-On: Grand Seiko Sport Collection Tokyo Lion Tentagraph SLGC009
While sizes continue to trend downward, Grand Seiko continues to strive for ever-smaller cases. The new Sport Collection Tokyo Lion Tentagraph SLGC009, first unveiled at Watches & Wonders 2025 earlier this year, is a masterpiece. It joins the Tokyo Lion collection, a collection of large, multi-faceted, sensual sports watches that may seem a little daunting, but it is Grand Seiko’s masterpiece of breaking the constraints of watch design norms. high quality watches replica
The Tokyo Lion collection is inspired by the brand’s mascot, the lion. The brand describes one of its core symbols this way: “When the first Grand Seiko watch was created in 1960, the lion emblem on the caseback embodied the brand’s ambition to create an extremely accurate, durable and beautiful watch, and also demonstrated the firmness of this determination.” We are all familiar with the poetic extension of Grand Seiko’s inspiration, and this new chronograph is no exception.
The SLGC009 features an upgraded case in Grand Seiko’s Brilliant Hard Titanium, and is the first in the collection to feature a fixed bezel without a scale (GMT or otherwise). The case is 43mm wide, 50mm lug to lug, and 15.6mm thick, but it has a few subtleties that make it wear far more than its size would suggest. The octagonal bezel features a variety of facets and finishes, including hairline brushing and Zaratzu mirror polishing. These facets soften the height of the case, gracefully merging into the equally faceted case. The same Zaratzu polishing and hairline brushing are applied to the large curved surfaces, bringing out the brilliance of Grand Seiko’s Brilliant Hard Titanium. The result is a dizzying series of stepped bevels that taper to the edge of the case, then, after a brief vertical extension, cut back down to meet the dramatically curved caseback. While you can’t hide the thickness of 15.6mm, you can make it look better and more comfortable to wear, and Grand Seiko has done just that. The bottom of the case is curved to ensure it fits snugly on the wrist even when worn low. And because it’s made of lightweight titanium, it doesn’t wobble around like other large, bulky tool replica luxury watches.
Through the domed sapphire crystal, the verticality and depth of the dial complement the case. The bottom of the dial is a rich brown, with a texture inspired by a lion’s mane blowing in the wind. I personally don’t think it’s anything special, but now I finally have a reason to take my big camera lens to the zoo to check it out. Regardless, it’s a beautiful texture and color. Large crater-shaped subdials break up the pattern with highly polished outer bevels and deep inner grooves. The hour totalizer at 6 o’clock and the minute totalizer at 9 o’clock both have a solid black background, while the running seconds hand at 3 o’clock is a soft taupe.
The dial is adorned with a set of large, striking hands and indices. The blunt arrow-shaped indices are Zaratsu polished with large bevels to catch the light and filled with a generous amount of Lumebrite. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to snap a photo of the lume, but I took a quick look under my coat and was already very pleased. The modern interpretation of the traditional crown princess hands with brushed tops, polished bevels, and lume fill continues the style of other Tokyo Lion models, with a pinion cover and orange-tipped chronograph seconds hand that matches the corresponding subdials. Around the periphery is a tilted black minute ring that is entirely graduated in white with orange accents. There’s a lot going on here. This dial is an elegant dance of textures and depth that vie for attention but doesn’t stand out, save for the date wheel that’s an afterthought. I’ll give points for the applied polished frame, but its placement might be enough to disturb the lion’s slumber, and I can’t help but think it would have been a perfect replacement for the 6 o’clock marker. Watch fans can dream, right? At least we get an adjustable clasp from Grand Seiko this year. Perhaps we’ll see a change in the date position next time. Patek Philippe replica watches
Under the hood of this watch is the 9SC5 Tentagraph movement – Grand Seiko’s first fully mechanical integrated column-wheel chronograph movement, which debuted in 2023. This high-frequency chronograph beats at 36,000 vibrations per hour (or 10 beats per second), has a power reserve of 72 hours, and is rated at +5/-3 seconds per day. It features a vertical clutch, a double-impulse escapement, and twin barrels to accommodate the lovely three-day power reserve. All of these features – ten vibrations per second, three-day power reserve, automatic winding, and chronograph – together give it its name, the Tentagraph, and are visible through the curved sapphire crystal caseback. Most of the chronograph functions are in-house, but through the caseback you can admire the beautiful movement of the balance wheel, as well as the beautifully striped decoration on the polished beveled bridges.
Chronograph operation is accomplished with two bold pushers, rather than the pump-style pushers of previous Tokyo Lion chronographs. Since this model is a non-functional demo, I can’t report on how it feels to actuate, but you shouldn’t have any problems due to the size of this push-button. The 23mm lug width comes with a new reinforced rubber strap that Grand Seiko says is 2.7 times stronger than standard silicone. It features bevels and grooves that match the shape of the case, and is beautifully finished to give it a faux-bracelet feel with the comfort of rubber. A lovely lion paw print is incorporated into the vents on the back of the strap, while the single-fold matching titanium foldover holds the strap tightly in place and releases with two push-buttons. I prefer this style of foldover to the other butterfly and tri-fold styles because it allows the strap’s tongue to be adjusted in normal increments and stays stowed for a smooth wrap around the wrist.replica Richard Mille Rafael Nadal
You can complain about the size in the comments, but the fact is that the Grand Seiko Sport Collection Tokyo Lion Tentagraph SLGC009 is comfortable to wear and comfortable to wear. Will it fit under your cuff? Absolutely not, but that’s okay. It’s bold, masculine, and meticulously crafted as only Grand Seiko can be, and it features a movement that’s still relatively new to the market. It’s not a style for everyone, and it might be too big for some wrists, but for others, it’s just the kind of wild sports chronograph that makes their inner (Tokyo) lion purr.
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