Grand Seiko launches two new compact watches in its Heritage collection, with brand-new Caliber 9F51
Grand Seiko has officially announced a new dimensional standard for its Heritage Collection, with the new SBGX359 and SBGX361. These models are built on a 33.0 mm stainless steel chassis with a thickness of just 9.1 mm. This makes them the smallest and slimmest cases ever developed for the 9F quartz movement series. Essentially, what this release does is bring high-texture dials (which are typically reserved for larger Spring Drive models) into a more compact design, which should look great on smaller wrists.
Both these new references are powered by the newly developed Caliber 9F51, which maintains an accuracy of ±10 seconds per year. While still based on the 9F series architecture introduced in 1993, the 9F51 features a diameter reduced by 0.6 mm compared to the Caliber 9F61. This right here is a crucial factor why the 9.1 mm case profile can be achieved without compromising on performance. The movement has Twin Pulse Control Motor for high-torque hand motion and a backlash auto-adjust mechanism for precise seconds-hand alignment.
Design-wise, the collection comes with two unique dial treatments inspired by the Nagano landscape surrounding the Shinshu Watch Studio. The SBGX359 has a "Snowflake" dial, a textured white surface produced through a controlled silver-plating and clear-coating process, alongside a tempered blue seconds hand. The SBGX361 comes with the "Skyflake" dial, featuring a pale blue tone and a wind-swept snow texture. Both models feature sapphire crystals and carry an MSRP of $3,200 USD. Global availability starts in April 2026.
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