Grand Seiko SBGA011 Spring Drive Snowflake Functions & Care

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Greetings, and welcome to the world of Grand Seiko. Today I'll be your guide to the Grand Seiko SBGA011 Spring Drive Automatic, lovingly known as the Snowflake. It's important to note that this automatic winding timepiece can never the less be manually wound by taking the crown and threading it out of it's first position. Thread it counter clockwise until you feel and hear a distinct pop. Now the crown is in the position for winding. If the watch is stopped, turn approximately 30 turns in a clockwise direction. This will give the main spring sufficient energy that it can begin operating the watch and in the course of daily wear on the risk, natural kinetic action of the risk, and the case back winding rotor, will completely energize the power reserve over a series of days of consecutive use, but should you wish to fully energize the power reserve of approximately 72 hours by manual means. Simply continue turning the crown in a clockwise direction.
Now you'll note that the power reserve scale at seven o'clock eventually advances to a stop. You can give the watch a few extra turns just to ensure it's fully wound, because mechanical precautions designed into the watch ensure that it can not accidentally be over wound by manual or automatic means. Once you fully wound the watch, there's some features that enable precise setting. In the outermost position, the stop seconds function is engaged. If you stop the seconds at the index of 12 and advance to the next nearest minute, when comparing to a known accurate reference time such as an online atomic clock, you can wait for your reference time to catch up to you, and then push the crown in. Now you're synchronized. If you wish to set the watch, remember outer most position and then turn in a counter clockwise direction.
You'll note that the date changes over automatically at midnight. That's important to know because the watch features another function that's used for precise setting, and this is known as a quick set. The quick set function is engaged between the winding position and the outermost stop second setting position. Now by advancing the date, I can quickly correct for irregular length months or set the watch correctly should it have stopped. It's important to note that because of that automatic roll over at midnight, there's an engagement period during which the movement is changing it's own date. It's important to never actuate the quick set function during the hours from 10 PM to 3 AM as this is the period during which the automatic changeover of the date mechanism is engaged. Attempting to use the manual quick set during this period will damage the movement. Always be sure you know what time it is, and you're cognizant of that time setting danger zone before you attempt to roll through the date by manual means.
Threading the crown in to a stop means that the watch can attain it's factory grade hermiticity of 100 meters. Water is the greatest of the three hazards that your watch will face. Water, shock, and magnetism. The water resistance of the watch is not a static feature of the watch. Over time water resistance ebbs as lubricants dry and seals degrade.
Now with respect to magnetism, it's effects can alter the precision of your timepiece, and magnets are ubiquitous in daily life, from refrigerator doors to the closures of wallets and purses to high powered wiring looms. With respect to shock, a fine movement such as a Seiko Spring Drive can be severely damaged by high impact sports.
Finally with respect to comprehensive mechanical service, Grand Seiko recommends at least every three years, taking the watch to an authorized service center of Grand Seiko for a complete factory service.

[@cliffcox7643]

for me the most important thing is not to change the date between 10pm and 3 am.

[@bunyadaqae9663]

I would love to take this

[@gameonegreg]

You are one of the best watch jews on youtube :)

[@ripperx444]

The BEST! I bought my grand seiko high beat from govberg and it came totally minty! It was like a new watch. Buy in confidence and don't be scared of GS! They make possibly the most accurate movements on the planet!

[@GovbergJewelersArdmore]

Fantastic! We're happy to hear you loved your watch! We're happy to say that many of our pre-owned watches are in fact in excellent condition, let us know when you're ready for your next ;) Thanks for watching!

[@topgun7234]

*Cheers from beautiful Bangor, Maine...*

[@Hmmm313]

R you ever servicing it???

[@familiamelgar1426]

nice job guys

[@GovbergJewelersArdmore]

Thanks for watching!

[@yourdata2478]

This IS my favorite GRAND SEIKO the SNOW FLAKE and your advice, concerning the date is priceless ⌚⌚⌚⌚⌚ five watch star's, in fact l learnt a lot thanks 👏👏👏

[@GovbergJewelersArdmore]

Thank YOU for watching! We're so happy to be able to share watch knowledge and advice. Thanks again for watching and for letting us know how much you enjoyed the video! 🙏🙌 ps. We have a follow up to this video focusing in a "showcase" review style if you haven't watched it yet, you can here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGXbeoGpbpuaqMU&t

[@tylerotaniconlon1990]

Look at sbga267

[@Mbah_Dukun_Nyerutu]

Awesome review! Pretty clear instructions and tips and tricks :) Btw, for spring drive GS, is it safe to set the time backward? Any more tips that can prolonged your spring drive life that we first timer on mechanical watch should know? Thank you :)

[@canonyeo4286]

The tourbillon is a marvel, but, now you can have one for 500usd. The spring drive is a standing marvel, testament of piaget's 70k failure.

[@sleepdeprived9181]

the redundant Seiko Logo + Grand Seiko. Glad they had that fixed now. Albeit at a higher price tag.

[@wheelarch887]

When screwing in the crown back to default, Should it stop completely? I am turning until I feel a difference in resistance. However it is still possible to continue, am I doing it wrong?

[@figgahh5823]

It’s fine to stop when you feel resistance, but if you know your watch is going to get wet you will want to keep going to a complete stop

[@sleepdeprived9181]

If I change the clock time to outside of 10:00 PM to 3:00 AM would it be ok?

[@figgahh5823]

Yeah I don’t see why not

[@slicktires2011]

Great review! is this watch available with a leather strap?

[@GovbergJewelersArdmore]

Thanks for watching! The watch comes on the bracelet, but as an authorized dealer we can order a strap from Grand Seiko to fit this watch.

[@diogeneslantern18]

Govberg Jewelers you should advise him that bracelets are almost always more expensive. Great video of a great timepiece btw

[@Pengochan]

Hmm, sounds like quite costly maintainance costs, servicing every two years and testing every two years if it's still waterproof. Also is it really that susceptible to magnetism that you have to keep it away from the fridge door? I mean: why do they put it in a titanium case if you have to treat it like a snowflake?

[@TheEricsheng]

may I know the cost of service for every 3 years?

[@GovbergJewelersArdmore]

Hi Eric, costs of service can vary depending on what services are fully needed and can be anywhere between a few hundred or thousand depending on the brand, model and complications. It's best to submit your watch for an estimate at an authorized service center to get a better idea of cost for your watch.

[@omarkharnivall2439]

Watchbox.com?

[@themainspringer]

Why do you have so many warnings and disclaimers? A lot of these limitations are true with any Swiss watch such as a patek calatrava or a reverso.

[@GovbergJewelersArdmore]

You're quite right, most automatic and manual watches have very similar limitations. We're going through our inventory highlighting individual models. Hope you enjoyed our review, and if you haven't watched it already, check out our standard hands on review of the Snowflake here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGXbeoGpbpuaqMU

[@fatihoguz5771]

has it got battery

[@JoeKen3]

No, this is a spring drive movement

[@LuizCma]

SEIKO NO BRASIL NAO PRESTA, LOGO EMBASSA O VIDRO.

[@DrinkWater713]

os relogios não são fabricados no Brasil...

[@bobbynixon1289]

Apple Watch 4 is better... snowflakes

[@GovbergJewelersArdmore]

To each their own, thanks for your feedback. - Team Govberg

[@Jabber-ig3iw]

2 years later and your Apple Watch is completely obsolete 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@TokyoChopSquad]

Very different things and your watch's value is already halved.

[@silajeep1]

Lol, you are comparing your apple with a jewel, so nah.keep your apple which will be rotten and in a couple of yearrs haaaaah.