Watch reviews: Grand Seiko SBGW283; Longines Ultra-Chron; Rolex GMT-Master II Left Handed
For left-handers, conventional scissors are tricky, fountain pens result in an inky mess and wielding a chainsaw is just plain scary. Thankfully, Rolex has decided to compensate for all this injustice.
Rolex GMT-Master II left-handed
Left-handed folk endure a host of daily struggles.
Conventional scissors are tricky, fountain pens result in an inky mess and wielding a chainsaw is just plain scary.
Thankfully, Rolex has decided to compensate for all this injustice.
Its solution is the surprising release of a GMT that’s designed for southpaws and made to be worn on the right wrist (ie, the wrong one).
The reversed crown and date position may result in some initial cross-eyed acclimatisation, but be assured the flipping of the movement wasn’t as simple as just turning the date-wheel numerals upside down.
Even the process for Rolex’s Superlative Chronometer certification had to be modified to suit the updated positions of the components.
Technical developments aside, it’s also a real looker that includes Rolex’s first bezel insert in green and black. All up, it’s a watch for which you’d happily give your right arm.
$15,500
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Grand Seiko SBGW283
The Grand Seiko studio is tucked away in the forest of Shizukuishi, northern Japan, in the shadow of Mount Iwate.
This pastoral setting informs much of the brand’s design, with nature the dominant inspiration. With this watch – the catchily named SBGW283 – the dial is coloured a delicate pale blue to evoke the cloudless skies above Iwate during the first days of summer.
That freshness is also channelled into the clean and serene dial. There’s no date window, just razor-sharp hands and diamond-cut applied indices shining against the blue.
The 37.3mm case, meanwhile, is elevated with highly polished surfaces that accentuate the super-crisp lines.
The flipside is equally impressive, with an exhibition caseback revealing the in-house mechanical movement that provides 72 hours of power reserve. It’s another alluring dress watch from Grand Seiko that’ll incite wrist-bound cheer even when skies are grey.
$7150
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Longines Ultra-Chron
The fellow in charge of Longines heritage reissues must have one of the watch world’s cushiest jobs. As his annual deadline looms each year, you can imagine him hastily thumbing through a dusty catalogue and selecting a watch more or less at random, safe in the knowledge that, given the strength of Longines’ archives, he’s bound to pick another winner. The latest heritage revamp is the Ultra-Chron, first released in 1968. The original Ultra-Chron Diver was the first diving watch to use a hi-beat movement – a souped-up form of technology meant to deliver great accuracy. The revamp is a funky character, too, with its cushion-shaped, stainless-steel case full of retro panache. While most heritage pieces tend to be fairly stark in colour, here we have perky dollops of tomato red on the minute hand and the timing scale of the black ceramic bezel. That bloke in the Longines heritage department has delivered the goods yet again.
$5200
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