Somewhere along the road, as watch enthusiasts we seem to reach a plateau point where our desire to learn seems to start fading. A point where somehow, the excitement in the hobby just dies down without any reasoning. Personally, it was approximately a year ago that I felt that way and as predicted, nothing within my budget range caught my eye at that time. That was until I got myself this Grand Seiko 4522-8000 aka the 45GS. Yes, that’s quite a praise for a watch. Is it really that good? Let’s see.
What we have here is a 4522-8000 from 1968, the first production year of the 45GS line that lasted up till 1973. A watch that in the eyes of non-enthusiasts, remains as a plain Jane vintage Seiko. Because after all, what you see underneath the crystal is a simple, no-nonsense silver dial with a date complication. Unlike many of the current offerings from Grand Seiko, a plain dial is pretty much all you get here. As a matter of fact, the watch itself is nothing crazy when you’re not viewing it from different angles. But hey, that isn’t the point. Because its true potential only shines when you allow it to interact with light. Literally.
Since we’ve touched on how plain the dial is, it might be cool to look into how a dial like so still draws attention to itself. Well, lets be honest, credit should be given to the finishing on the indices as it allows them to interact with light similar to how gemstones would. Here, the Zaratsu polishing implemented to achieve a mirror finish has definitely served its purpose in bringing the indices alive when the light hits. And that’s not all! The dial is further complimented by a pair of sexy dauphine hands which carry the same design principles as the indices. Considering how two simple elements are able to elevate an entire dial, that, is good design.
Now here’s the star of the show, the case. I mean, it speaks for itself, doesn’t it? There aren’t many dress watch cases out there that resemble the case of a 45GS. The facets, lines and overall angular aesthetic puts this one in a league of its own. What makes it even better is how it interacts with light. With flat surfaces and mirror finishing being implemented based on the Grammar of Design, the sides of this case seem to play hide and seek under different lighting conditions. In other words, as the lugs do not have an independent structure, the mirror finish pulls off an illusion where you don’t actually see the lugs under certain lighting conditions as they would reflect the color of your skin. That, is genius.
Moving on, all that said wouldn’t be worth your time if the watch doesn’t wear well on your wrist, right? Well, I’m very happy to report that the 45GS case does not disappoint as it wears like a dream on my 16cm wrist. It has NO overhang! Sized at 36.5mm with a lug-to-lug length of 41.2cm, it hugs my wrist very well. In addition to that, the manual wound caliber 4522A fitted into this 4522-8000 allows for a slimmer case profile without having to sacrifice any technical specifications as it operates at 36000 bph, has hacking and a quickset date feature too.
All in all, this watch has made me smile countless times and I hope great watches like this will continue to bring smiles onto faces of other enthusiasts. Therefore, if you’re looking to get into vintage Grand Seiko, a 45GS is a great place to start as it checks boxes in terms of heritage, movement, case design and price. All you need to do now is start hunting!
feedthewrist. 