Grand Seiko Spring Drive 9R01, Руководство по эксплуатации

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History of Spring Drive
Decades-long dream lives in the Grand Seiko
Grand Seiko’s history symbolizes the culmination of efforts and development aiming for better practical watches.
The Grand Seiko watch was born in 1960, reached the very top in the mechanical watch field around the world at the
end of the 1960’s. After a hiatus of dozen years or so, in 1993, the Grand Seiko 9F series equipped with world-class
quartz movement was released.
In 1998, the 9S series mechanical movement that combined traditional craftsmanship and advanced technology was
developed to reintroduce the Grand Seiko mechanical caliber. While using the unwinding power of the mainspring as
its sole power source, the Spring Drive realizes an average monthly rate of ±15 seconds (for Cal. 9R01, ±10 seconds),
substantially exceeding the accuracy of conventional mechanical watches. The watch also embodies the concepts
of Grand Seiko that continues the challenge of creating the best practical watch.
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1960 ● Released the first Grand Seiko.
1964 ● Participated in the Neuchatel Observatory Competition in Switzerland for the first
time.
1968 ● Released Japan’s first automatic winding 10-beat model, 61GS.
1968 ● Won the first prize in the mechanical wrist chronometer category of the Geneva
Observatory Competition in Switzerland.
1978 ● Filed a patent for the Spring Drive mechanism for the first time.
1982 ● Filed a patent for the Spring Drive mechanism (registered). Started initial
development.
1988 ● Released the first Grand Seiko quartz caliber.
1993 ● Started the second development of the Spring Drive.
● Released the Grand Seiko 9F series equipped with world-class quartz movement.
1997 ● Started the third development of the Spring Drive.
● Released technological announcement of the Spring Drive at the Swiss Society of
Chronometry (SSC).
1998 ● Exhibited the Spring Drive at BASELWORLD.
● Released the Grand Seiko 9S series mechanical caliber combining traditional
craftsmanship and advanced technology.
1999 ● Released the manual-winding Spring Drive (CAL.7R68) limited edition from SEIKO.
2000 ● Started the fourth development of the Spring Drive.
2002 ● Released the manual-winding Spring Drive (CAL.7R88) from CREDOR.
2004 ● Released the Grand Seiko automatic winding Spring Drive (CAL.9R65).
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Spring Drive Mechanism
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Taste of a Mechanical Watch
+
High accuracy equivalent to a Quartz Watch
That is the concept of the Spring Drive.
Let’s start from the drive method of a watch.
The method for driving a watch is divided into two types.
They are
mechanical type and quartz type .
In a mechanical watch, the mainspring is wound and its unwinding power moves the hands.
Amazing mechanism created by high quality workmanship,
and admiration goes to skilled craftsmen with passion.
You can feel the appreciation and personal touch of the craftsmen in the ticking sound.
On the other hand, with quartz watches, the quartz is oscillated by a battery and the hands are turned by a motor.
It is characterized by accuracy using state-of-the-art technology.
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What is the Spring Drive like?
This is not a mechanical watch or a quartz watch.
In one word, this is a
“mechanical watch having accuracy equivalent to a quartz watch.”
The Spring Drive is a self-contained drive system that realizes accuracy equivalent to a quartz watch with only the
power of the mainspring and has no battery, motor, or secondary battery.
Accuracy of monthly rate of ±15 seconds (daily rate of ±1 second)
※ equivalent to a quartz watch is achieved while
using a mainspring.
The Spring Drive is Seiko’s proprietary mechanism which is made available only by SEIKO’s unique combination of
skills in both
mechanical and electronic micro-engineering .
Then, how could it be possible to achieve such a degree of accuracy?
That is explained on the next page.
* For Cal. 9R01, the average monthly rate is ±10 seconds (equivalent to daily rate of ±0.5 second).
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