I haven't had my Grand Seiko long enough to send it in for a service, but thought I'd add my experience with my MM300, which is a Grand Seiko based movement, and made in the same factory.

Model Number: SBDX001
Movement: 8L35
Automatic/ Spring Drive: Mechanical
Serviced: once, in Apr-20
Duration before sending it for first service: 6.5 years
Cost of first service: ~$800 AUD
Reason for deciding to get it serviced: Timing deviation. The watch was running a steady +6-7 spd for the 4 years I had it, but it started to run slow, so I got it serviced as a precaution
If multiple Service, then how many times: n/a
Cost at each service: ~$800 AUD
Total Cost on Servicing: ~$800
Any additional comments/experience: I went through Seiko boutique in Melbourne, who handled the logistics of sending it to Japan for servicing. There was a bit of delay in getting from Melbourne to their Sydney HQ, but after that it was all smooth sailing, with ~8 weeks turnaround despite us being in the middle of a pandemic. Overall, quite happy with the service.

 

I haven't had my Grand Seiko long enough to send it in for a service, but thought I'd add my experience with my MM300, which is a Grand Seiko based movement, and made in the same factory.

Model Number: SBDX001
Movement: 8L35
Automatic/ Spring Drive: Mechanical
Serviced: once, in Apr-20
Duration before sending it for first service: 6.5 years
Cost of first service: ~$800 AUD
If multiple Service, then how many times: n/a
Cost at each service: ~$800 AUD
Total Cost on Servicing: ~$800
Any additional comments/experience: I went through Seiko boutique in Melbourne, who handled the logistics of sending it to Japan for servicing. There was a bit of delay in getting from Melbourne to their Sydney HQ, but after that it was all smooth sailing, with ~8 weeks turnaround despite us being in the middle of a pandemic. Overall, quite happy with the service.

Thanks for sharing this Mate. Very informative.

I just updated my post to add in another important detail. Reason for servicing. Please share that as well.

Thanks so much!

 

I don't own a GS, but I own a Credor GCLP993. It has a 7R87A, a manual spring drive. I've owned it for two years now, but I only wear it about 1-2 times a month given the size of my collection. I plan on servicing after 7-8 years though. That's my go to for my watches, 7-8 years. I was told it would probably be close to $1000 USD to service it when it comes to it. It'll be a pain in the butt to service though as I don't think there are any true Credor dealers or ADs in the US, just GS ADs that are allowed to ask for a Credor (the GS AD I bought from had to bug Credor for months to get mine).

 

I don't own a GS, but I own a Credor GCLP993. It has a 7R87A, a manual spring drive. I've owned it for two years now, but I only wear it about 1-2 times a month given the size of my collection. I plan on servicing after 7-8 years though. That's my go to for my watches, 7-8 years. I was told it would probably be close to $1000 USD to service it when it comes to it. It'll be a pain in the butt to service though as I don't think there are any true Credor dealers or ADs in the US, just GS ADs that are allowed to ask for a Credor (the GS AD I bought from had to bug Credor for months to get mine).

Thanks for sharing your story. Just curious do you look for any signs before you decide to send them for service or do you just send it around 7-8 years mark just to be on safer end?

Thanks!

 

I have a SD at 6 years and a hi-beat at 5, I'll probably get them serviced at around 10 years as there's nothing out of the ordinary going on with them. I fully expect to pay a fortune though because I'll be requesting a complete restoration for both.

 

Thanks for sharing. May I ask have you been wearing them regularly or you rotate them with other watches? Thanks!

 

My SD is only about 18 months old but when it reaches its 7th birthday I’ll look at having it serviced.

 

My SD is only about 18 months old but when it reaches its 7th birthday I'll look at having it serviced.

I think most of the GS owners are aiming to hit the 7 years mark for servicing. [emoji4] Thanks for sharing.

 

For a watch of that caliber, I get mine serviced every 5 years unless needed earlier.

 

A little over a year since it left the AD new. Running a hair outside tolerance, might send it in for adjustment under warranty.

 

Yes, I did and it does not matter.

A Spring Drive movement is powered in the same way as a mechanical movement.

If you don't understand how a Spring Drive movement works, that's fine most people don't.

Just don't come to the GS forum and try to act like an authority on Spring Drive, you are in the wrong place to try that.

And you did state that a Spring Drive movement uses a spring for a battery.

To clarify, Spring Drive is not a quartz movement.

 

"Quartz" refers to the mechanism used to actually meter out time. Presence of a battery does not dictate the mechanism for timekeeping. The Hamilton Electric and old Bulova Accutron (tuning fork) are battery-powered movements, but neither are quartz since neither uses a quartz oscillator. The Hamilton, in fact, used an oscillating balance wheel on a hairspring similar to a mechanical watch. Timekeeping in a Spring Drive is done by a quartz oscillator. It's a "quartz" watch, mechanically powered.

 

Model Number: SBGR001 (GS Automatic Made in 2008)
Movement: 9S55
Automatic/ Spring Drive: Automatic
Daily wear or occasional?: Occasional
Serviced: Yes in 2017
Duration before sending it for first service: 9 years
Cost of first service: $790CAD
Reason for deciding to get it serviced: Watch slowed to -15 mins from its usual +1 sec daily
Any additional comments/experience: Serviced by Seiko Japan and sent it via Seiko Canada, turnaround time was approximately 8 weeks. Watch returned with a repair report on what parts were replaced and what servicing was done to the watch. They did not provide a timegrapher receipt. The watch is now +3 secs daily.

Model Number: SBDX001 (Prospex MM300 Made in 2011)
Movement: 8L35
Automatic/ Spring Drive: Automatic
Daily wear or occasional?: Occasional
Serviced: Yes in 2020
Duration before sending it for first service: 9 years
Cost of first service: $790CAD (Same as the GS)
Reason for deciding to get it serviced: Thought the end of the world is upon us even tho the watch went from +15 secs to +3 secs daily
Any additional comments/experience: Serviced by Seiko Japan and sent it via Seiko Canada, turnaround time was again approximately 8 weeks. Watch returned like they wiped it down with Lysol and without a repair report and had to email Seiko Canada to inquire what the Tokyo service point actually did. The watch is now +6 secs daily.

You are better off buying a GS or Credor instead if you want that paper repair report (something even Swatch will provide regardless of model plus a timegrapher receipt), even tho the servicing is exactly the same for both of my two watches denoted above (don't always believe the marketing bs). But at least Seiko serviced them properly right from the get go unlike Swatch from experience.

Also the Seiko Canada office now looks like a fortified dungeon with boarded up doors and windows, and I filled in a form for the watch repair at their sketchy looking loading dock out in the back.

Ever since last service I bought a new Spring Drive Tuna to beat on and no longer care about current mass produced GS with the less attention to finishing.

 

Thanks for sharing and for covering the details with so much depth. [emoji4]

What I hear from other posts on this forum and others as well is that Grand Seiko are amazing watches to buy and are brilliant. But when it comes to service the process seems to be quite time consuming and complex,. especially at the local AD like you mentioned. I have read posts that for Japanese local market it is quite seamless as you can deal with Seiko Japan directly, however, seems this is not the case with overseas and read posts where people had to send their watches on multiple trips to fix some issues post servicing that could have been noticed easily by the service center before they decided to send it back to the customer.

I believe if Seiko wants to up their game with Grand Seiko they need to focus on customer service in general as well as on experience that customer has during the servicing phase.

I believe in next 10-20 years this will be improved dramatically. Let's hope for the best.

Thanks again for sharing. [emoji4]

 

Thanks so much for the discussion on Spring Drive. For those who are interested to learn about this technology, here is a nice video that explains it:

and a detailed discussion on A Blog To Watch:

The Amazing History & Functionality Of The Seiko Spring Drive Movement

An in-depth look at the Seiko Spring Drive movement technology and the history of its development.

www.ablogtowatch.com

Thanks All.

 

Gs up and coming brand, I have no doubts. Spring drive seems sturdy and Ill update this post in 10 yrs when I send my GS to get serviced


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Gs up and coming brand, I have no doubts. Spring drive seems sturdy and Ill update this post in 10 yrs when I send my GS to get serviced

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks so much, I will definitely look forward to hear your update in 10 years time. [emoji4]

 

Thanks All for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
Looking for more posts from Grand Seiko owners, especially from those who have not sent their watch for long time?

 

Thanks All for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
Looking for more posts from Grand Seiko owners, especially from those who have not sent their watch for long time?

I think I would be in that category !
bought my SBGR075 in 2010 (so 11 years ago) and have never serviced it.
I sometimes wear it for months , and sometimes just leave it there for months without touching it (no winder). It’s running at around -3s / day, so very happy with it. It used to be much more precise when I bought it (around +5s / week), but would be too much hassle to service it, especially in these times.

so overall, no service since day 1 more than 10 years ago, and all good!

 

I bought a new SBGX263 (quartz) online, but when it arrived the seconds hand was not close to hitting the markers. So much for their dedication to precision. I immediately sent the watch in for repair through the Melbourne boutique. That was in mid-June. I was told it would take 8-12 weeks and I am still waiting. Apparently it arrived in Sydney from Japan mid-September, where it continues to languish. Then I was told to expect it 12th or 13th of Oct, and now it's next week apparently and I'm not holding my breath. I know Sydney has been in lockdown, but from speaking to their customer service it sounds like it was still staffed and lockdown ended on Monday.

 

Presence of a battery does not dictate the mechanism for timekeeping.

Does that mean if the battery is removed it will keep time still.

 

The power source does not do the actual timekeeping. It provides energy for the timekeeping mechanism.

A mechanical movement like a 2824 uses a spring as a power source and oscillating weight on a spring to keep time.

A grandfather clock uses gravity as a power source and a pendulum (also an oscillating weight) to keep time.

A Hamilton Electric uses a battery as a power source and an oscillating weight on a spring to keep time. This is not a quartz movement.

An Accutron tuning fork uses a battery as a power source and vibrating metal tuning fork to keep time. Also not correct to label this "quartz".

A Seiko 9F uses a battery as a power source and a quartz oscillator to keep time.

The difference between a Hamilton Electric or Accutron tuning fork and a 9F is not the power source, but the timekeeping mechanism. 9F is quartz because it uses a quartz oscillator to keep time, not because it's powered by a battery.

A Spring Drive uses a spring as a power source and quartz oscillator to keep time.

 

Which of the above produces 'time' as we know it...non stop.

 

Not sure where you're going with this. Time is a dimension, like space (intrinsically linked to space). Watches don't produce time any more than rulers produce distance. Watches and clocks measure time.

Most timekeeping devices today rely on some form of oscillator operating at a known frequency and count oscillations to determine the amount of time passed. Whether it's a pendulum, a balance wheel, a tuning fork, a quartz crystal, or a cesium-133 atom.

All of this is besides the point and getting very off topic, but what makes a quartz watch a quartz watch is the use of a quartz oscillator to measure time. Spring Drive is a type of quartz watch movement. That's not an insult or denigration. It's really quite brilliant.

Arguably, simple classifications like "mechanical" are inadequate, not just for Spring Drive but other movement technologies. The Hamilton Electric 500 and similar mid-century movements use a mechanical oscillator (escape wheel like a "mechanical" watch), but are battery powered. Can't really call it "mechanical" given that it runs on electricity. It's not quartz. It contains no integrated circuits. No electronic stepper motors. The hands move through mechanical action of the balance kind of like a mechanical watch. Is it right to call it an electronic watch? Electro-mechanical? Maybe just "electric", as its maker called it? Then a few years later electric watches using quartz oscillators came out. Watches we all just call "quartz" for short.

Spring Drive is sort of like the mirror image of those early electric movements. Instead of a mechanical timekeeping organ powered by an electrical battery, they use an electronic timekeeping organ powered by a mechanical spring. It's electro-mechanical, and quartz.