I've never had it happen with a Spring Drive, but if I have a watch that doesn't start up immediately upon winding I usually hold the watch so that the balance wheel is parallel to the ground, and give the watch a sharp twist about its axis. This generally starts the watch.

Both of my Spring Drive watches have the 9R65 movement. When viewed through the caseback the glide wheel spins clockwise. So that means when the watch is facing dial up, the glide wheel is spinning counter clockwise.

The SBGA201 also has a 9R65 movement - so give that a shot. Hold it parallel to the floor, dial up, and give it a brisk twist counterclockwise.

Good luck.

 

It should be running at position 1 before even starting the screw action. If this happens every time I would be talking to GS CS.

 

It is literally a "spring drive." If the spring is wound, it should power the movement, no? The quartz regulator slows down the movement, but doesn't stop it. It sounds like a mechanical issue that needs to be addressed.

 

Fun fact: When staring a Spring Drive movement, the seconds hand runs way to fast in the very beginning. After some seconds, the regulation kicks in - and the speed of the seconds hand is slowed down to perfection. Try this on a Spring Drive that has no power left - and see what happens with the seconds hand in the very beginning...

 

Yes. It's a fun, subtle thing to observe. Before the capacitor charges and the TSR activates the movement briefly spins at the full un-braked speed.

For those who don't own a Spring Drive watch, Mark (Long Island Watch) demonstrates it in one of his Watch and Learn videos. Here is a link to the video, set to start at the point when he demonstrates the freewheeling: link.

 

Never had it happen to me so have a chat with Seiko CS.

 

Mine does not exhibit this behavior. As noted above, maybe time to contact GS customer service?

Good luck.