Grand Seiko SLGH005 White Birch Hands-On Review
I have been an admirer of Grand Seiko for a while now. But over the years I have had limited hands-on withe actual piece. Yes, I have seen pieces on the wrists of friends and collectors, when I would stop by the Grand Seiko store, or at Watches & Wonders. But my actual exposure was fairly limited.
So when the Grand Seiko team reached out to me and asked me if I would be interested in doing a review, I immediately knew what piece I wanted to go hands-on with. When I think of Grand Seiko, I think of their dials. And to me, the most interesting dial is the White Birch dial of the Ref. SLGH005. To me the SLGH005 represents the best Grand Seiko has to offer. On top of that, it is sized perfectly to double as a dress watch and an everyday wear.
Before getting into the dial, let’s talk about the White Birch’s case. Getting the specs out of the way, the SLGH005’s case is 40mm in diameter and 47.5mm lug-to-lug. The watch is fairly slim at 11.9mm thick. Although not ultra-thin by any means, the overall dimensions make the watch wear a little bit smaller than its 40mm case size would suggest. Over my years in the industry, I have come to the conclusion that lug-to-lug measurements are more important than a watch’s diameter in determining whether a watch will fit your wrist (although, obviously, nothing beats getting the watch on your wrist). But because of the shorter lug-to-lug length, along with a case that curves with the wrist, it not only wears smaller, but feels slimmer than 11.9mm. On my 6.75 inch wrist, the SLGH005 definitely has presence, but fits nicely. My wrist is fairly flat for those wondering.
Getting into the case detailing, it is as high quality as you’d come to expect from Grand Seiko. The case has a combination of Zaratsu polishing and brushed surfaces that come together beautifully. For example, the top portion of the bezel is brushed, surrounded by a polished sloped portion. Likewise, the lugs are brushed on top, with chamfered polished edges on the inside, outside, and top. The screw down crown is adorned with Grand Seiko’s logo and polished as well. And perhaps most impressive, the caseback case and lugs are completely polished. These little details take the White Birch from an everyday sports watch to something that can easily be worn on the fanciest of occasions (though perhaps on a leather strap).
Unlike the case, the bracelet has very little polishing. The whole topside of the three-link bracelet is brushed, with the inner link having an etched line on each side (near the outside). The sides of the outer links on the bracelet are they only polished areas. This actually stands in contrast to the the sides of the case which are brushed. The brushed bracelet definitely gives the SLGH005 more casual look and feel, but if you swapped it for a black leather strap, you could definitely dress up the watch. The bracelet starts at 22mm in diameter at the lugs and tapers to 20mm at the clasp. I would have preferred a couple more millimeters of taper. I always prefer a 4mm taper to 2mm. But the bracelet doesn’t look bad, and is very comfortable on the wrist. For those asking, there is no microadjustment, and the bracelet is size through a screw system (which I prefer). The buckle is adorned with Grand Seiko’s GS logo and I like it for its simplicity and unobtrusiveness.
The most spectacular portion of the White Birch is, obviously, the White Birch dial. The silver dial may not be exactly white, but it is close enough that it doesn’t bother me. And the dial does truly look like the bark pattern on a white birch tree. The different depths of the shimmering dial give it the random feel of nature without the dial actually being unique from other White Birch pieces. There is just so much detail in the dial, it’s hard to take your eye off of it when its on your wrist. And, with metallic hands and indexes, the dial texture remains the focal point of the overall dial. I do, however, like the dark blue second hand. Even with the incredibly intricate White Birch dial, the watch feels rather restrained. And the blue seconds hand adds just a little bit of added character that I like.
The GS SLGH005 White Birch runs on the Calibre 9SA5 in-house movement. The movement features a Dual Impulse, which allows the watch’s escapement to be more efficient and ultimately gives the watch a longer power reserve (80 hours to be exact). As the movement is high-beat, it beats at 36,000vph. A high-beat movement means that the tick will be smoother and the watch will be more accurate. But there are downsides as well. High-beat movements tend to need servicing more often and can be more expensive to service. The 9SA5 is accurate to between +5 and -3 seconds per day on average. This is actually more accurate than COSC specifications which is +6 and -4 seconds per day on average.
But the movement, as seen through a display caseback, is truly stunning. The rotor is openworked in the middle, perhaps so it won’t obstruct the movement. The movement has Cotes-de-Geneve finishing as well as perlage on the mainplate. It is truly on part with what I’ve seen with similarly (and probably more expensive) watches coming out of Switzerland.
Overall, I really like the the Grand Seiko SLGH005 White Birch and any complaints I may have are minor and wouldn’t prevent me from purchasing it. As I said, I feel like the watch just molds to the wrist. When you are holding the case, it doesn’t feel all the slim (it is 11.9mm thick). But the way Grand Seiko curved the case, when you’re wearing it, it feels like a watch that is 11mm or thinner.
Collectors new to Grand Seiko often are skeptical of a Japanese watch with Seiko in its name, selling watches for above $5,000. And at $9,100 USD, the SLGH005 White Birch is not inexpensive. But the quality of finishing, the dial and the reliability of the movement, put the White Birch on level footing with Swiss made watches in the same price-point (and probably beyond). Once you get over the fact that the watch is not Swiss made, you don’t have to worry about getting a quality watch. Indeed, I would probably choose the SLGH005 over a Rolex Datejust or Oyster Perpetual (but that is clearly personal preference). Indeed, if you’re looking for an everyday watch that you can dress-up when needed, you can’t go wrong with the Grand Seiko SLGH005 White Birch. Hopefully I will be adding a Grand Seiko to my collection in the near future.
