This dropped in to the Inbox this morning. Promo for the new Limited to 1500 Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMT "Skovla". Looks pretty good, £6,300 in UK, available in March.

A link to the website.
https://www.seikoboutique.co.uk/pro...-sbge275/?mc_cid=e32a4a67ec&mc_eid=a8888b25ad
GMT is one of the more useful complications for me personally. Given the choice between this and a Rolex Batman I would most certainly go for the GS. The dial texture on this one looks really good close up.

 

I had the same initial reaction all around!

Until I saw that it’s a 44mm!!!???!!!!???

everything about this watch, including the price, could forgive a lot of sins, but dayum I can’t abide by a 44mm!

 

PS to emphasize the +/- 10 seconds per month

 

I initially baulked at the 44mm but I just measured an MM300 case and the are more or less the same. The Skovla is very slightly thinner.
These are the dimensions for the Skevla

Marine Master case is 44mm diameter, length 50.2mm case thickness is roughly 15.3mm.

 

Seiko always seem to understate their accuracy. I would put money on it that it would be a lot more accurate. I recently wore the above mentioned MM300 for 1 month and it lost 3 seconds.

 

Which is 2mm wider and 1 mm taller than a Sky Dweller, the latter a pretty chunky beast that includes an annual calendar!

That said, I know some 44s can wear like 40 while some 40s can wear like 44 - but boy sure makes me too timid to take a plunge sight unseen

otherwise, though, I’m with you about this replacing a Rolex GMT - which is why I’m so worked up/disappointed in the size threat

 

The only Rolex GMT I have is a 16750, how many timezones do the modern ones display? 3 like the Skovla?

 

Yes, like the Skovla, the combination of a rotating bezel and an independent GMT hand means that they can both be used (somewhat clunkily) to track 3 time zones - but it’s not as impressive as it may sound.

Though, the Skovla has solved for this a bit in its design, by printing a 24hr chapter on the dial of the watch - which being a GMT fan is a design feature I found compelling.

Here are the two ways a person can note 3 time zones on a Rolex GMT:

Method One (to me, the worst): as always set the 12hr hand to “local/destination” time, then without moving the bezel set the 24hr GMT hand to “home/departure” time; to find the 3rd time zone, knowing the number of hour shifts necessary, every time you want to know the third time zone you rotate the bezel those many hours forward or back, then note where the 24hr GMT hand is pointing (and then returning the bezel back to home for your 2nd zone).

Method Two (better): as always set the 12hr hand to “local/destination,” then, imagining the dial is a 24hr dial despite the lack of 24hr numerals, the second time zone is set with the 24hr/GMT as though the dial was a 24hr dial, and next for the third time zone rotate the bezel such that the 24hr/GMT hand displays the 3rd zone on the bezel.

The Skovla improves the second method by actually printing the 24hr chapter on the dial.

I really like that about the Skovla.

 

I think it’s the same case they put the LX GMT into.
I have the titanium LX because the weight drops away and it becomes very wearable

 

I have an SBGE255 with the older GMT Spring Drive movement and it loses just under a second or two a month on average. Grand Seiko Spring Drives are incredibly accurate, I don't understand why they are so overly conservative with their specifications.