Grand Seiko watch 4522-8000 Hi-Beat 36000 Vintage 1970

The Grand Seiko line made its debut in 1960, and continued until the 1970s (the mechanical Grand Seiko was revived in 1998 and continues production to this day). The most iconic of all the Grand Seiko case designs began as the manual wind 44GS in 1966 , and culminated in the automatic 61GS in 1968. The 45GS, produced from 1968 to 1973, with a hand wound Hi-Beat (36.000vph) movement, here with Cal. 4522 (date), 4502 (no date) and 4580 (VFA) versions and coming from Daini, like the 44GS

The watch was designed by Taro Tanaka, the first graduate of a college design programme hired by Seiko. He wanted to design a watch that would “sparkle brilliantly” while on display, one that would compete with the Swiss watches of the time. He came up with a set of rules that would come to be known as the “Grammar of Design.” This meant perfectly flat surfaces and angles for cases, dials, hands and indices. All distortion would be eliminated and the case finish would have a mix of high polish and brushed surfaces, couples with razor-sharp edges. The 4522-8000 is a perfect example of this design philosophy. Brilliant flat surfaces of mirror finish, with sharp lines delineating the different planes.

His Grammar of designs had 9 rules, the watches needed to be usable both in formal and informal settings and to adhere to the 'Nine Enduring Elements of the Grand Seiko Style'. These are: Double width index at 12 o'clock, Multi faceted rectangular markers (very rarely roman or arabic numerals) Highly polished bezel ,Highly polished planes and two dimensional surfaces, Half recessed crown, Flat dial, Multi faceted hour and minute hands, Curved sideline, Reverse slanted bezel wall and case side.

THE WATCH

The dial has a beautiful white finish and elegant faceted steel baton markers. This one has a nice clean date window at 3 o’clock. The 45GS was also available with no date. The date is quickset via the knurled “GS” signed crown, The Nine Enduring Elements are all there in the design of the watch. The hands add a period typical black central line for hours and minutes and the hour markers are topped with a corresponding design. The movement is one of Seiko’s finest, a 25-jewel manual winding hi-beat that operates at 36,000bph, made at their Daini factory.

OUR THOUGHTS

This 1970 Grand Seiko 4522-8000 is a must-have for any watch collector, there's still sparkle in this 54 year old piece and personally I find the Grammar of Design look to be truly timeless - practically as fresh in 2024 as it was in 1970. The 36mm case paired with the thinner hand wound movement make it easy to disappear under your cuff, but its large enough to fit in with the bigger modern day watches. I would say, its the perfect Grand Seiko.