Grand Seiko worth travelling for: new watches sold only at Shizukuishi

Grand Seiko · Shizukuishi Exclusive SLGH039 / STGK039

The model in detail

Meet the watch

These Grand Seikos require a trip to Iwate Prefecture. SLGH039 and STGK039 are sold exclusively at Studio Shizukuishi, the workshop where the brand’s mechanical watches are assembled. Sales began on October 9, 2026. Here, a journey to the birthplace of the watch takes the place of an ordinary online order.

Both models have ivory-coloured dials with a pressed wood pattern. In the official photographs, the texture looks soft and quiet: it supports the light palette while leaving the hands and markers as the main points of reference. Grand Seiko connects the pattern to the studio’s wooden interiors. Designed by Kengo Kuma, the building opened in 2020; woodland surrounds it, and Mount Iwate is visible from the lounge.

The technical lead is SLGH039. Inside is the automatic 9SA5: 36,000 vibrations per hour, or 5 Hz, and approximately 80 hours of running from a full wind. That reserve provides more than three days without further winding. The high frequency makes the seconds hand’s motion look smoother, but does not by itself mean an absence of timing error.

Details and limitations

The Dual Impulse Escapement helps combine 5 Hz with a long reserve. In one direction, energy reaches the balance directly from the escape wheel; in the other, it passes through the pallet fork. Together with two mainspring barrels, this architecture sustains the high frequency and extended running time. The stated mean daily rate for 9SA5 is −3 to +5 seconds under movement test conditions; for normal use, the manufacturer separately specifies −1 to +8 seconds per day.

Enlarge

SLGH039 has an Ever-Brilliant Steel case, a bracelet clasp with micro-adjustment, and SHIZUKUISHI EXCLUSIVE engraved on its automatic winding rotor. STGK039 offers a different character: diamond hour markers, a steel case, and the compact automatic calibre 9S27 with around 50 hours of reserve. Here, the studio’s name appears on the sapphire case back. The manufacturer explicitly presents the models as a possible pair.

Enlarge

Japanese prices including tax are 1,419,000 yen for SLGH039 and 1,023,000 yen for STGK039. Both have a stated water resistance of 10 bar. These are the studio’s prices in Japan; converting them into the cost of a purchase in Uzbekistan without accounting for exchange rates, travel and possible charges would be inaccurate.

A studio visit requires an advance reservation. Under its rules, purchases can be made after the tour, with each exclusive model limited to one per person. The exclusivity of SLGH039 and STGK039 concerns their place of sale; the official page does not state a fixed production quantity. For a collector, the connection between the object and the journey is particularly appealing: the watch on the wrist comes from a workshop they actually visited.