Up for sale is a Seiko Galante SBLL009 2nd Generation Mechanical Watch Brand New in Box with Manuals.
The SBLL mechanical models kept the classic Galante four-column case but
added an “open heart” in the dial at 10:30 to emphasize the 8L38 mechanical movement.
This watch is is still factory shrink wrapped around the case and crystal.
Included with Instruction manual, warranty manual, cloth, inner and outer box, “fur” pad.
Never worn never used this is a spectacular timepiece!
Specifications and History:
The SBLL series continued the classic Galante case design, though this new watch featured some changes from the Spring Drive models. First, the case was resized to 45.0 mm across and 13.5 mm thick. The columns remained as before, screwed to the back plate, but they were no longer responsible for holding the main body in place. Like the SBLA models with a rotating bezel, all SBLL models have four separate screws to attach the body.
Seiko emphasized the mechanical movement in the design and marketing, using the term “Tokyo Heartbeat” to showcase this new model. The display caseback was radically altered, going from full-width to a small off-center window showing the oscillating balance. Due to the open heart dial, this allowed light to pass straight through the watch. The dial designs emphasized this opening as well, highlighting it as a focal point for the first models but eventually turning it into a “G” in later examples. The “G” is resin with Swarovski Crystals.
Seiko also emphasized their connection to Tokyo in the SBLL series. The case body features 23 sides, reflecting the 23 wards of the city. The hands are said to reflect the city’s skyscrapers, while the seconds hand was designed to resemble the Tokyo “Skytree”, which had recently become the tallest building in the city (2011). Once again, marketing slogans were created to integrate the concept of heartbeat (of the mechanical movement) and nightlife (of Tokyo).
All SBLL Galante watches shared the same Cal. 8L38 movement. Based on the Grand Seiko 9S automatic movement, this is a high-end hand-built movement with luxury finishing. It oscillates at 28,800 A/h and achieves 50 hours power reserve thanks to Seiko’s finishing and spring technology. Interestingly, it is a 26 jewel movement like the 9S55 rather than 24 like the no-date 9S51. The movement plates are partially skeletonized for use in an open heart watch, something never seen before in such a high-end movement from Seiko, though it is barely visible in the watch.
Seiko and its Grand sibling are well known for their technical skill in case finishing. Zaratsu style of highly reflective polishing was first introduced into the Seiko family by watch designer Taro Tanaka, who came into the Japanese company to produce a holistic design language that was called “The Grammar of Design”. One of the main tenants of this design language was for all of the flat surfaces of the watch case and hands to be polished to a mirror finish using a method called Zaratsu polishing. This watch is all Zaratsu polished case, bracelet, markers and inner parts of the mechanics.
