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⌚Geneva Shows Out w/ Watches!
Geneva Watch Days recap, Citizen's impressive stats, Grand Seiko's Icon release, and more!


Welcome watch nerds…
This is Watch Bites, where we go through the watch world’s top news as quickly as Redditors downvote modified Rolexes. Today, we’re covering Geneva Watch Days, Studio Underd0g’s step into the big leagues, and much more!
🍿 5 min read
Here's what we got today:
The world’s (new) thinnest watch prototype 🧐
Oris releases a playful diver 🤿🎨
Is Laurent Ferrier’s Classic Auto Sandstone perfect? ⏳ 😍
Lange debuts an amazing new dial 🇩🇪

The numbers above represent market trends in secondhand watch prices. The “Price“ column represents the average secondhand price for the top 30 watches of each brand. This data is sourced from Watch Charts.
Watch News
Grand Seiko Goes Back In Time With To Honor An Icon

Not too long ago, this newsletter featured Seiko’s legendary Lord Marvel, the world’s first mass-produced high-beat timepiece. Today, we’re looking at Grand Seiko’s re-release of a truly iconic watch, the Lord Marvel’s final form, if you will - the Grand Seiko 45GS.
Released just a year after Seiko changed watchmaking forever, the 45GS first touched wrists in 1968 and with its hi-beat movement, immaculate shape and lines (directed by Taro Tanaka’s ‘Grammar of Design’) it quickly became a must-have for serious collectors and horology fans in Japan and further afield. This wasn’t just a moment for advances in watch mechanics but an absolute breakthrough in case design and aesthetic modesty. 1968 was such a good year for the Seiko Company, in fact, that Grand Seiko has just decided to re-create the 45GS with two new additions, the yellow gold SLGW004 and the stainless steel SLGW005.
Immediately, it’s clear that this is an absolutely honest - perhaps even joyous - representation of the watch that created the Grand Seiko we know today. Case diameter is the most obvious change, with the new models coming in at 38.5mm as opposed to the original’s 36.5mm. This is perhaps more indicative of period-specific trends than anything else. Both gold and steel hold the same dimensions and workings, with applied indices, sharpened hands, and the new hand-wound 9SA4 movement. Going for $30,000 and $9,700 respectively, either model would be a great addition to virtually any collection, particularly if you’re into the history of horology.
The Exciting Spread At Geneva Watch Days

Although it’s smaller than Watches and Wonders, Geneva Watch Days is a steadily growing event that, despite the absence of some larger brands (Rolex, Patek, Cartier, etc…), hosts some of the most intriguing releases of the year. No surprise there - releases by less well-known brands are usually more thought-provoking than new dial options for an Oyster Perpetual and watch fans benefit greatly from discovering previously unknown players and models.
This year’s show saw a colorful and hyper-varied collection of timepieces from an array of firms, the most impressive of which belong to Girard Perregaux, Trilobe, and Ressence. Heck, even Alpina came to the table with a newfound and altogether refreshing sense of confidence in their Alpina Heritage Automatic models.
Next to Jacob & Co.’s garish update on the Oil Pump Tourbillon, Perregaux’s Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges somehow feels like an exercise in mechanical minimalism. Still, by any other measure, it could be the most glorious Tourbillon of the year. Meanwhile, Trilobe continues to do what they do best with a pair of night and day Nuit Fantastique models that uphold the young French brand’s poetic idea of modernity. These watches achieve something very tricky - making the ultra-complicated appear very simple. Finally, having left the best (read: strangest) for last, we come to the Ressence TYPE 3 BB2, a watch that anyone would be forgiven for assuming is digital. In fact, the Ressence has an oil-filled dial that’s powered by an automatic ETA movement, with sub-dials aplenty. This is truly a timepiece of the future and for my money, is the closest thing to a common ground between smartwatch zealots and traditional watch fans.
Of course, there’s far more where that came from (check out the Geneva Watch Days page to see what else was on show) but ultimately, GWD 2024 was bigger, better, and more rewarding than previous years and I imagine that it’ll maintain that trajectory well into the future.
Watch Fact

In 2021, INSTORE Magazine surveyed 600 independent jewelers for the best-performing watch in terms of return on effort and investment. For the fourth year running, it wasn’t Rolex or Seiko that nabbed the top spot but Citizen!
3-Watch Collection
3 Watch Collection: Grand Seiko Edition
If there’s a second home of timekeeping (after Switzerland, duh), it’s almost certainly Japan. And no brand represents the highest and most inspiring achievements of Japanese timekeeping as consistently as Grand Seiko. So, let’s take a minute to break down the ultimate trio of GS watches for modern collectors.

Grand Seiko SBGC229 Nissan GT-R Limited Edition (Sport watch) - A simple way to gauge Grand Seiko’s watches is by calibre, given that the company created their own movement with the world-famous Spring Drive. This homage to the legendary Nissan GT-R, another Japanese classic, is insanely accurate and undeniably sporty. Throw in a dial and the world’s fastest-ticking movement and you’ve got yourself a verifiable masterpiece of Japanese horology for $21,000. Bonus points if you’re into street racing as well as watches.
Grand Seiko SBGW260 140th Anniversary Edition (Dress watch) - Here’s a watch that’s part ‘Japanese Executive’ and part ‘Quietly Wealthy Art Investor’. Essentially a re-creation of Grand Seiko’s first-ever ticker, this demure rose gold timepiece is the perfect dress watch - simple and un-distracting while still carrying itself with a sense of character that’s rare in modern watchmaking. The manual winding movement adds to the charm, inviting a kind of old-school gentlemanliness into the room. These go for $29,000 but may be hard to come by…
Grand Seiko SBGY007 Omiwatari (Everyday watch) - Arguably Grand Seiko’s most balanced creation, the Omiwatari is quite simply a work of art. Its immaculately finished dial, which represents a frozen Lake Suwa, strikes a strange and wonderful blueish-white hue that could literally be ice. Add to that the 9R31 Spring Drive movement and a blue-stitched Crocodile skin strap and you’ve got one heck of a ticker for a mere $8,300. And thanks to its weight and size, this is one of the easiest-wearing watches that that kind of money can buy.
Total Collection Cost (USD): $58,300
Watch News Bites
Quick Bites
Not to jump the gun here but it looks like we may have a new record for the thinnest watch with Konstantin Chaykin’s ‘Thin-King’ prototype. At just 1.65mm it’s certainly impressive, despite its childish layout.
Many people said that UK firm Studio Underd0g’s dials are too ‘loud’ to crack the mainstream. Tell that to H. Moser & Cie, who’ve just released an endearingly bold watch pair in collaboration with the upstart Brits.
Never ones to shy away from a playful rendering of a serious ticker, the people at Oris recently released perhaps their most fun sports watch yet - the Divers Sixty Five LFP Limited Edition.
If you’ve got a substantial wedge to spend and an uncontrollable desire to collect the world’s most impressive dials, you need to check out A. Lange & Söhne’s wildly impressive new Datograph Handwerkskunst.
Sleek. Sharp. Understated. Laurent Ferrier’s latest limited release, the Classic Auto Sandstone, is all this and more, merging classical design cues with the bold, refreshing character of a modern sports watch.
Vintage Watches
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 6005BA (1970s)

Why It’s Worth It: Of course, Genta’s geometrical genius has done wonders to define the Royal Oak as a fixture in modern timekeeping but there was a time when AP’s most famous model wasn’t octagonal. Cue, this 70s masterpiece - a (mostly) square-shaped case with angled corners and AP’s signature hobnail dial. Some have ‘quartz’ denoted on the dial but it’s the ones without that visible admission that you want to find. Expect to pay about $20,000 for one worth wearing.
Pre-Owned Watch Deals
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*Watch Bites does not provide financial advice. None of this is financial advice. This is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research!
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