Hands-On with the Grand Seiko SLGH021, Featuring an All New Dial Texture and a Genbi Valley Inspired Shade of Green

We’ve already brought you news on what are likely the highest profile releases from Grand Seiko this year: the all new SLGW002 and SLGW003, the SBGC275 with an amazing dial that is only red some of the time, and, of course, a new Kodo. But there’s one more Grand Seiko novelty that caught our attention, the SLGH021. This is another reference in the rapidly expanding Evolution 9 Collection and features an all new dial texture from Grand Seiko in a color that will be familiar to fans of a highly sought after limited edition from a few years ago.

The watches in the so-called Genbi Valley trilogy from 2021 have been collector favorites since the moment they were announced at the Couture show in Las Vegas. The different expressions of green in those dials were an immediate hit, and now Grand Seiko has gone back to the Genbi Valley for inspiration for this latest reference. The light green color of this dial is meant to evoke the scenery along the Iwai River that created the gorge now known as the Genbi Valley, which has been given a designation as a Place of Scenic Beauty in Japan. 

For Grand Seiko collectors the truly exciting aspect of this release is the new dial texture. The molded pattern has a chaotic and almost organic quality to it, with distinctive small ridges throughout that look like crinkled paper, or confetti. In our meeting with Grand Seiko at Wathes & Wonders I found myself coming back to this reference over and over again – the dial catches the light in a beautiful way and has a level of depth that surprised me. And Grand Seiko nailed the color. It’s a pastel shade of green that can appear darker at certain angles but definitely conjures a spring/summer vibe. If you believe that watches have a certain seasonality, we’re heading into the best time of year for a color like this. 

The case is 40mm in Grand Seiko’s Ever-Brilliant Steel, and measures 11.7mm tall and 47mm from lug to lug. It’s the same size and shape as comparable SLGH references in the Evolution 9 collection, and while it took some time for me personally, I’ve started to come around on how this case wears. For me, it’s beginning to feel like the distinctly contemporary version of the classic Grand Seiko casemaking philosophy that the brand has always promised it is. I think seeing the Evolution 9 watches together with cases more directly ported over from vintage Grand Seiko helps (there was a Grand Seiko First recreation on the table in our meeting). It feels like a logical new phase for the brand that is becoming clearer year by year. 

The SLGH021 runs on the Caliber 9SA5, Grand Seiko’s premier high beat movement with 80 hours of power reserve when fully topped off. Grand Seiko claims accuracy to within +5/-3 seconds per day on the 9SA5. Like other Evolution 9 watches before it, the SLGH021 has 100 meters of water resistance, a screw down crown, and is paired with a matching Ever-Brilliant Steel bracelet. 

The retail price on the SLGH021 is $10,400. It’s a limited edition of 1,000 pieces. Grand Seiko