Many luxury watch brands have partnered with automobile brands and their racing teams, but one of these partnerships that is little known in the United States is the one between two Japanese marques: Grand Seiko and Nissan. The watchmaker has produced a handful of special-edition timepieces inspired by and paired with the automaker’s iconic Nissan GT-R racing cars, but up until this year, those watches were only sold in Japan. This week at the New York International Auto Show, however, Grand Seiko and Nissan unveiled their first collaborative timepiece that will be available in the U.S. and throughout the world. Fittingly, it is one that commemorates two anniversaries in 2019: 50 years of the Nissan GT-R and 20 years of the Seiko Spring Drive caliber. Grand Seiko Nissan GT-R SBGC229 Limited Edition
The Grand Seiko Spring Drive 20th & Nissan GT-R 50th Anniversary Limited Edition (Ref. SBGC229), released in concert with the 2020 Nissan GT-R 50th Anniversary Edition car, is limited to 200 pieces and distinguished by its use of “Bayside Blue,” famously introduced in the livery of the 1969 GT-R automobile, for several elements on the case, dial, and strap. The color is reflected in the blue ceramic of the outer case and tachymeter bezel, the blue numerals of the dial’s chronograph counters, and the blue stitching on the alligator strap. The inner part of the case, which measures a stately 46.4 mm in diameter and 16.2 mm thick, is made of high-intensit...