I should have known better than to use all my deja vu jokes in a post highlighting last month?s Grand Seiko releases. When I saw the email about the new SLGH011 ?Green Birch? late last night, I knew I?d have to dig a little deeper. Robert Frost?s ?Birches? came immediately to mind. If you studied the poem in college like I did, you probably remember it being a celebration of youthful energy and nostalgia (the narrator recalls the childhood joy of swinging from birch tree branches) juxtaposed with the routine and mundane realities of daily life as an adult. This has a certain resonance with our current moment in watches, right" The nonstop parade of vintage inspired reissues is a play on nostalgia for times many of us didn?t even experience, and we very often fill our lives with watches to escape the drudgery of life! If you?re reading this while you should be working, you likely know exactly what I mean. 
What does this have to do with the new Green Birch" Not much, really. The SLGH011 is not a vintage inspired reissue at all. In fact, like the other birches, it represents a completely new design language and technical leap forward for Grand Seiko. The Evolution 9 Style case paired with the state of the art 9SA5 high frequency movement is the current pinnacle of Grand Seiko engineering and design. Why, then, does the very early commentary on this watch (including this article, I suppose) tend to reach backward, referencing the watches of the recent past...