Lean Years1983-99

With the quartz argument won, the catalogue turned quiet and pragmatic. But the years collectors skip past produced the 7002 and then, in 1996, the SKX007, the default first automatic ever since, while Grand Seiko returned from dormancy in 1988 after a thirteen-year silence.

The period’s real work happened in the labs: Kinetic, launched as AGS in 1988, and Spring Drive, which Yoshikazu Akahane pursued through two decades of failed prototypes before it was finally shown in 1999. With the 9S mechanical calibers of 1998, everything modern was in place.