Photo of the watch
still to be verified
still to be verified
Photo of the movement
still to be verified
still to be verified
Type: mechanical-quartz hybrid
Rated accuracy: ±1 s/day
Seconds hand: glides, no tick
In brief
Nothing inside a Spring Drive ticks. You wind it exactly as you would any mechanical watch — mainspring, no battery — but there is no pallet fork and no conventional balance. A generator turns part of that stored energy into electricity, the current feeds a quartz regulator, and the regulator holds a glide motor to a constant speed. The seconds hand sweeps round without ever stepping, and the technology belongs to Seiko alone.
Short history
The version everyone knows is the Grand Seiko SBGA211, nicknamed "Snowflake" for a dial texture modelled on fresh snowfall in the Shinshu region. It is the reference people reach for when they want to explain what a Spring Drive actually does.
Watches that used it
- Grand Seiko SBGA211 ("Snowflake")
- Grand Seiko and Credor Spring Drive ranges