Japan is a place where the natural charms of the seasons are woven into the fabric of everyday life. Taking up this concept, the latest Grand Seiko Hi-Beat GMT dial expresses the beauty that can be achieved by observing the interplay between nature and culture.
Consider the lacquered floors one would find in a traditional Japanese home or a Buddhist temple and how they become a prism of the natural world around them. Soft white snow accumulating on the branches of the trees can reflect off the dark floors, causing them to shine as white snow itself. And yet the definition of floorboards remains. The inhabited world reflects nature back to us – a fresh snow cover, or yukigesho – and is captured in the dial of the new SBGJ271.
Combined with the calming, stone-like grey of the GMT hand, this model imparts the feeling of a quiet place – a traditional home or a temple – during a Japanese winter.