Another year, another spanner in the works for deciding which of Grand Seiko’s gloriously textured dials I actually want. As expected from Watches & Wonders 2025, the Japanese watchmaker added to their floral Purple Kiri model with some icier shades and they might just have one of my favourite dial patterns yet: the Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Spring Drive U.F.A Ice Forest in platinum or titanium.
Before we get onto the parts of the watch you’re probably most excited about, it’s worth drilling down into those three odd letters at the end: UFA, or ultra fine accuracy. The term is a nod to Grand Seiko’s old ‘Very Fine Adjusted’ moniker from the late 60s and early 70s, but in real terms is now being used to designate a watch that gains or loses 20 seconds a year.
You read that right. We’re no longer talking days, weeks or even months here, but years. To put that insanity into context, COSC-certification, the industry benchmark, is -4 and +6 seconds per day. You can do the maths there if you want to, but suffice it to say that the latest generation of spring drive movements, the Calibre 9RB2 blows any other mainspring-powered movement out the water. And it’s that movement that’s at the heart of both the SLGB001 and SLGB003 Ice Forest models.
Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the dials, Grand Seikos speciality. This is actually one of my favourite dial patterns to date, landing somewhere aesthetically (and in my heart) between the snowflake and the white birch. That’s no coincidence either. The aptly named Ice Forest is meant to depict the snow-covered tops of trees – thematically, snowflake meets birch tree. It’s more pronounced and dramatic than the Mount Iwate and in both versions of the watch is in ice blue.
The particular colour of ice depends on the model. Both are pale, but the SLGB003 with its titanium case is so pale it’s almost silver. It can be hard to tell in some lights. There’s no such problem with the platinum-cased SLGB001 though, which has a much more saturated colour. Both are lovely, but I actually prefer the almost imperceptible blue of the SLGB003. Perhaps I’m just over ice blue and platinum this year. Both dials with their punchier patterns work well with those chunky Evolution 9 hands.
The dial colour is not the only change between the Grand Seiko U.F.A Ice Forest models, nor is the material. The high-intensity titanium (a proprietary take on Grade 5) SLGB003 comes with a screw-down crown, while its platinum counterpart does not; precious metal version comes on a strap while the sportier model comes on a matching titanium bracelet that’s surprisingly slim and elegantly tapering. And more importantly, that bracelet finally has a micro-adjustment clasp.
Micro-adjustment clasps have been one of the main talking points this Watches & Wonders and for good reason. Watchmakers are waking up to how comfortable and fit for daily wearing they make practically any bracelet. Grand Seiko aren’t the latest to the party, but they did turn up fashionably so. It’s nicely machined, easy to use and moves in 2mm increments for you to adjust on the fly. The ultimate daily wearing flex just got more daily wearable.
Otherwise, the 39mm Evolution 9 cases are exactly the same. Smaller in diameter than the Silver Birch models, they’re on the more elegant end of the spectrum and the goldilocks sizing is just right. They’re also slightly slimmer than previous Spring Drive models at 11.4mm, so the overall proportions feel finer.
The bottom line is that the Grand Seiko U.F.A Ice Forest just made actually deciding on which of their models to opt for much, much harder. They’re more refined, more wearable and with an objectively better movement than ever before – and that’s before the handsome new dial variation. The question then becomes, boutique-exclusive, 80-piece limited edition platinum or the more readily available titanium?
Price and Specs:
More details at Grand Seiko Boutique.
