Shot on Leica Q3.
While sizes may still be trending downward, you can always count on Grand Seiko to keep cases, well, grand. The new Sport Collection Tokyo Lion Tentagraph SLGC009 debuted earlier this year at Watches and Wonders 2025 and is a beast of a watch. It joins the Tokyo Lion collection of big, faceted, and surprisingly sexy sports watches, which may be a bit daunting but are a masterclass on what Grand Seiko does without the constraints of watch design norms.
The Tokyo Lion collection takes inspiration from the brand’s mascot, the lion. The brand says about one of its key symbols, “Born together with the first Grand Seiko in 1960, the lion emblem on the case back reflected the ambition to create the most precise, durable, and beautiful watch possible and revealed the intensity of this determination.” We’re familiar with the poetic reaches of Grand Seiko’s inspiration by this point, and there’s no shortage in this new chronograph.
The SLGC009 features an updated case made from Grand Seiko’s Brilliant Hard Titanium and is the first to bear a fixed bezel without a scale (GMT or otherwise) in this family of watches. The case measures 43mm wide, 50mm lug-to-lug, and 15.6mm thick, but it has a few tricks up its sleeve that make it more wearable than the dimensions may suggest. The octagonal bezel bears a variety of facets and surface finishes, including hairline brushing and zaratzu mirror polishing. The facets soften the initial height and lead elegantly into an equally faceted case. The same zaratsu polishing and hairline brushing is found here in large sweeping surfaces that showcase the brightness of Grand Seiko’s Brilliant Hard Titanium. The result is a dazzling stepped slope that gradually works its way to the case edge, which, after a brief vertical slab, cuts back underneath to meet a dramatically curved caseback. While you’re never going to hide 15.6mm of thickness, you can make it look and wear good, and Grand Seiko did. The curved underside of the case ensures it hugs your wrist while sitting low. Since it’s made of lightweight titanium, it stays where it’s strapped and doesn’t flop around like other large, heavy tool watches.
The dial, seen through a domed sapphire crystal, rivals the case in verticality and depth. The base of the dial is a rich brown, with a texture that takes inspiration from a lion’s mane blowing in the wind. Personally, I don’t see it, but now I have a reason to bring my big camera lens to the zoo to try. Either way, the texture and the color are beautiful. Large crater-like subdials disrupt the pattern with highly polished exterior bevels and deep interior dishes. Flat black backgrounds are found on the hour totalizer at 6 o’clock and minute totalizer at 9 o’clock, while a soft taupe color is found on the running seconds at 3 o’clock.
A set of large and aggressive hands and markers adorn the dial. Blunt arrow-shaped markers are Zaratsu polished and stand proud with large bevels to catch the light, a copious amount of Lumebrite luminous fill. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a lume shot, but the quick look I took under my coat was more than satisfactory. The modern twist on the traditional dauphine hand with brushed tops, polished bevels, and luminous fill carries over from other Tokyo Lion models with a pinion-capped and orange-tipped chronograph second’s hand to match the corresponding subdials. Around the periphery is a sloped black chapter ring that is fully graduated in white with orange accents. A lot is going on here. This dial is an elegant dance of texture and depth, battling for attention but demanding none, except for the afterthought that is the date wheel. I will give points for the applied polished frame, but its location might be enough to disrupt the lion’s slumber, and I can’t help but think it could have fit almost perfectly in the place of the 6 o’clock marker. A watch nerd can dream, right? At least we got an adjustable clasp from Grand Seiko this year. Maybe we’ll see the date location change next time.
In the belly of the beast is the 9SC5 Tentagraph movement — Grand Seiko’s first fully mechanical integrated column wheel chronograph movement, which debuted in 2023. This high-frequency chronograph operates at 36,000 vibrations per hour (or 10 beats per second), has a power reserve of 72 hours, and is rated to +5/-3 seconds per day. It is equipped with a vertical clutch, a dual impulse escapement, and twin barrels to meet that lovely three-day power reserve. All of these features — TEN beats per second, Three-day power reserve, Automatic winding, and chrono GRAPH—come together to form its name, Tentagraph, and it is visible through the curved sapphire caseback. Most of the chronograph functions are internal, but it offers a wonderful view of the balance wheel and the beautifully striped finishing on the bridges with polished bevels.
Operating the chronograph is done with two bold pushers instead of the pump-style pushers of previous Tokyo Lion chronographs. As this model was a non-functional demo, I cannot report on how the actuation feels, but with the size of this pusher, you should have no trouble at all. Fitted to the 23mm lug width is a new enhanced rubber strap that Grand Seiko reports is 2.7 times stronger than standard silicone. It has bevels and grooves that match the case shape and finish wonderfully, giving a pseudo bracelet look with the snug comfort of rubber. An adorable lion’s pawprint is integrated into the ventilation on the back of the strap, while a single-fold matching titanium deployant secures the strap snugly and is released with two push buttons. This style deployant is my preference compared to other butterfly and triple fold styles because it allows the tongue of the strap to be adjusted in normal increments and stay tucked away for a smooth wrap around the wrist.
You can rant and rave about the dimensions in the comments, but the reality is, the Grand Seiko Sport Collection Tokyo Lion Tentagraph SLGC009 is wearable and comfortable. Will it fit under your cuff? Never, but that’s okay. These are bold, masculine, and finished to the nines as only Grand Seiko can do, with a movement that is still relatively fresh and new to the market. The style isn’t for everyone, and it may be too large for some wrists, but for others it’s just the kind of wild sports chronograph to make their inner (Tokyo)lion purr. These new watches are priced at $16,400 USD and are available at Grand Seiko boutiques starting in August. You can learn more on the brand’s website.
The photos in this article were shot on a Leica Q3, provided by Leica for Watches and Wonders 2025.
AloJapan.com