Ten years ago, Eichi was released, and in 2014, the Eichi II gained high praises worldwide for its simplicity of design, the exquisite finishing of the movements, the innovative torque return system, and most of all, for the hand-polished pure white porcelain dial. On this tenth anniversary, a new version of Eichi II is released, this time in an 18k rose gold version.
Eichi is the Japanese word for “widsom” and reflects the fusion of traditional Japanese watchmaking skills with the highest and most advanced Spring Drive technology. Eichi II is made by the elite watchmakers at the Micro Artist Studio in Shiojiri in central Japan. This studio, founded in the year 2000, garnered a worldwide reputation for creating masterpieces like the Credor Spring Drive Sonnerie in 2006, the Credor Spring Drive Minute Repeater in 2011, the Credor Spring Drive Eichi II in 2014, and the Grand Seiko Spring Drive 8 Day Power Reserve in 2016.
The Spring Drive technology is a remarkable piece of work. It offers a precision of one second a day. The Torque Return System is a propriety mechanism that maximizes the advantages of the Spring Drive movement’s high torque. On regular watches, after the mainspring has been fully wound, the torque that is stored is, of course, at its highest. Releasing that torque to the mechanism may be too much for the movement to handle. So a good percentage of that power is “let go”. That much power is “thrown away” to make sure that the movement is not damaged.
Seiko’s patented Torque Return System is ingeniously built in such a way that the “excess energy” is used to rewind the mainspring. This results in a 25% increase in the power reserve. Because of this system, the watch now has a 60-hour power reserve, enough stored power to last through an entire weekend.
The rose gold case of the Credor Spring Drive Eichi II went through a cold forging process. Hot forging involves heating metal to such high temperatures then pressing it into shape to form the watch case. Cold forging is done at room temperature, and pressed with much greater force. This process is repeated several times to create the case. And because of this, the case has a greater density, and is more resilient against scratches. The surfaces are then Zaratsu polished, which creates a mirror-like finish with practically no distortions.
The mechanism driving The Credor Spring Drive Eichi II 18k Rose Gold watch is the Calibre 7R14, a manual winding movement that has an accuracy of +/- 1 second per day (+/- 15 seconds per month), and a power reserve indicator.
This watch is a well-crafted timepiece, bearing the qualities that the Japanese are well known for: simple, beautiful, and technologically advanced.
