Kintaro Hattori, the founder of Seiko started his journey from owning a timepiece repairing and selling shop in 1881. Cut to 1913, and the company successfully creates the first wristwatch of Japan ‘The Laurel’. In 2023, the brand is commemorating the remarkable occasion with new watches reminiscent of Japan's first wristwatch in its Presage, Prospex, Astron, and 5 Sports collections.
Presage
Three watches that have joined this line take design cues from ‘The Laurel’ in different aspects. The first one joins the Presage Craftsmanship Series and has an updated case, and features a white enamel dial with Arabic hour markers with a classic ‘12’ in red, and blued hands that resembles Laurel; its dial also incorporates a subdial at 6 o’clock and a power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock. Powering it is a Seiko’s high-performance Caliber 6R27.
Second release in the line is a new creation in the Sharp Edged Series that holds a hemp leaf pattern dial and an angular and modern case, and has a date window positioned at 6 o’clock. It honours the Laurel with a subtle red mark at the 12 o’clock position on the inner ring. The timepiece is equipped with Caliber 6R55 and boasts about 72 hours of power reserve.
Third in the Presage line is a Style60’s GMT creation featuring a classically styled case and bezel that appears mid-century and also salutes the Laurel with a red mark at 12 o’clock on the inner ring; it also has a date window located at 6 o’clock. And beating inside it is a Caliber 4R34 offering about 41 hours of power reserve. All three timepieces are finished with leather straps and are limited editions of 1,500, 2000, and 3500 in that order.
Prospex
The Prospex pays homage to the Seiko’s first wrist watch with two new models - a Speedtimer Solar Chronograph and a Seiko Prospex Alpinist with GMT function. The chronograph model features a bright white dial with black subdials at 2, 10, and 12 o’clock and their hand is coated with red to honour the Laurel, there is also a 60-minute counter at 6 o’clock. The timepiece is powered by Caliber 8A50 Solar Chronograph.
The other one is a latest GMT movement watch; it features Arabic hour markers at 3,6,9, and 12 o’clock, a round date window at 4:30 and blue hands. Honouring the Laurel, the timepiece has a red mark on the compass ring. Powering the model is a trusted 6R family movement Calibre 6R54, offering about 72 hours of power reserve. Completed with the stainless steel bracelets, the watches are limited editions of 3500 and 3000 pieces only.
Astron
The world’s first commercially available quartz watch, the Astron resonates with the Laurel by being synonymous with innovation. The model debuted with contemporary case design with a faceted titanium bezel; it features a white dial with an inner ring accented with red mark on ‘60’ at 12 o’clock as a tribute to the Laurel. There is a date window at 6 o'clock and a unique subdial located at 8 o’clock that displays multiple things like GPS signals, charging status, leap second data receipt, and in-flight mode. The most striking feature of this timepiece is its capability to connect automatically up to twice a day* to the GPS network to maintain its precision of one second every 100,000 years, when it detects the sunlight. Powering it is a latest Astron GPS Solar movement Caliber 3X62 and completing it is a Leather strap with three-fold clasp with push button release. This model is also a limited edition of 800 pieces.
5 Sports
Last in the line is a 5 Sports watch incorporated with a pale white dial that features Arabic hour markers and red coated 24-hour scale as a tribute to the Laurel. Also, the dial has a day display along with the date aperture as an additional feature and the hands have accents of blue. The timepiece is powered by an automatic Caliber 4R36 boasting about 41 hours of power reserve. The stainless steel bracelet with three-fold clasp with secure lock & push button release flanks the case. This model is a limited edition of 6,000 pieces.
All the latest creations are water resistant to 100 metres except the Seiko Presage Style60’s, Seiko Prospex Alpinist, which have water resistant capabilities of about 50 and 200 metres respectively.
Images Courtesy: Seiko
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