Introducing the Seiko Presage Style 60’s

Seiko is back with a new product line within their Presage collection that they’ve dubbed the Presage Style60’s. As you’d expect, these new watches take style cues from, well, the 1960s. But more specifically, they reference a historic Seiko reference from the past, the Crown Chronograph, which was first introduced in 1964. If you can remember all the way back to a pre-pandemic 2020, Seiko released a short run of limited editions based on the Crown Chronograph, and now it appears that this style is back in the collection to stay with the Style60’s. The new watches have some subtle changes compared to the trio of LEs released last year, but those small adjustments add up to a significantly different impression with some of these references. If you missed out on the 2020 versions, you have a new opportunity to pick up something vaguely similar (and you can take your time with it, too). 

One of the charming and kind of strange things about the limited editions from last year is that they paid homage to a chronograph without being a chronograph. The Crown Chronograph was unlike a modern chrono, however, in that it was essentially a simple 60 second stopwatch with a single pusher at 2:00. In other words, it presents as a simple time only watch at a glance, making Seiko’s modern time and date watch here a surprisingly fitting canvas to pay tribute to the original. While it doesn’t have the functionality of the first Crown Chronograph, it’s able to borrow quite a bit of the design. 

There are two flavors of the new Style60’s line that are easily differentiated by their dials, but the core design elements remain fundamentally the same throughout the line. Each watch has a rotating aluminum bezel insert surrounding a dial with faceted hour markers and sharp dauphine style hands. The interior area of the dial has a finish that contrasts with that of the minute track, creating a sector-like feel that plays up the watch’s vintage vibes. The case design is a mixture of soft corners and harder angles that is true to the spirit of the original, with a combination of brushed and polished surfaces. 

There are a total of four variants using Seiko’s 4R35 movement, with dials in white (SRPG03), black (SRPG09), blue SRPG05), and green (SRPG07). These watches measure 40.8mm in diameter and are 12mm thick with a 47mm lug to lug span. They include a vintage inspired box shaped Hardlex crystal, and are water resistant to 50 meter. Alternatively, you can choose among three variants with Seiko’s 4R39 movement. These watches feature an open heart dial with an exposure at 9:00 that gives you a view of the movement’s balance at work, with a 24 hour scale directly above it. The partially skeletonized Style60’s can be had with white (SSA423), black (SSA425), or gilt dials (the latter has been given a rose gold treatment on the case, and carries reference number SSA426). These have nearly identical measurements to the non-skeletonized watches, but are a hair thicker at 12.8mm.

The new Presage Style60’s watches will be available beginning in June. Retail pricing in USD is currently unavailable, but in Europe the SRPG09 will sell for €490 with the SRPG03, 05, and 07 priced at €540. The SSA models are all priced at €590. Seiko