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Last week in this space, I wrote about a crop of new Seiko 5 Sports watches more than a little indebted to the classic SKX line of divers, and there was, perhaps, some concern trolling about the current state of the Seiko brand. In my view, there’s no denying that Seiko’s grip on the enthusiast world has loosened a bit when it comes to watches in this genre. There are just so many options these days at competitive price points, brands that are willing to experiment and take risks, and Seiko is a little left behind making watches that are exactly fine but break little new ground, cost more than they did five years ago, and are missing some key features (screw down crowns, etc.) that a certain type of collector insists upon. So that’s the state of affairs with their entry-level sports watches, but of course that’s only a sliver of what Seiko actually produces.
Another tentpole of Seiko enthusiasm (though perhaps a bit less widely celebrated) is their Presage line. Seiko Presage watches tend to be dressier pieces that exist to celebrate traditional Japanese craftsmanship and culture. Over the years, a number of watches in the Presage collection have achieved a level of classic status in the enthusiast world (the various “Cocktail Time” watches immediately come to mind). Among my personal favorites in the Presage collection are watches with dials crafted with urushi lacquer and enamel, and earlier this week Seiko announced a reference representing a first for the brand: a watch with a dial featuring unglazed porcelain.
Seiko has produced watches with a traditional Arita porcelain technique for several years now, which is a 400 year old technique that involves glazing porcelain to achieve the desired glossy finish. Unglazed porcelain is a more contemporary craft technique and forgoes the glazing process, resulting in a finish that is more matte in its finish. Seiko says this gives their unglazed porcelain dial a warmer hue, and enhances the dial’s decorative textures.
For this new reference, SPB497, Seiko has produced a classic white dial with a decorative rhombus pattern at the outer edge of the dial. In Japanese culture, this particular motif is said to represent prosperity and good health, and is often found on objects made with traditional Arita porcelain techniques. The dial is accented with simple gold stick hour markers and gold hands.
The SPB497’s dial is housed in a stainless steel case measuring 40.6mm in diameter and 12.5mm tall. This is a familiar case shape for the Presage line, and while some might quibble with the case size coming in at over 40mm for what most would consider a dress watch, I think Seiko is really trying to highlight the dial work here, and a watch with a bolder presence makes a certain amount of sense. And although certainly most of the attention for a watch like this will be placed on the dial, the case design shouldn’t be entirely slept on. The lugs have nice bevels that give them a clear shape, and the subtle curves and contours of this case shape wear quite well in my opinion.
The SPB497 runs on Seiko’s Caliber 6R51, one of their newer automatic movements with a full three days of power reserve. The watch is mounted to a leather strap with a steel folding clasp, and is water resistant to 100 meters. The SPB497 is a limited edition of 1,200 pieces and the retail price is set at $1,850. It will be available through Seiko retailers in July. Seiko
