Seiko recently announced a new classic series that stands out with its 3-day power reserve. With this series, which will be available in June 2024, the Presage collection, which benefits from the colors, materials and textures of traditional Japanese designs, has thus been expanded further.
Let’s start with a sentence from Haruki Murakami’s book Spring Bird Diary: “A small, elegant golden pin glittered on the collar of his silk shirt.”
For me, Seiko shines like a humble golden pin within the Japanese watchmaking industry with its achievements. However, the basis of Seiko’s success in the 21st century is not a technical advancement as expected. Of course, they have reached a great point in technical terms, but what makes you love/buy a watch is never just the technical approach.
When I think about when Seiko achieved success, Grand Seiko designs come to my mind. At one point, Seiko suddenly moved away from Western watchmaking. (Seiko experienced a similar structural change when it switched from Ligne, a historical unit of length, to millimeters.)
Exactly on December 18, 1960, the first Grand Seiko with high precision in time measurement was produced at the Seiko Suwa facility. On that day, a watch with universal aesthetic tastes was produced to achieve the ideal sought by every watch enthusiast. But I think, something was missing then. It was difficult to see the subtleties of the Japanese spirit in the fabric of the watch, there was neither a soft shadow nor steam rising from a hot teacup.
Junichiro Tanizaki’s book In Praise of the Shadow provides an explanation on this subject: “As far as I know, the Chinese invented paper. While Western paper means nothing except for daily use, when we see the texture of Chinese or Japanese paper, we feel a kind of warmth and calmness. Although they all appear to be white in color, the whiteness of Western paper is different from the whiteness of Japanese or Chinese paper. While the texture of Western paper reflects light, Japanese paper and Chinese paper – just like the delicate outer surface of the first snowfall – gently leak light in. In addition, its textures are docile, it does not make a sound even if you wrinkle or fold it. This is like touching the leaf of a tree; quiet and gentle.”
I think that was the point, everything was so sharp and bright. However, smoothness is a concept that directly belongs to the West. After all, the West loves the ostentatious, whereas the East loves the ostentatiousness of simplicity more.
There is a statement in the history of Grand Seiko: “The Grand Seiko designer carried forward the theme known today as the Grand Seiko style by carefully creating every detail. To create light play on the dial, he prepared the hands and indices with multiple facets and produced a mirror-polished bezel, so the entire design aesthetic was based on sharpness and brightness. With the 44GS, Grand Seiko found its design line and a legend was born.”
However, it was not possible to sell something that was already available in the West (shiny, smooth, sharp) back to the West. I think the beginning of the legend started when this situation was resolved, Seiko, which no longer needed approval from anyone, started to look at watchmaking from a different perspective; thus, designs that re-evaluated and adapted the original Japanese aesthetic codes and were inspired by nature emerged. It was now clear what was important, first the Presage series was born (2016) and then Grand Seiko became an independent brand (2017).
Presage
Seiko recently announced a new classic series that stands out with its 3-day power reserve. With this series, which will be available for sale in June 2024, the Presage collection, which benefits from the colors, materials and textures of traditional Japanese designs, has thus been expanded further. Presage is an important collection that combines traditional Japanese handicrafts with Seiko’s mechanical watchmaking mastery from 2016 to the present.
The dials in the new classic series are simply magnificent. The Japanese love everything made of silk, naturally they have mastered this special field of weaving for centuries and have produced almost a thousand types of silk fabrics. The colors and patterns of kimonos are already a different world. Seiko masters have beautifully reflected the coolness, elegance and tactile appeal of silk fabrics on the dials of the new Presage collection. The SPB463 model is in a cream color called chiroiro, which symbolizes the natural fabric. SPB465 is in the dark green sensaicha color that was popular during the Edo period (1603-1868). SPB467 is in araigaki color, which is a shade of pink. Models in other colors were also announced in this collection, but the ones I wrote above have a much purer design.
Grand Seiko
Dials showing the melancholy look of white birch or the joyful look of cherry blossoms are among Grand Seiko’s most successful watches.
Creating beautiful dials depicting the magical nature of time, Grand Seiko’s most popular and sought-after models are undoubtedly the “snowflake” watches that emulate the snow-covered surfaces of the mountains.
With the SBGX355 and SBGA497 announced in recent months, other beauties were added to Grand Seiko’s “snowflake” patterned models. While the SBGX355 is a model with a scratch-resistant high-density titanium case and a dial surface similar to the pattern drawn by the wind on the snow, the SBGA497 captures the beauty of the sunrise against the snow-covered Hotaka mountain range.
