A Grand Time For All
The prices of Seiko’s latest Presage range are going up but so are the levels of finishing
AS A JAPANESE MANUFACTURE, Seiko is understandably reticent when it comes to internal discussions about the state of the products. Since its founding, Seiko has always made it a point to deliver more bang for your buck. From the entry level Seiko 5 to its fine watchmaking segment via Grand Seiko, the brand offers products for all tiers of watch enthusiasts.
In recent years Seiko has been realigning its various collections with the aim of offering collectors exciting products in every price category. For the Presage, this meant two tiers to the collection: Prestige and Basic. Now, the Sharp Edged Series is moving ahead with a new case, new calibre and new designs.
Mini Grand Seiko? The Presage Sharp Edged Series While the first Presage models were predominantly classical in style, showcasing guilloché and textured snow dials with mostly time-only movements, that is no longer the case. The Presage and the Presage Sharp Edged Series are now home to a wide range of styles, with added functionality such as a GMT, power reserve, pointer date, day of the week and chronograph indications.
Offering the refinement of traditional Japanese aesthetics with strong, angular case designs, the Presage Sharp Edged Series makes the case for levels approaching fine mechanical watchmaking with a distinctively modern Japanese style. Seiko’s extensive experience and Japanese’s dedication to every craft they endeavour ‒ be it whiskey or Saville Row suits ‒ means refusal to cut corners. And so the 2022 Sharp Edged Series retains all the strength and angularity that gives the series its distinctive look, with an added new facet with a mirror finish between the top and side surfaces that adds a new sparkle to the timepiece. The elegance of the new design is further enhanced by the inward taper on the case: this is indicative of levels of finishing found on vintage King Seiko and nascent Grand Seiko models.
Presage Sharp Edged GMT SPB303
With a 900-piece production run, the 42.2mm Sharp Edged GMT series is executed in steel with sapphire crystals
for both its front and caseback. Legibility and design are in perfect balance, the limited edition GMT models also feature the Asanoha (hemp leaf) pattern that has been used in Japanese fabrics ever since the Heian period over a thousand years ago. The dial’s rich texture is further complemented by the depth of blue, a colour that Ukiyo-e artists over the centuries have made famous in images of Mount
Fuji in high summer. The GMT display ring shares the same blue in ceramic.
Of particular interest at this price positioning are the indices and hands. Faceted, with brushed and polished finishing and LumiBrite inserts, they are reminiscent of how entry models of luxury Swiss brands are executed. In the context of Grand Seiko, the sharp precision of the hands and the powerfully three-dimensional indices are an echo of the design language that fans of the series have nicknamed “Grand Presage”.
Driven by Seiko’s 6R64 GMT, a competent workhorse with 45 hours of power reserve and a pleasing and legible arrangement of complications that include the GMT, pointerdate display and a power-reserve indicator, the Seiko Presage Sharp Edged Series GMT upholds the collection’s reputation for being the “mini Grand Seiko”.
Seiko Presage Sharp Edged Power Reserve
SPB305 And SPB307
The 40.2mm Presage Sharp Edged
Power Reserve SPB305 and SPB307, showcasing a power reserve indicator as well as day and date pointer sub-registers, are yet another demonstration of the Japanese manufacture’s new penchant for approachable complications. While not exactly expensive to develop since they bring to the fore functions already tracked in the gear trains of most of your basic time and date calibres, they offer newcomers a wallet friendly simulacra of “high complications” (eg calendar functions) without the high price tag. The SPB305 and SPB307 get dials with the same Asanoha hem-leaf texture, this time in Geppaku blue-white and Kuritobi black. Inspection of Seiko’s Presage website shows that in time, each model of the Sharp Edged collection will be found with dials in a variety of traditional Japanese colours: Shironeri, an unbleached silky white, Aitetsu, or indigo iron, Tokiwa, the hue of evergreen trees, and Susutake, a brown-toned smoked bamboo. Also expect Sumi-iro, the tone of black Japanese ink, Ebi-iro, shades of crimson glory vines, Binroujikuro, an elegant black with a hint of blue, and Suzu-iro, light grey.
THE ELEGANCE OF THE NEW DESIGN IS FURTHER ENHANCED BY THE INWARD TAPER OF THE CASE: THIS IS INDICATIVE OF LEVELS OF FINISHING FOUND ON VINTAGE KING SEIKO AND NASCENT GRAND SEIKO MODELS.