By Magnus Salbu
In 2016, Seiko launched their Presage collection, which was received very well by collectors not only in Japan, but worldwide. The Seiko Presage collection is a collection of watches quite different to what we usually see from Seiko. They are a bit higher end than your standard Seiko, but also quite a bit lower end than Grand Seiko. The Presage collection is a nod to Seiko’s first wristwatch with enamel dial and Arabic numerals. In 2016 we also saw the presage 60th-anniversary chronograph with enamel dial, one of the best chronographs in its price range in my opinion.
For Baselworld 2017, Seiko has announced that they will be releasing another range of watches in the Presage collection. The Seiko Presage Enamel Collection will, as the name suggests, be a whole collection of watches with the same enamel dials as the 2016 60th Anniversary Chronograph. This new range is based more on Seiko’s 1895 pocket watch, the “Timekeeper”. You can clearly see a resemblance throughout the whole collection with both watches having the enamel dial with very tall and thin roman numerals.
These fired enamel dial watches are only made by hand, using a technique in which enamel powder is sprinkled on top of a steel plate and the warmed up to extremely high temperatures to achieve a long durability. The numerals and other details on the dial are then painted ten times by hand to lift the above the dial, almost making them look like they were applied.
Seiko has announced there will be a total of four new watches with these enamel dials, many of which will be based on last year’s collection. The first one is the Seiko Presage Multi-Hand Automatic SPB045 which is a 40.5 mm watch with a date display at 6 o’clock and a power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock. The enamel dial features beautiful blued hands and the iconic thin roman numerals. It has an in-house automatic movement and the price tag will be 1.300 Euro.
There are also two classical watches showing only the time and a date at 3 o’clock, the Seiko Presage Enamel Automatic SPB047 and SPB049. SPB047 is a 40.5 mm round cased watch with the same blued hands, enamel dial, and the thin roman numerals. The second one has all the same features but is in a tonneau-shaped case. Both house the in-house automatic calibre 6R15 with a rather impressive 50-hour power reserve from one main spring barrel. Both watches will cost approximately 1.300 Euro.
Last but certainly not least is the Automatic Chronograph SRQ023. This is very similar to last year’s 60th-anniversary limited edition with the same in-house, column wheel, vertical clutch chronograph movement. The same enamel dial and the same blued hands. The only way it differs from last year’s is that it has black roman numerals (instead of Arabic) and that it is no longer a limited edition. The SRQ023 chronograph is set to cost approximately 2.650 Euro, hard to beat for the price. For more info, please visit seikowatches.com
