Seiko is turning out to be particularly good at revival and homage watches. Its Grand Seiko revival has been its biggest success. But the story is not limited only to it. In fact, the Seventies is turning out to be watchmakers’ favourite period to draw inspiration from and even Rolex is going for that aesthetic as we saw earlier in the year with the Oyster Perpetual Land-Dweller.
Now, Seiko has just put two series of mechanical watches comprising five and three timepieces, respectively, on sale, with models that are tributes to ones it used to make in the Sixties and Seventies. These are among the top watches in Seiko’s lineup and while priced lower than Grand Seikos, are still fairly expensive.
King Seiko Vanac (3)
Both of these lines are led by its Caliber 8L45 mechanical movement that the manufacturer claims operates within a tolerance of +10 to -5 seconds per day and has a power reserve of 72 hours. The movement is made in Seiko’s plant in Japan. While the company now makes movements in plants, such as in Singapore and China, most of the mechanical movements are still made in the Japanese factory. At the time of its introduction, the 8L45, said Seiko, was its “most precise mechanical movement in production”.
Moving on to the watches themselves, the first line is the King Seiko Vanac that was originally introduced in the 1970s and has returned with the same sporty aesthetic but without the typically Seventies quirkiness. Drawing inspiration from the Tokyo horizon, the collection embodies angular elegance with a see-through case back, a first since the King Seiko relaunch. The series is available in five dial colours, including limited-edition and boutique-exclusive variants. In India, all five models of the King Seiko Vanac are selling for ₹3.10 lakh a piece.
The other line is the Prospex 60th Anniversary Diver’s Watch Collection comprising three timepieces. The Marinemaster Professional, powered by the Caliber 8L45, offers 600m water resistance. Two other heritage-inspired models in the same series, however, feature 6R35 movements that are also made in Japan, and are tributes to Seiko’s diver’s watch legacy with sea-inspired dials. The silver model pays tribute to Seiko’s first diver’s watch (1965), while the blue version reflects the 1968 design. The Marinemaster Professional (SLA081) has a tag of ₹4.5 lakh, while the other two (SPB509 and SPB511) retail for ₹1.50 lakh each.