For Seiko, the 1960s represented a time where the brand saw immense growth. The birth of Grand Seiko began during that decade along with great advances in technology development and design creativity. Alongside the creation of Grand Seiko, the Japanese brand also displayed the ability to create beautifully designed and finished mechanical watches that had high accuracy. This was the creation of the “King Seiko”.
Now, almost more than 50 years later, the King Seiko collection gets a revamp, with new timepieces that display the essence of Seiko; quality mechanical watchmaking. The first collection to be released for this new King Seiko line is five new timepieces that are available from this month.
Design:
The five new timepieces all share similar DNA to the 1965 King Seiko KSK that the models are inspired from. The distinct angular and sharp design of the 1965 model is retained in these new timepieces. All five models come in a 37mm stainless steel case with box-shaped sapphire crystal. The construction of the case gives the watch a slimmer feel when worn. The dial has a sharp and refined look thanks to the flat dial with faceted hour indices and also the broad, razor-edged hands.
In continuing the sharp appearance for the new King Seiko models, the faceted lugs have sharp angles to them, along with wide flat surfaces. Mirror and hairline finishing has been used which gives a very refined look for the case.
Seiko has released the new King Seiko in five different colours. One of the colours is the original silver tone from the 1955 King Seiko KSK model, with the others being light grey, charcoal grey, brown, and lastly red. Out of the five models, the light grey dial version has a slight hairline pattern, with the other four models having a sunray finish which gives them a beautiful finish under different lighting conditions.
For this new King Seiko collection, the brand is offering five alternative leather strap options which have been specifically designed for the new collection. The colour choices include grey, black, brown, dark brown, and artificial suede grey. Alternatively, the stainless steel bracelet is also an option and goes well with all the colour variations. If you, however, wanted to see what the straps would look like on the different coloured dials, Seiko has offered a simulator on their website which lets you customise the strap options for this King Seiko collection.
Movement:
The movement given for this new collection is the Caliber 6R31. This Caliber 6R31 movement operates at a frequency of 21 600 VpH and gives out a power reserve of approximately 70 hours. The collection, unfortunately, doesn’t come with an open case back where the movement can be seen, however does feature a beautiful King Seiko emblem that was inspired by the 1965 KSK. The new King Seiko collection revives an old icon that has lasting design values while giving it the modern technology and engineering touch.
