SJX Watches
Seiko Introduces the Presage Craftsmanship Limited Editions
Popular for making artisanal dials affordable, Seiko’s Presage Craftsmanship series has been facelifted for the 110th anniversary of the brand’s first watch. The dials continue to be decorated with techniques ranging from fired enamel to Japanese lacquer, but the Presage case has been refined into an all-new design. The restyled Presage is making its debut as a quartet of limited editions with dials in fired enamel (SPB393), traditional lacquer known as urushi (SPB395), Arita porcelain (SPB397), and translucent Shippo enamel (SPB399). The Shippo enamel dial of the SPB399 Initial thoughts Amongst the most affordable watches with fancy dials, the Presage Craftsmanship series has always been a good value proposition. Made with artisanal techniques typically found on pricier watches, the dials are all impressively executed especially considering the price, which starts at US$1,450 for the enamel dial SPB393 and tops out at US$2,050 for the SPB399 with a Shippo enamel dial. While the dial work was always impressive, earlier models had cases that were simple in form and somewhat chunky. Now Seiko has solved that with a redesigned case that appears thinner and more refined. The new case style makes it debut on this quartet but given its merits will inevitably become standard for future Presage Craftsmanship models. Due to the 6R series movements within, the new case is still large (the larger model is almost 41 mm wide and over 14 mm high) but it has been significantly r...