Seiko Presage Arita Porcelain Dial Limited Edition SPB171

The Seiko Presage Arita Porcelain Dial Limited Edition SPB171 was inspired by the appearance of the moon when reflected in water, upholding the Japanese tradition of Suigetsu. The watch features a pure white dial, enriched with several classical elements and is housed in a 40.6mm case.

In 1881, Kintaro Hattori established his eponymous company, ‘K. Hattori’. Its founder opened a clock repair shop in central Tokyo. Later, in 1892, Hattori opened a factory making wall clocks. The name of the factory was ‘Seikosha’. In 1913, the company began making watches. The inaugural mechanical wristwatch was named ‘Laurel’. It featured a virtuous white dial, Breguet hands and numerals. The Laurel was Seiko’s first mechanical wristwatch and provided a foretaste of what would eventually come. Today, the Japanese brand enjoys global recognition and is synonymous with beauty, quality and precision.

Returning briefly to the Laurel, while most of the Arabic numerals on its dial were black, 12 o’clock was depicted in red, an aesthetic detail which has often reappeared on the brand’s modern-day watches. In fact, last year, this detail appeared on two new Presage models, both endowed with Arita porcelain dials.

At the time, ESCAPEMENT published an in-depth review of one of these models, the Seiko Presage Arita SPB093 with a porcelain dial and a red index at noon. No doubt buoyed by the success of last year’s porcelain-faced duo, the Japanese brand has now unveiled the Seiko Presage Arita Porcelain Dial Limited Edition SPB171.

This latest addition to the Seiko Presage family incorporates blue poire-style hour and minute hands and a matching central sweep seconds hand with crescent-shaped counterweight. Furthermore, it features elongated Roman numerals denoting the hours. The new SPB171, in common with its older sibling, last year’s SPB093, includes a small seconds display and a crescent-shaped power-reserve indicator. Once again, similar to the aforementioned Presage models of 2019, the pièce de résistance of the new SPB171 is its pure, unsullied, crisp white dial.

When Seiko released the Presage Arita SPB093, demand outstripped supply, based on the SPB171s handsome appearance, I suspect this limited edition of 2000 pieces will prove equally popular.

The brand’s press release (June 2020)

In March 2019, two creations in the Presage collection won high acclaim from watch lovers worldwide for their Arita porcelain dials. Today, a new Presage creation features another Arita porcelain dial whose design is inspired by the Japanese tradition of Suigetsu, which celebrates the beauty of the moon when it is reflected in water. The strong blue hands and hour markers stand out against the delicate white texture of the dial to give the watch a unique beauty. Once again, Presage enshrines the very best of Japanese craftsmanship in a prestige automatic watch.

Suigetsu. A thousand-year love affair with the moon

During the Heian age, from the late eighth to the early twelfth century, Japan enjoyed a long period of prosperity during which a large part of the nation’s cultural identity was forged through prose, poetry and painting. A favourite pastime among the leisured classes was Suigetsu, the enjoyment of the moon’s reflection on the lakes and ponds in their gardens,

a sight that appealed because of its ephemerality and unattainability and that has inspired Japanese art ever since. Suigetsu is a Japanese word whose Kanji characters signify water and the moon. This fascination with the moon continues in Japan to this day and is brought to life in this new Presage creation with the highest levels of traditional Japanese hand-craftsmanship and mechanical watchmaking reflected in every detail.

The production of each watch dial is a multi-stage process that requires several phases of firing and involves great skill and patience. The dials are produced by master craftsman Hiroyuki Hashiguchi and his colleagues at an experienced manufacturer in Arita that has been making porcelain since 1830. To give the dials the strength required for a watch, the craftsmen use a type of Arita porcelain specially formulated to be harder and more durable than traditional porcelain. A very precise casting mould is used to achieve the difficult task of giving each dial the precise dimensions required to fit perfectly into a wristwatch.

While in traditional Arita porcelain a special glaze is applied to create its distinctive subtle blue sheen, a clear, transparent glaze is used for the dial of this new watch to allow the natural whiteness of the porcelain material to shine through. This pure white porcelain, called Hakuji, echoes the delicate reflection of the moon on the water, and creates a sharp contrast with the blue of the hands, roman numerals and sub-dials. The combination of the blue colour with the white Arita porcelain lends the watch a uniquely Japanese aesthetic that captures the transient yet memorable beauty of the time-honoured tradition of Suigetsu.

The mechanical watchmaking expertise of Presage

This limited edition watch carries Seiko’s high-performance Caliber 6R27. Its 28,800 vibrations per hour can be seen and enjoyed through the exhibition case back. The crystal is a dual-curved sapphire that delivers high legibility from any angle. The watch is 10 bar water-resistant and is presented on a crocodile strap with a blue tone that echoes the colour of lakes and ponds illuminated by moonlight. The sub-dial at six o’clock shows the date and the one at nine o’clock, the power reserve in hours.

This Presage Arita Porcelain Dial Limited Edition will be available from June, 2020 at Seiko Boutiques and selected Seiko retail partners worldwide as a limited edition of 2,000.