Seiko Presage Sharp Edged Series GMT

The Seiko Presage Sharp Edged Series GMT upholds the Japanese firm’s reputation for delivering impressive quality and remarkable value. The model’s inventory of functions includes a GMT, a pointer-type date display and a power-reserve indicator.

While an increasing number of watch aficionados are drawn to the charms of Grand Seiko, a fellow Japanese brand, Seiko Presage, is also doing a fabulous job. A few years ago, I wore the Seiko Presage Watch 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Chronograph, costing €2800. This classically styled watch featured poire-style hands, Breguet numerals and a deep-black Urushi lacquered dial.

The SRQ021J1 represented incredible value, however, what made its composition even more remarkable was the self-winding Calibre 8R48. This was not a low-spec modular ensemble, but a fully integrated movement with column wheel and vertical coupling, a composition usually only found on much costlier watches. Actuating the stopwatch function resulted in a smooth pushpiece feel and the central chronograph seconds hand gliding from standstill without any hint of wobble.

Surprisingly, while many goods and services are subject to inflation, nobody thought to tell Seiko. Today, you can buy a Seiko chronograph (SRQ023J1) with a white enamel dial, exhibition caseback, crocodile leather strap and the aforementioned Calibre 8R48, all for £2000. Put simply this watch is an absolute steal.

This year, the Japanese marque has released an array of new models including the Seiko Presage Sharp Edged Series GMT. Similar to Grand Seiko creations, the designs of Presage models often incorporate influences from Japanese culture. In this instance, the dials are suffused with an ‘Asanoha’, or hemp leaf, motif. This pattern has been employed on Japanese fabrics for ‘over a thousand years’. The geometric motif adorning the dial wonderfully engages with light, bestowing contrasting areas of brilliance and shade.

The luminescent hour and minute hands indicate the local time, while a GMT hand with a prominent tip shows the hour at home. This latter hand engages with a 24-hour scale on the bezel, indicating whether it is day or night at one’s home address. A bi-colour track is positioned on the rehaut, providing an additional reminder of the prevailing time of day back home.

Additional functions include a pointer-type date display at 6 o’clock and a power-reserve indicator at 9 o’clock. The Seiko Presage Sharp Edged Series GMT features the automatic Calibre 6R64 which is visible via an exhibition caseback. The steel case and bracelet feature numerous facets and beautifully defined edges. Furthermore, the bracelet is equipped with a three-fold clasp with a push-button release.

And yet, despite its impressive execution, the Presage Sharp Edged Series GMT is available for the remarkably modest sum of £1300 (RRP as at 5.3.2021). The model is available in four different colourways and will go on sale in May 2021.

The brand’s press release

In 2020, the Presage collection welcomed a new design series that revealed a fresh and powerful expression of Japanese artistry. The Seiko Presage Sharp Edged Series captured the simplicity and refinement of traditional Japanese aesthetics in its delicately textured dial and gave it a modern edge with its sharp and angular case construction. Today, four new creations are added that offer the convenience of a GMT function. Once again, Presage showcases Seiko’s traditional watchmaking skills combined with the Japanese craftsmanship for which the collection is renowned.

The Seiko Presage Sharp Edged Series. The name tells the story.

The profile is crisp. The lines are strong. The surfaces are angular. The bracelet has been re-designed to create a multi-dimensional sharp feel that matches the dynamism of the case, and the lugs end with an angled cut to emphasize the modernity of the design. The precisely engineered and polished surfaces and the crisp edges of the case’s silhouette contrast with the hairline finish to create a pleasingly multi-dimensional effect. The indexes are crafted to allow the light to play across the dial as they have two different finishes, textured on the top and polished on the sides. Even the GMT hand has a sharp and powerful design to match the angularity of the case. All four watches have a super-hard coating that protects both case and bracelet from scratches and endows it with a long-lasting brilliance.

The new creations all feature dials with the delicate Asanoha, or hemp leaf, pattern that has been used in Japanese fabrics and elsewhere ever since the Heian period over a thousand years ago. The dials’ sharply edged geometric pattern and rich texture present an ever-changing aspect as the light plays across them at different angles. Each dial is in a different traditional Japanese colour; Aitetsu, or indigo iron, Tokiwa, the colour of evergreen trees, Sumi-iro, the tone of black Japanese ink, and Hihada-iro, a reddish-brown colour first derived from the bark of the Japanese cypress tree.

Calibre 6R64. Perfect for the international traveller.

All four watches are powered by the eight beat-per-second GMT Caliber 6R64. The GMT hand on each is in a different colour to stand out clearly from each dial and, like the hands and indexes, has a generous layer of Lumibrite, to ensure legibility. The GMT hand can also be used as a dual time indicator, with the hour hand being adjustable even as the minute and seconds hands continue to mark time. The dial rings are in two colours to separate the night and day hours at a glance. The date is shown on a sub-dial at the six o’clock position and there is a power reserve indicator at nine o’clock.