Seiko Presage Style60's – Retro collection introduction

Tags: Presentation | Seiko | Men's | Classic | Retro | Traditional

31.5.2021 | 6 MIN

Seiko returns to the 60's. The new Style60‘s collection takes its inspiration from the famous Crown Chronograph, but without the chronograph. The biggest virtue of all the models is the healthy balance of vintage and modernity.

Historical background

Seiko does bring its historical models to life pretty often. Maybe even more often than is healthy. In addition, it has recently begun to distinguish between Modern Reinterpretation and Re-creation. In modern reinterpretation, it takes inspiration from historical pieces, but transforms it into a modern form. On the contrary, in the case of resurrected models, it tries to capture the historical form of the model as faithfully as possible.

The new Style60 line not only tries to balance between retro and modern style, but also between elegant and sporty. All models are inspired by a chronograph from 1964, but classified to the Presage series, where we are used to elegance and rather social models.

The "template" of the Style 60 collection is the Seiko Crown Chronograph model, the first Japanese wristwatch with a chronograph, which Seiko introduced in 1964. It was a perfect timing, as Tokyo hosted the Olympics and Seiko was the official timekeeper.

Seiko Crown Chronograph from 1964, the first Japanese chronograph wristwatch

Crown Chronograph was a unique model, not just because of having the honor of being the Japanese first. The hand-winded chronograph had a 5719 caliber with with a column wheel and a frequency of 5,5 Hz. The design was relatively simple and the stopwatch was controlled with just one button placed on the second hour. An important design element was the rotating bezel with a scale.

We have seen the revival of the Seiko Crown Chronograph desing in the Prestige Line in 2020, where Seiko itroduced three models in a limited edition that contained 1964 pieces. The rotating bezel remained, but the complication of the stopwatch disappeared. Despite the sporty elements, the Seiko Prestige Line belongs to the Presage series, and perhaps it was the great interest in this line that pushed Seiko to return to the 1960s.

Seiko Presage Prestige Line 2020 Limited Edition 1964pcs

Or, in short, the current Seiko politics. Either way, the new Style 60‘s collection returns to the mechanical chronograph from 1964, again without a stopwatch and again in the Presage series, where it tries to balance the sporty nature of the original chronographs with the elegance of a casual watch.

The offer contains 7 models. Four of them have date indicator and three of them are with open heart on the dial. And it is the first time in the Presage line we see models on a NATO strap...

Seiko Presage Style60 Open Heart

Seiko Presage Open Heart Style60‘s is offered in three variants. The first model, SSA423J1, has a white dial (though it does looks more beige in the promo photos from Seiko, the live photos tend to be ivory white), silver hands and indices and is on steel oyster bracelet. The SSA425J1 variant has a black dial and finally, SSA426J1 in the bronze shade of the case and hands is worn on a brown NATO strap.

The case got modern dimensions of 40.8 × 47 × 12.8 mm. The way Seiko played with the elaboration is admirable. It perfectly combines cut and polished edges and the result is very much recognized.

The narrow bezel with a simple 60-minute scale is solid this time, without crinkles. The glass is unfortunatelly only Hardlex, but convex, which underlines the overall retro touch of the watch.

What we see through the open heart on the dial is the balance wheel of the 4R39. The movement can also be seen through the transparent caseback. It has a frequency of 3 Hz, that is, 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour. Of the complications, it offers hand winding, hacking and also a 24-hour indicator.

It is the interesting arrangement of the open heart and the 24h sub-dial that will probably attract a lot of attention. It's as if the sub-dial revealed the heart of the machine, like a front door, when you slide the peephole cover and see who's standing behind the door.

It is a basic level of  movements, so it is no surprise the power reserve is 41 hours and there is almost no decoration. However, at the same time, they are reliable calibers, which we often see in the Presage series, and they enable us to achieve an affordable price.

Although the price might be questionable. It is common to have 4R machines for half the price and I have no doubt that the new edition of 60‘s will be criticized for that. To compare, in the Cocktail Time collection there are models with open heart for about 500 EUR. But they have a leather strap and don't have a 24h indicator.

Therefore, in the overall production of Seiko Presage, the price seems to be set relatively soberly. What makes me mad as a hornet though, is the nylon strap in the variants with the SSA426J1 surface treatment.

NATO straps are great, there is no doubt. In Fives, or other sports models. Or as an ideal option for summer wear. But Seiko decided to consider the Style 60‘s models elengant and include them in the Presage line. And then they give a nylon strap to the most luxurious-looking model?

Not that brown color isn't right for the model. It fits perfectly with bronze. But I would see leather as a first and obvious choice. However, it was allegedly Seiko's explicit intention, as they tried to evoke the vintage touch of the 60's even more. And in this case, offering all the models for the same price - the steel bracelet is compensated by the price of the Seiko copper surface treatment.

But replacing the strap is the least. The model with NATO strap is still the most interesting model from this open heart Style60 Styles trio for me.

Seiko Presage Style60

Personally, I lean much more towards the variant without an open heart. At other times, it might be just the opposite, but in this case, the models with only a date indicator are simply more balanced. And I could even imagine these sporty-elegant models in an exaggerated vintage style without the date indicator.

The case is the same for the whole collection. The diameter is still 40.8 mm. The lugs are lightly beveled so that the watch fits better on the wrist.

The design inspiration of the Crown Chronograph is much more tangible here. The clarity of the three-handed dial is only disturbed by the mentioned date indicator, which is nicely framed in the color of the indices. Dauphine hands carry LumiBrite, in some cases even in a yellowish tint, to evoke a historic patina feel.

The same applies to the glass. Still, the glass is only mineral, convex, which nevertheless interestingly distorts the view of the dial from certain angles. Inside the watch, there is a basic Seiko 4R35 movement with a view through the caseback.

The collection includes four models differing in the color of the dial and the bezel insert. SRPG03J1 with ivory dial and black bezel, SRPG05J1 with blue dial and bezel, and finally SRPG07J1 in an interesting shade of khaki green for the dial and bezel. The fourth model, labelled SRPG09J1, has, as the only one, the sportier NATO black strap with black dial and bezel.

Final or maybe just first thoughts

I can't help it, but I find myself in a quandary. It might seem that the most difficult thing would be to balance the elegance sporty style ratio of the original model. But Seiko did it without problems.

And the obvious charisma cannot be denied. Vintage style is very pleasant and it gives the watch a feeling of seriousness and a necessary attraction. The visual reference to a famous historical model complements the story in the background.

It's good that Seiko didn't choose the unnecessary robustness that could unnecessarily kill the retro style of the watch, but at the same time it's not a very small watch.

I have no doubt that the watch will find its fans, who, for example, looked at the Prestige Line celebrating the Crown Chronograph last year, but who did not get them due to the limited number of pieces sold. All models from the new Style60's will be in the regular collection, so adding this one to your collection will not be a problem.

Nevertheless, these retro models left me at a relatively cool point. Perhaps in this price category there are already many considerable options and you have a lot to choose from. Unfortunately, Style60 disappoints with the caliber used, perhaps also in the mineral glass, but especially in the absence of any small things that would give the watch a spark.

Less common colors and a fresh style save it a bit. And it's hard not to admit that the more you get to know them, the more time you devote to them, the more they get under your skin. But  let's leave all that to after we meet them in person. We expect them in the middle of summer 2021.