Seiko is one of the most popular brands of watches coming out of Japan. Their brand’s history started in 1881 with a young entrepreneur’s first watch repair and retail shop in Tokyo. He named the shop “K. Hattori” after himself, but after 11 years, in 1892, he changed the name to “Seikosha,” a Japanese word that when translated to English means “House of Elegance” or “House of Success.”
In the same year, the company started producing their first self-branded clock. After only three years, Seikosha released their first pocket watch called “The Timekeeper.” In 1913, Seikosha made further innovations by making the first ever Japan-made wristwatch called the “Laurel.” It was in 1924 that the first “Seiko” branded wristwatch was first produced.
The Seiko brand soon grew popularity worldwide with their high quality and precise timepieces. Throughout the years, Seiko has produced various innovative watches, many of which will become the prototypes of their own successful watch lines.
Here are our favorites from “K. Hattori.”
Seiko SGF206 Gold-Tone Stainless Steel Men’s Watch
The first item on this list is a very handsome stainless steel gold watch, the SGF206. This watch is gold-tone all throughout –from the bracelet down to the dial. The only contrasts in color you’ll see are from the bar hour indexes, the luminescent black hands, and the date window.
It features a round 36mm diameter case with a very distinct bezel that is accented by a corrugated pattern akin to what you will find on gears. This gorgeous dress watch is powered by a battery-operated Japanese quartz movement. It’s rated to be 3 bar water resistant and can withstand strong water splashes without any problem. It’s not rated for swimming and diving, so do take it off if you plan on being submerged in water for extended periods of time.
Seiko SNE098 Stainless Steel Two-Tone Charcoal-Dial Solar Watch
The SNE098 comes in a very eye-catching color-palette. The bracelet is mainly a silver-tone stainless steel with 3 spaced out gold-tone strips running down the middle. The bezel is round and features a 6-pointed gear figure in gold-tone. This gold tone continues with the bar indexes on the dial as well as the luminescent hands.
The strongest and most remarkable feature of this watch is its charcoal-colored dial. This textured, fairly darker 38 mm gray watch face makes the entire watch look more unique than others. It’s also a solar-powered watch, which means that the battery gets charged when the watch is exposed to light. A full charge will usually take about 3 hours in direct sunlight, but it will still charge when exposed to artificial sources of light. After a full charge, this watch will still run on power reserves for about half a year to a full year even when kept in completely dark containers.
Seiko SSC448 Men’s Gold and Black Chronograph
This watch exudes sophistication and sportiness. The rose gold watch casing is beautifully contrasted with a black watch dial that features edgy rose gold bar indexes and stylishly hollow rose gold hands. The leather strap is two-toned as well with a glossy textured black leather outer finish and a brown suede-lined back.
This watch is also solar powered, which means that it has a battery reserve of at least 6 months once fully-charged. Since it’s also a chronograph, the main dial also comes with 3 smaller dials for second, minute, and hour timing. This sport functionality also comes with a 100m water resistant rating, which means it’s rugged enough for swimming as well as most water sports – except deep diving.
Seiko Prospex Land Series Compass Watch SRPD31K1
The Prospex line of Seiko watches builds upon the hardiness of the extremely tough Seiko diver watch. The Land series incorporates a compass into the design, making it an essential equipment to have with you if you’re fond of exploring and outdoor sports. This particular model, the SRPD31K1, comes with a 20-bar water-resistant rating, which means this compass watch is capable of reaching dive depths up to 200 meters without damage.
It features an automatic Japanese movement and comes with a black dial with luminous indexes for added visibility in the dark. This also comes with a rotating compass bezel that you can adjust manually to find your bearing.
Seiko Excelsior Gunmetal and Silver Solar Powered Ion Watch
The Seiko Excelsior is a very aggressive-looking watch with very masculine design aesthetics. The finish all throughout is a combination of silver-tone and gunmetal stainless steel. The band features silver-tone segments crisscrossing the gun-metal segments in angles.
The Excelsior comes with a black dial with silver dagger-like hour indexes as well as silver hands in the same design aesthetic. It is also a chronograph watch with 3 sub-dials. One is for an alarm, the second is for second timing, and the third is for a 60-minute time recording. It utilizes a solar-powered automatic Japanese movement that makes use of a 6-month power reserve. It’s rated to be 10-bar water-resistant, which makes it suitable for swimming but not for diving.
Seiko Astron SAST009G Solar GPS Watch
The Astron series of watches features GPS-assisted time adjustment. A Seiko Astron watch comes equipped with a cleverly disguised GPS antenna that gathers signal information from at least 4 GPS satellites. This means that with only a single push of a button, the watch will adjust itself according to the local time where you are.
This particular model on the list, the SAST009G, is a sports model and comes with a black rubber strap with a silver buckle. The watch face is black and comes with silver indexes with luminous blue markers. This is the perfect all-black watch if you’re always traveling internationally or if you’re working abroad and you want to keep track of the time of your home country. It’s also solar-powered, so you don’t have to worry about powering this high-tech timepiece. Just make sure that it gets plenty of time exposed to light.
Seiko Neo Classic SGEG97P1
The Neo Classic Seiko SGEG97P1 is a Bauhaus watch to be sure. It’s a minimalist watch fit for formal occasions as well as rugged daily wear. It features a two-textured silver dial with very legible Roman numeral indexes and a date window at the three o’clock position. It’s encased in a clean silver-tone round chassis and has a textured dark brown leather strap that features a lighter tan suede back.
This watch utilizes a battery-run Japanese quartz movement. The Neo Classic is rated at 10-bar, making it capable of withstanding the rigors of swimming and other water sports outside of scuba diving.
Seiko Prospex SRPC07 Automatic Orange Dive Watch
An orange dial on a watch is not only visually arresting, but it is also a very functional feature. The bright color makes the dial much more visible underwater, where there isn’t enough sunlight penetration. This orange Seiko Prospex diver comes with a bright round dial with large luminous indexes and hands. It also features a manually rotating bezel with 15-minute markings to assist timing ascents and other safety stops.
This dive watch is encased in silver-tone stainless steel which extends to its bracelet. It runs on an automatic, self-winding Japanese movement and is designed to withstand pressures up to 200 meters in depth with a 2-bar water resistance rating. It’s certainly a sharp looking, functional diver you can wear in water sports, including your deep dives.
Seiko Coutura Line Radio-Sync Solar Watch
The Coutura is a very interesting watch with very unique features. It’s a radio-controlled or radio synced watch. This means that its time is automatically adjusted to sync with the time of an atomic clock that transmits time codes via radio signals. The radio sync watch line from Seiko receives radio signal time codes from the US, Germany, China, UK and Japan.
Aside from the radio sync function, the Coutura also has a world time function that sets the watch to the correct time of a selected time zone. There are 25 time zone presets to choose from. It also comes equipped with a 60-minute chronograph function and is precise to 1/5 of a second.
The Coutura also uses solar energy to charge its battery and with its overcharge prevention technology, it’s sure to last a long time. This remarkable Japanese watch has a black dial with 3 sub dials, gold-tone indexes, and gold luminescent hands. It’s mostly silver stainless steel with some gold trimmings on the bezel, buttons, and bracelet.
Seiko 5 SNK803 Automatic Sport Watch
The Seiko 5 SNK803 Automatic Sport Watch is a very casual watch that you can wear every day for most occasions and activities. It comes with a round dial in a round 36mm silver case. The time indexes feature both 5-minute increments as well as the hourly indicators.
This watch comes with a beige nylon canvas strap. It’s only rated to be 3-bar water-resistant, which means it can fair pretty well with splashes but it is not designed to be worn while swimming, so take it off before taking a dip. This sporty Seiko watch is powered by a self-winding automatic movement.
For more amazing timepieces by another renowned brand, be sure to browse our list of the best Omega watches.
Seiko Essentials SNE481 Black Watch
This watch is a minimalist’s dream. The first thing you’ll notice is that it’s almost entirely black. The bezel is black with contrasting silver hands, a white date number over a black background date window, and white, very thin bar hour indicators.
This minimalist watch runs on solar power and has an impressive 10-month battery reserve after being fully charged. It is only rated to be 3-bar water resistant though, so it’s really not for outdoor or water sports, which is fine since its classic look fits better with casual daily wear and more formal settings.
Seiko Recraft Series SNKP25 Leather Strap Watch
The Recraft SNKP25 is an elegant gentleman’s watch with a vintage flair. It features an attractive rectangular silver stainless steel case. The bezel is black highlighted with red tones. While the shape of the watch face is rectangular, it does feature an inner circular dial. The gold hands and hour indicators contrast well with the black and red background. It comes with a black, leather strap with a brown, suede lining.
It runs on a self-winding, automatic movement and has a power reserve of about 41 hours. It is rated for 5-bar water-resistant, allowing you to swim with this nice watch.
Seiko Recraft Series SSC667
This daring watch instantly catches the eye with its brightly colored strap. The black nylon canvas strap comes with 2 blue lines flanking a central orange line. This color scheme is continued with the blue dial, 3 black sub-dials, an orange-accented second hand, and an orange chrono minute subdial hand. The dial also features a silver-bordered circumference for the time indexes as well as an outer black circumference for the tachymeter.
This blue dial watch is encased in a round silver, stainless steel casing and is fully solar-powered. It is designed to have a power reserve of about 6 months after a full charge. With a 10-bar rating, you can swim with this watch with no problems.
Grand Seiko Heritage SBGA211 Snowflake
The Grand Seiko line is a luxury collection from Seiko. The watches in this line are handcrafted by Seiko’s very own expert watchmakers. A Grand Seiko watch is truly for a watch connoisseur.
Encased in high-intensity titanium, the SBGA211, fondly referred to as “Snowflake,” is 30% lighter than stainless steel watches. The case and the bracelet are silver-tone while the dial itself is white. The silver hour indicators and the minute and hour hands contrast well with the white dial. And, the blue steel second hand adds a prominent artistic feature.
This watch is powered by Seiko’s high precision unique Spring Drive movement. This fine dress watch is also rated to be 10-bar water-resistant, which means it can be worn while swimming.
Grand Seiko Blue Dial Sport Watch
This Grand Seiko is the perfect blend of sporty and aristocratic. It features a blue dial with a tiled square pattern. The hour indicators are silver as well as the hour, minute, and second hands. It does, however, have a 24-hour hand that’s colored black. The casing is made of ceramic and high-intensity titanium and its bezel is made of blue ceramic.
The elegantly blue bezel is marked with 24-hour indexes for the secondary 24-hour timekeeping function. The same high-intensity titanium and ceramic material from the casing also comprise the bracelet. This band features a 3-segment design with a blue central segment flanked by silver all throughout. This Grand Seiko titanium watch comes equipped with an automatic movement that can also be manually wound.