Seiko Works With Porcelain Artisans on Pair of Presage Automatics
The Japanese company has been making porcelain since 1830.
Seiko is adding a pair of automatics to its Presage Craftsmanship line with porcelain dials made by Japanese master craftsmen.
The dials are made in the small town of Arita, where porcelain has been made since the early 17th century, by a business that has been producing it since 1830.
The production of the dials – with their 1mm thickness and contoured ridge – challenged “the limits of traditional Arita porcelain casting and moulding processes” and required “extensive research and development to achieve the durability and strength required for a wristwatch.”
The clay is fired at 1,300 degrees before being glazed and fired again numerous times, resulting in the unmistakably soft lustre associated with porcelain and a material four times harder than standard porcelain.
Two versions are offered, the first with blue leaf hands and Roman numerals against a pure white porcelain dial while the second dial features a “faint lapis lazuli” tone created using a traditional “ruri zome” dyeing technique.
The Seiko Presage Craftsmanship Arita Porcelain Dial watches drop via Seiko in the US in June priced $1,700 USD.
Elsewhere in watches, golfer Bubba Watson tells all about new pink RM 38-02 tourbillon.
