Bookmark this page and return often, as we’ll update it throughout the year with the most notable new Seiko watches of 2023.
Japanese watchmaking juggernaut Seiko is nothing if not prolific, to the point that it can be tough even for the most hardcore fanboys to keep up with all the brand’s releases. We’re Seiko fans, and it’s our job, and it’s still a challenge: sometimes, great Seikos even get buried by other great Seikos.
A good problem to have, perhaps, but it might help to have a curated selection of standout releases all in one place. That’s what you’ll find here — not every single model in every single announcement, but those that are most noteworthy. This year, you can expect the usual unexpected from the brand, but also celebrations of the brand’s 110th anniversary — and that of Japan’s first wristwatch, the Seiko Laurel of 1913.
From affordable Seiko 5 Sports, through Prospex, Presage, King Seiko and, yes, even Grand Seiko and Credor this is where to get your 2023 Japanese watchmaking fix.
Seiko Prospex Speedtimer Mechanical Chronograph Panda
Seiko has been looking to the past a lot lately as it celebrates 110 years of watchmaking and, next year, 100 years of Seiko-branded watches. Part of the celebrations include both retro reissues and new watches inspired by past models, and that’s what we have here with the new Prospex Speedtimer. Taking inspiration from early 1970s Seiko chronographs, the new watch features a panda dial, an automatic chronograph movement and a period-correct bracelet. There’s also a limited-edition reverse panda version that includes an additional leather strap.
Read more about the new panda-dial Seiko Speedtimers.
Diameter: 42mm
Movement: Seiko 8R48 automatic chronograph
Price: $2,500 – $2,700
Seiko Prospex Marinemaster
After disappearing from the brand’s catalog five years ago, the Marinemaster is back on a dial at Seiko — and it’s a pretty big deal. Worthy of its storied moniker, the new Marinemaster is intended to be Seiko’s new flagship diver, taking stylistic cues from the 62MAS but offering a number of modern improvements. First and foremost is the 6L37 slimline movement, which makes this the thinnest automatic dive watch from the brand. And in another first, you can see the movement — no other Seiko diver has an exhibition caseback. Finally, the bracelet is all new and is finished to a level we’re definitely not used to seeing on Seiko divers.
Diameter: 39.5mm
Movement: Seiko 6L37 automatic
Price: $3,700
Grand Seiko 44GS Midsize Mt. Iwate
Seiko has a reputation for saving some of its best releases for its home market, with these “JDM” (Japanese Domestic Market) models often being highly sought after. But increasingly, Grand Seiko has been looking out for the USA with a series of America-only releases. The latest is a trio of handsome midsize everyday watches featuring a hand-wound 9S64 inside a compact 36.5mm 44GS-style case. Obviously, that all sounds pretty great, but the icing on the cake is each model also features a dial with the acclaimed Mt. Iwate pattern. The pink SBGW313 is hanami, inspired by cherry blossoms; the green SBGW311 is tsuyu, the fertile rainy season; and the blue SBGW309 is juhyo, taken from ice-covered trees resembling “snow monsters.”
Diameter: 36.5mm
Movement: Grand Seiko 9S64 hand-wound
Price: $5,900
Seiko Prospex Alpinist GMT
The Alpinist, in all of its guises, has long been a favorite among the Seiko faithful for its robustness and classic adventurous style. Now, Seiko has expanded the line and arguably made the Alpinist more desirable than ever by turning it into a GMT. Available with black, blue and white dials (the latter limited and on a bracelet), the Alpinist GMT mostly keeps the classic Alpinist design but adds a fixed 24-hour bezel in stainless steel and an arrow-tipped GMT hand, with the office-style 6R34 movement calling the shots. The dial has also gotten a slight makeover with 12, 3, 6 and 9 now appearing as Arabics and the date shifting to a diminutive window at 4:30.
Diameter: 39.5mm
Movement: Seiko 6R54 automatic GMT
Price: $1,150 – $1,300
Seiko Prospex Land Mechanical GMT Limited Edition
Rising from the ashes is one of Seiko’s most beloved vintage sports watches, now in a new modern guise. The Navigator Timer GMT, which was the Japanese brand’s first GMT with a rotating bezel back in 1968, has returned as the ref. SPB411 in Seiko’s higher-end Prospex line. The new watch keeps the size close to the original (thankfully) while offering numerous upgrades such as a modern automatic movement, a sapphire crystal and increased water resistance.
Read more about the Seiko Navigator Timer.
Diameter: 38.5mm
Movement: Seiko 6R54 automatic GMT
Price: $1,500
Seiko Prospex Diver Shohei Ohtani LE SBDC191
Seiko has announced a JDM (Japanese domestic market) limited-edition version of its highly popular Prospex Diver watch in the line known internationally as SPB. For Japan it’s SBDC, and this particular version is dedicated to major-league pitcher for the L.A. Angels and Japanese national treasure Shohei Ohtani. With minimal LE branding (the player’s signature is on the clasp), it will feel special to baseball fans — but like the best LEs, it’s also just a cool iteration of great watch.
Diameter: 40.5mm
Movement: Seiko 6R35 automatic
Price: ~$1,200
Seiko Prospex “62MAS” Re-Creation SJE093
Seiko’s and Japan’s first dive watch, from 1965, is a collector favorite and the brand knows it. Known as the “62MAS,” it’s seem a number of modern re-editions and re-interpretations, and influenced other collections, as well. With design and dimensions nearly identical to the original, this higher-end version features a new version of the brand’s premium 6L automatic movement family which the brand says is made specifically for dive watches.
Diameter: 38mm
Movement: Seiko 6L37 automatic
Price: $3,500
Seiko Prospex Speedtimer Solar Chronograph
Seiko
Seiko 5 Sports 55th Anniversary LE SRPK17
Among a sometimes dizzying parade of new Seiko 5 Sports models, this one should stand out. A pretty near remake of the first Seiko 5 Sports watch from 1968, it has a different case than any other in the current collection and it even brings back the old Seiko 5 logo — which at this point in the collector-sphere has probably gone from screaming low-budget to high nostalgia. Like all remakes, of course, the modern materials and construction are going to feel like a significant step up from those old Seiko 5 models it references. That bracelet looks pretty special, too.
Diameter: 39.5mm
Movement: 4R36
Price: ~$440
Grand Seiko Heritage 44GS Katana
Named “Katana” for the US market, it’s hard to see how three gorgeous new Grand Seiko watches specifically relate to samurai swords — aside from their “Japaneseness.” That doesn’t matter, though, because they display all the features for which Grand Seiko is lionized, from automatic Spring Drive movements, to zaratsu polishing, interesting dial textures and pretty strong value. They come in black (SBGA489), green (SBGA491) and a limited edition red (SBGA493) which costs $400 more.
Diameter: 40mm
Movement: Seiko 9R65 Spring Drive automatic
Price: $5,600
King Seiko SJE089 & SJE091
These new King Seikos look a lot like existing models, but those looks hide a couple of key differences. First is that the case are slimmer. How slim? Not ultra-slim, but a certainly welcome 10.7mm making them actually 0.2mm slimmer than the vintage originals which used a manually wound movement — whereas these modern models are automatic. That’s all thanks to the 6L35 movement which debuted in 2018 and has powered slim Seikos in the past. With a higher-end movement also comes a higher price and you can get it in silver or black dial variants.
Diameter: 38.6mm
Movement: Seiko 6L35 automatic
Price: $3,300
Seiko 5 Sports x Rowing Blazers
Rowing Blazers continues to knock it out of the park with its Seiko 5 Sports collabs. The latest is similar to the previous collection but adds new colors of pink, purple, yellow and white dials for a summery vibe. The Seiko 5 Sports collection is insanely good to begin with, but Rowing Blazers always manages to do something special. Each of these collaboration watches is, we dare say, instantly collectible.
Diameter: 40mm
Movement: Seiko 4R36 automatic
Price: $495
Credor Goldfeather
Thinness was the driving concept behind the original Seiko Goldfeather watches back in the 1960s. So it is for this high-end rendition by Seiko sub-brand Credor, which is basically the company’s outlet for high horology and often avant-garde design. This model is a decidedly conservative dress watch. It feels a bit like my Hamilton Intra-Matic Auto, but is a bit smaller at 37.1mm wide and much thinner at only 7.7mm thick. We’d say it’s about one of the most delectably elevated dress watches available today. Too bad they’re JDM (Japanese domestic market) models and are limited to 30 examples each in yellow and rose gold.
Diameter: 37.1mm
Movement: Seiko (Credor) 6890 hand-wound
Price: ~$23,550
Seiko Presage Sharp Edged GMT
The Presage Sharp Edged series got several new introductions, including “open heart” (where a dial cutout displays the balance wheel) and simple time-and-date-only models. Both the open heart and GMT (shown here) feature versions of the brand’s still new movements with 3-day power reserves. The movement lends to a relatively busy dial layout with an analog date display subdial and power reserve indicator. This is another example of the brand expanding aggressively on its still new GMT movements, and we can’t wait to see even more GMTs at every level from the brand.
Diameter: 42.2mm
Movement: Seiko 6R64 automatic
Price: $1,400
Seiko Astron GPS Solar Sport Design
Seiko continues to evolve upon its Astron collection with a new solar GPS movement — and new design language. These new Astrons are powered by the Caliber 3X62 which offers greater solar charging efficiency and a simplified design. Rather than the busy-ness of past designs with multiple subdials, the new Astron has a time-only look, but it in fact does much more, of course. It’s also got trendy features like an integrated bracelet design, octagonally faceted bezel and waffle-like texture for its dial.
Diameter: 41.2mm
Movement: Seiko 3X62 GPS solar
Price: $2,000-$2,200
Seiko 5 Sports SKX Sports Style 38mm
The existing flagship model in the Seiko 5 Sports is the SKX Sports Style. It’s 42.5mm and we had zero complaints about its size — it wears incredibly well. But a 38mm version also sounds highly enticing, and in step with the times. It comes in this trendy minty green (SRPK33), orange (SRPK35), white (SRPK31) and black (SRPK29) — the latter of which would seem to make it a great affordable alternative to something like the new, 37mm Tudor Black Bay 54.
Diameter: 38mm
Movement: Seiko 4R36 automatic
Price: TBD (expect around $300 or less)
Seiko Presage Style60s GMT
The groundbreaking automatic GMT movement Seiko introduced last year is finally finding its way into more collections. And the Presage Style60s watches look awesome as a GMT. We’d like to see similar models with the likes of sapphire crystal, maybe slightly smaller case and even a higher tier GMT movement (like the 6R54 or 6R64) — but for the price, these look absolutely killer. Initially they come in three variants and are only announced in Europe and Japan.
Diameter: 40.8mm
Movement: Seiko 4R34 automatic
Price: ~$650
Grand Seiko Evolution 9 Tentagraph
Evolution 9 is one Grand Seiko’s top-shelf collection, and it continues to evolve. The Tentagraph features a new movement and a new look for the brand with a more traditionally sporty chronograph powered by a mechanical movement (as opposed to a Spring Drive movement as found in previous Grand Seiko chronographs). It operates at a high frequency (5Hz) and has a full three-day power reserve — with the chronograph running.
Diameter: 43.2mm
Movement: Grand Seiko 9SA5 automatic
Price: $13,700
Seiko 5 Sports Masked Rider SRPJ91
You may or may not be a fan of the now very retro Japanese TV series Kamen Rider (or the US version, Masked Rider), but this collab watch looks pretty damn cool. It’s made as part of the 55th anniversary of the Seiko 5 Sports line with colors and details (and a caseback decoration) based on the superhero’s costume but its dial design and steel bezel also reference the Seiko 5 Sports watch worn by the character in the show’s 1971 debut.
Diameter: 42.5mm
Movement: Seiko 4R36 automatic
Price: TBD
Credor Art Piece Collection Shooting Star
Credor is Seiko’s brand that allows it to get into haute horlogerie, exotic crafts and extremely limited production — even more so than Grand Seiko. With an ultra thin, hand-wound movement inside offering a case that’s only 6.5mm thick, the dial features a combination traditional Japanese techniques. Its black lacquer dial contrasts against shell inlay using colorful mother of pearl to create a unique, Star Trek “warp speed” effect. The reference GCBY997 is limited to only 60 examples.
Diameter: 37mm
Movement: Seiko Credor 6890
Price: ~$12,300
Seiko Prospex Diver’s GMT
Seiko did it again: it introduced an extremely competitive automatic GMT. This time a step up from last year’s 5 Sports GMT, it builds on a higher tier of automatic movement (6R) from the brand featuring three days of power reserve. All that in one of the brand’s mid-tier, ISO-certified dive watches sounds like a hell of a value at $1,500.
Diameter: 42mm
Movement: Seiko 6R54 automatic
Price: $1,500-$1,700
Seiko 5 Sports Midfield
We love the little old Seiko 5 SNK field watches, and we were delighted when Seiko resurrected the design in its modern Seiko 5 Sports line — but it had grown in girth substantially (to 39mm). Now, finally, Seiko is inching closer to exactly what we want with new 36mm versions. Awesome! Field watches should be small, anyway. They come in a couple of dial variants (that of the SNZG, shown here, and the classic SNK) across four models, so far.
Diameter: 36mm
Movement: Seiko 4R36 automatic
Price: $275
King Seiko 49mm
New King Seiko watches might look at first simply like new colorways for the existing collection, but there’s one big difference: they’re 2mm bigger. Yes, while everyone else is apparently shrinking watch sizes, the admittedly already vintage-sized 37mm King Seiko watches (which aren’t disappearing) are joined by new 39mm versions. Can’t complain about options, right?
Diameter: 39mm
Movement: Seiko 6R55
Price: $1,800
Grand Seiko Elegance Hi-Beat GMT Yukigesho SBGJ271
Grand Seiko combines familiar elements in a novel package. You’ve perhaps seen a similar case and dial design within the Elegance collection, and even those featuring a GMT. This one, however, also includes a high-beat (5Hz) movement and a new vertically striped dial texture inspired by, once again, snow.
Diameter: 39.5mm
Movement: 9S86 automatic
Price: $7,100
Seiko Prospex Black Series
Seiko has extended its series of all-black versions of some of its most popular sport watches. They include blackened versions the Alpinist and the, shall we call it “Turtle Reduced” Divers SPB335 (shown here), as well as a higher-end version of the brand’s “62MAS Re-Interpretation.” It goes to show that a simple tweak like all-black IP treatment and modern lume color can result in one of the damn coolest new watches out there.
Diameter: 41mm
Movement: Seiko automatic
Price: $950 (Alpinist: $925; 62MAS: $3,100)
