The Ginza area of Tokyo is one of the most upscale shopping districts in the world, and it is also where Seiko was founded in 1881 as a watch and jewelry shop. Even without this connection, brands from TAG Heuer to Breguet haven’t needed an excuse to make special edition watches dedicated to this affluent and prestigious district. Aside from history there, Seiko operates multiple boutiques in Ginza where several new limited edition watches will be exclusively sold. Representing Seiko’s most popular sub-brands — Prospex, Astron, and Presage — each elegantly incorporates the color green and is only available in Japan.
Why green? Aside from being generally trendy recently on watch dials dials, it’s said to reference the willow trees that lined the streets and symbolized Ginza in the 1880s — though now the area is mostly concrete and glass. The three men’s watches are a Prospex dive watch with a green dial, an Astron GPS Solar watch with green-ringed sub-dials and other accents, and a dressier, enamel-dialed Presage model with even subtler touches of green. The particular hue of green is key to getting dials like these right, and here it appears leafy and maybe even “emerald.” The case back of each watch features “Ginza” and “Limited Edition” verbiage, a serial number and willow frond motifs.
The Seiko Prospex SBDC079 dive watch will have a price equivalent to around $1,110 in USD, the Astron SBXC025 will be about $2,400, and the Presage SARW051 will be $1,200. Readers outside Japan, however, will have to factor in airfare as well — limited to 300 pieces for each model, the new Ginza limited editions are available from June 8, 2019, only in the Seiko retail locations in Ginza, of which there are six.
Gear Patrol also recommends:
Seiko “1968 Diver” Watch ($840)
Seiko Presage Enamel Dial SARW035 Watch ($1,049)
Seiko Astron GPS Solar Dual Time Watch ($1,755)
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