Seiko Brought Back a 1970s Stunner with One of Its Best New Movements

The King Seiko Vanac sports a series of vibrant dials and runs on one of Seiko’s most impressive automatic movements.

the purple dial and steel case of a Seiko watch

Published March 6, 2025

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Updated March 6, 2025

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Japan’s economy was booming in the early 1970s. More people could afford high-end watches than ever before and wanted to show off the economic prosperity on their wrists.

Seiko met this rising demand by adding a series of bold, innovative watches to the luxurious King Seiko sub-brand. Dubbed Vanac, these watches featured big geometric case designs with flat polished surfaces and ornate dials in flashy colors.

a steel Seiko watch with a purple and gold dial — The King Seiko Vanac is a revival from the 1970s.

It was the polar opposite of the reserved and austere appearance King Seiko had maintained until that point, but that is exactly what Japanese society sought in 1972.

Seiko revived its King Seiko sub-brand in 2022 with the elegantly simple, Platonic ideal watch designs that it created in the 1960s. Now, the king of Japanese horology is following the same playbook that worked in the early 1970s.

Just as it did half a century ago, the Vanac series is diversifying King Seiko with adventurous designs that flaunt the luxury label’s masterful engineering.

A faithful upgrade

The original Vanac series, introduced in 1972, stands as a time capsule of disco-era luxury timepieces. Over its lifespan, it included dozens of references featuring elements like hexagonal dials, integrated bracelets, angular polished cases, large block applied indices and even geometric domed crystals.

a collection of vintage watch cases — A selection of vintage King Seiko Vanac cases from the early 1970s.

The revived Vanac series is kicking off with a single brand-new design that honors the original collection while creating a modern steel sports watch feel. It manages to fit in with current watch design trends while still looking completely unique.

An angular case design that blends flat and curved surfaces is finished with Seiko’s trademark polishing. The case is almost hexagonal but rounds off slightly at the midpoint.

the steel case and steel bracelet of a Seiko watch — The tank tread integrated bracelet has an angular design that matches the case.

With no bezel, the high-domed sapphire crystal protrudes directly from the case’s flat top surface. This creates a reading glass effect that magnifies the hour track.

The new Vanac comes on a tank tread stainless steel integrated bracelet with uniform octagonal figure-eight-shaped center links connected by boxy, angular outer links that narrow as the bracelet tapers.

the side and crown of a steel King Seiko watch — The Vanac crown is signed with King Seiko’s shield icon.

A completely new King Seiko crown design resembles a mechanical gear, nodding to industrial design influences and the watch’s automatic movement. It is signed with King Seiko’s shield logo.

The Vanac is powered by Seiko’s new caliber 8L45 automatic movement. The most recent evolution of the 8L series is a less-decorated version of the movement that powers many Grand Seiko watches outside of the Hi-Beat and Spring Drive collections.

the exhibition case back of a Seiko automatic watch — The Vanac runs on Seiko’s new caliber 8L45 automatic movement.

Seiko emphasizes that the new 8L45 has a 72-hour power reserve so that it can be worn to work all week, stashed away for the weekend, and still be ticking away accurately on Monday morning.

Sunlight over the Tokyo skyline

Views of the Tokyo skyline inspired the dials on King Seiko’s new Vanac line. The watch’s designers created dials that emulated the different ways sunlight appears over the city during different hours of the day.

A steel watch with a purple dial against a city background — The purple dial represents Tokyo at dusk.

Like many of the 1970s Vanac references, each dial consists of polished horizontal blocks with a gradient that starts bright in the center and gets darker at the top and bottom.

The hour track consists of individual etched blocks for each second and applied keystone indices for hours, with a larger index at 12 o’clock resembling the King Seiko shield logo.

the blue and black dial of a Seiko watch — The blue and black dial represents Tokyo at midnight.

The handset is almost taken directly from the original Vanac design, with the added flare of an outlined “V” as a counterbalance on the second hand.

Three times of day when sunlight creates the most distinct views of the Tokyo skyline were chosen for the dial colors. Sunrise is represented by silver with gold accents, dusk is represented by purple with gold and silver accents and midnight is represented by blue and black with silver accents.

a steel Seiko watch with a white and gold dial — The silver and gold dial represents Tokyo in the morning.

When the King Seiko Vanac is released in July 2025, two limited edition colors will be available. A black and orange dial representing dawn and an ice blue dial representing midday will be sold exclusively at Seiko boutiques worldwide.

Availability and pricing

This may appear as a bold departure from form by King Seiko, but the same move worked half a century ago. Like then, Seiko is diversifying the entry-luxury tier line that provides some of the renowned watchmaker’s finest engineering at a more affordable price than Grand Seiko.

Seiko is putting its unique touch on the modern integrated sports watch trend with an extravagant but authentic dial, and one of the best automatic movements money can buy.

a silver watch with a white and gold dial — The King Seiko Vanac will be available in July 2025.

The King Seiko Vanac will be available as a part of Seiko’s permanent collection in July 2025 from Seiko and authorized dealers for $3,300.

The dial comes in three colors, each representing the Tokyo skyline at different times of the day: white for sunrise, purple for twilight and blue for midnight.

Additionally, two limited edition dials are coming out in July. There will be yellow to represent the break of dawn and white to represent midday.

The Vanac collection runs on Seiko’s brand new caliber 8L45 automatic movement, equipped with a 72-hour power reserve and an accuracy of +10 to -5 seconds per day.