Seiko Just Dropped a Holy Grail for American Collectors

Seiko has been in anniversary mode lately. Last year, the Japanese watchmaker celebrated 110 years since the creation of its first watch, the Laurel, while this year represents 100 years of the brand name Seiko.

Over the past year, a handful of commemorative watches have been released to celebrate a century of Seiko watches, but the brand’s latest release takes things to an extreme level.

Intended for American collectors only, Seiko has released a Legacy Collection box set … with an eye-popping price tag.

For the Seiko Fanatics

This type of release is not intended for your average Seiko 5 wearer — it’s meant for exclusive, high-end collectors of the brand.

The 2024 Seiko Legacy Collection consists of four limited-edition watches, each representing a milestone in Seiko’s history. All of these watches had previously been released individually over the past three years, but given their limited nature, they aren’t the easiest to get a hold of.

Seiko

First up is the Presage Seiko Brand 100th Anniversary Kintaro Hattori Limited Edition (SPB441), a modern recreation of the very first Seiko-branded watch from 1924. With a handcrafted white enamel dial and blued hands, it’s about as elegant as Seiko gets and was limited to just 1,000 pieces upon its release last year.

Next is the fan-favorite SJE093, the Prospex 1965 Diver’s Recreation Limited Edition. Also launched in 2023 as a limited run of 1,965, the watch is a contemporary interpretation of the iconic 62MAS from 1965, which was not only Seiko’s first dedicated dive watch but the first diver to come out of Japan, period.

Seiko

Another 1965 re-release is the 140th Anniversary King Seiko Limited Edition (SJE083). First launched as a 3,000-piece limited edition back in 2021 to commemorate 140 years of the company that would become Seiko (known as K. Hattori & Co. upon its 1881 founding), this was a remake of the original King Seiko luxury watch from 1965.

It also served as a soft launch for a renewed King Seiko line that debuted the following year and continues today with new references added frequently.

Seiko

Lastly, we have the newest watch of the quartet, the Seiko Brand 100th Anniversary Astron GPS Solar Kintaro Hattori Limited Edition (SSH156). It debuted earlier this year in March as the world’s first solar-powered GPS watch to feature both chronograph and dual-time complications.

Seiko’s original Astron from 1969 was the world’s first quartz watch, and the brand revived the name in 2012 for a line of solar-powered GPS quartz watches that automatically sync to an atomic clock using satellites. As such, they’re basically the most accurate watches you can get, and the SSH156 represents the pinnacle of Seiko’s modern movement technology — making it a fitting recipient of the Astron name. It’s limited to 1,000 pieces.

Seiko

This All Sounds Great, How Much?

The Seiko 2024 Legacy Collection includes all four of these limited-edition watches, along with a watch winder with spaces for each watch (even though the Astron is quartz and therefore pointless to store in a winder). The set also includes a Prospex-branded pen made by luxe penmaker Cross, along with a numbered certificate signed by Seiko Watch Corporation’s Director and Chairman of the Board, Shinji Hattori.

The set is exclusive to the U.S. market and limited to just 15 examples. That makes sense, as these watches are all rare and some are a couple of years old, meaning Seiko has basically been hanging onto them for a rainy day like today.

Now, for the real crazy part. Seiko’s asking price for the 2024 Legacy Collection is an eye-popping $17,500. That … is a lot of money for four Seiko watches.

Seiko

Now, to be fair, these watches do represent the zenith of Seiko watches. You’ve got the elegance of the Presage line with an enamel dial, the toughness of the Prospex line with a top-spec diver, the luxury of the King Seiko line with a beautifully finished case, and the most advanced movement technology with the Astron.

But even so, if you add up all of those watches’ retail prices — which range from $1,900 to $3,900 — you only get $12,600. This means you’re effectively coughing up $4,900 for a watch winder, a pen and Shinji Hattori’s autograph. Even when factoring in the rarity of the watches and potential price increases on the secondary market, that price delta just feels too steep.

But then again, Seiko has a large and passionate fanbase, and with only 15 of these pricey sets up for grabs, I have no doubt that some über fans will scoop them up in order to have ultimate Seiko bragging rights.

Related Topics