There aren't a lot of people who need a watch that can survive the airless void of space, but Richard Garriott happens to be one of them. He's headed for the International Space Station and some extra-vehicular activity (spacewalking). Garriott could have just chosen to wear the vacuum-rated Omega Speedmaster, or maybe a Fortis Cosmonaut, but instead he turned to one of my favorite watchmakers: Seiko.

Seiko has a long tradition of creating limited-edition watches for explorers in extreme environments. They've made some extraordinary watches, and routinely use the lessons learned in later production models. For example, they made Landmasters for trips to both poles (the GMT hand goes counter-clockwise for the Landmaster South Pole!), an amazing shrouded diver for commercial divers, a ceramic and titanium masterpiece for Mt. Everest, and even a watch specifically designed for hikers of Japan's mountains. As most of these are limited editions, they are tragically hard to find, and rarely even seen.

For Garriott, Seiko has designed a true masterpiece introduced this year at BaselWorld: the Seiko Spring Drive Spacewalk. Have a look at these features:

• Spring Drive 5R86 movement for accuracy under the extreme temperature swings of space (-20° to +70° Celsius, or about -4° to 160° Fahrenheit).
• Titanium case with the sides etched out by a new CNC (computer numerical control) machine that Seiko built in order to help get the weight down to only 92.5 grams.
• Completely air-tight case capable of surviving direct exposure to space.
• Oversized buttons for use while wearing space gloves.
• Domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.
• Waterproof to 100m, or 330ft (in case of a water landing, I guess).
• 12-hour chronograph.
• GMT hand for 24-hour UTC time (which is used in both space and aviation).
• New luminescent material that Seiko says is three times as bright as a typical luminescent watch.
• A special dial and hand design for maximum readability.
• 53mm by 15.2mm which is huge.
• Limited edition of just 100 watches (price not yet announced).

They made some interesting design decisions on this one, and I'm smitten by the results. The dial is ultra-readable, with unobtrusive chrono hands, a subtle but still readable "there if you need it" blue skeletonized GMT hand, and bold white hour and minute hands reminiscent of the 6S37 Flightmaster. The power reserve subdial is subdued, and the date window is symmetric with the 9 o'clock marker. Blue makes a low-key accent, carefully placed to be non intrusive. The sculpted case and top-mounted buttons and crown (referred to as a "bullhead" design) make for a stunning and unique timepiece.

The Seiko Spring Drive Spacewalk is to space what the new Rolex Sea-Dweller DEEPSEA is to the ocean. Even at 53mm, I'd happily wear it. It's gorgeous, functional, and built like a titanium tank. Let's hope Seiko introduces a production model soon.

Update (June 15): Richard Garriott gives us an update on how the Seiko Spacewalk is performing so far during training.

View the Seiko SKA367 photo gallery.

One of the things I enjoy about wearing Seikos is that there's so much to discover post-purchase. Often, a watch will have a coherent style that you find you enjoy long after it originally caught your eye. Let's take a closer look at a mid-line Seiko Diver to see what I mean.

Meet the Seiko SKA367, a yellow-faced Kinetic quartz dive watch with a typical complement of features:

• Waterproof to 200m (660ft).
• Stainless steel case with Hardlex mineral crystal.
• Quick-set and quick-change date window at 3 o'clock.
• Power reserve button to check battery level.
• Six month power reserve if not worn, with low-battery warning.
• Screwdown crown and caseback.
• 48mm wide by 15mm high.
• Stainless steel bracelet with dive extension (also available with a rubber strap).
• Lumibrite (Seiko's very bright luminescent paint) on the hands, bezel dot, and indices for nighttime readability.
• List price of $475, with street price of around $360.

When you first see the Seiko SKA367, the yellow face and high-contrast black hands leap out at you. The dial is eminently readable, and a very cheerful yellow color. The crown also has a yellow highlight band that matches the dial and lends the watch a nice stylistic coherence.

The past few years have seen steady growth in the diameter of men's watches. In the 1950s, a dress watch was expected to be slim and small, the normal size being somewhere between 32 and 35mm wide. These days, anything less than 38mm is considered dainty, and even 50mm and beyond isn't unheard of.

However, not everyone wants such a large watch, or for that matter, the bold styling that often accompanies it. These more traditional men seem to be the target market for Seiko's recently introduced line of four mechanical dress watches, all with classic styling and very conservative 36mm cases. They are based on the new 23-jewel 6R15B movement with both hand-winding and hacking, and are known as the Seiko Mechanical line.

Features of the new Seiko Mechanical line include:

• 6R15 23J Automatic movement with hand winding and hack function.
• Accuracy of +25/-15 seconds per day.
• 50 hour power reserve.
• 19mm drilled lugs.
• Sunburst dial finish.
• Water resistant to 100m (330 ft) with a non-screwdown crown.
• Mineral glass crystal and display caseback.
• 125g on the bracelet, 65g on the leather strap.
• 12.5mm thick, and 36mm wide.
• Pricing between ¥50,400 and ¥52,500 (about $465 - $485 USD).

View the Seiko Velatura SRH005 photo gallery.

I've always been a big fan Seiko Kinetic watches. There's something about generating power through physical movement that I somehow find more intriguing than a static and stationary solar cell. I like how you can hear the rotor turn, and even feel the friction that generates the power. And I like how the power reserve indicator let you know if you've been giving your Seiko Kinetic enough wrist time. It may sound strange, but there's something a little more alive about a Kinetic watch than its solar or battery powered counterparts.

With the introduction of the new Kinetic Direct Drive movement which appears in four of Seiko's new Velatura watches (two available in the US — the SRH001 and the SRH005), the Kinetic experience gets even more interesting. Kinetic Direct Drive movements allow the watch to be "hand wound". Before the Direct Drive, there were three ways to charge your Seiko Kinetic:

1. Wave it back and forth for a minute or two to spin the rotor. Anyone who has ever owned a Kinetic is probably familiar with this motion.
2. Wear it. Daily use is more than enough to keep a Kinetic watch sufficiently charged. It's only when you have a Kinetic that is part of an extensive watch rotation that you have to concern yourself with keeping it charged.
3. Place it on a Kinetic charging unit. You can buy charging stands which conduct power directly into the capacitor through the case and dial of the watch to essentially "quick charge" it.

But now with the Kinetic Direct Drive, you can charge the capacitor directly simply by turning the driving wheel. The procedure is certainly much more natural and subtle than the martini shaking motion of the past.

The Seiko Kinetic Direct Drive takes what I love about Kinetic movements to the next level by making the charging process not just active, but actually interactive. Shortly after you start turning the drive wheel to charge the watch, the power reserve indicator jumps to life and turns into a real-time power generation indicator. It's a bit like a Kinetic tachometer, you might say. Here's how it works:

We've written pretty extensively about Seiko here at Watch Report. We just plain love 'em. Their self-powered Kinetic watches, which use a mechanical winder to store energy in a battery driving a quartz movement, are very cool. As with a mechanical watch, an offset weight rotates around an axle in response to the movement of your arm. In an automatic, this action winds a main spring, however in a Kinetic, it actually generates enough power to charge a battery.

At Basel World this year, Seiko announced the Velatura collection of marine watches: eleven watches with four different movements, two of which are brand-new. All are Kinetic quartz, and some of the new models use a new yacht timer movement. As Christian explained in his article about the new Rolex Yacht-Master II, this is a specialized countdown/stopwatch combination used by yacht racers. If you need it, I'm sure it's quite helpful. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to buying a yacht just yet, so I'll have to get back to you on that one.

Seiko has now added the ability to handwind Kinetic watches which is a faster way to charge them. They're calling it the Kinetic Direct Drive, and we like it. Unlike the simple "gas gauge" power reserve meters that other watches have, this one is multi-purpose: as you handwind the watch, the gauge "revs" indicating how fast you're winding. Once you stop, the needle moves to indicate how much power has been stored. It's a nice and unique addition, and quite probably a lot of fun to use.

All of the models have dramatic diamond-shaped hands that I find readable and attractive, and sapphire crystals with anti-reflective coatings (a personal must-have). List prices range from €600 to €900, or $845 to about $1,200. Oh, and one more thing: we just found out they're coming to the US very soon! Naturally, we will have a review.

Update: read the Seiko Velatura SRH005 review.

By Paul Hubbard

View the Seiko Orange Monster photo gallery.

After James' review of extreme dive watches, I'd like to bring you back to Earth with a review of a modern classic: the Seiko Orange Monster.

Introduced in early 2001, and officially called the SKX781, this bold diver from Seiko quickly inherited its nickname from its older sibling, the "Black Monster" (SKX779). There are also more expensive limited editions available in blue, yellow, PVD black, and red.

Let's start with some specifications:

We previously wrote about Seiko's innovative Spring Drive watches, and I'm personally a big fan of their Marinemaster Spring Drive diver. At the annual Baselworld conference, Seiko announced the long-awaited Spring Drive chronograph. Unfortunately, it's a 300-piece limited edition, with an exclusive price of €5,500 (about $7,500).

There's a lot to like about the Seiko Spring Drive Chronograph and its design, including:

• Glide motion movement, meaning all hands move completely smoothly, not in "ticks".
• Titanium case and bracelet.
• GMT (24-hour) hand.
• 12-hour chronograph (the only glide motion chronograph in the world).
• 72-hour power reserve indicator.
• Date.
• See-through sapphire caseback.
• Deployment clasp with push-button release.
• Water-resistant to 10 meters, or about 30 feet.

I've always liked the idea of the Spring Drive movement -- primarily for its superior accuracy, and its completely smooth motion -- and now that it has been enhanced with a glide-motion chronograph, I'm extremely intrigued. Hopefully, this technology will move out of the realm of the limited edition and into the mainstream very soon.

By Paul Hubbard

For many years now, Seiko has sold a line of mechanical dive watches based on the trusty 7S26 movement (the heart of the watch). They retail for under $200, they are well made and reliable, and they are generally considered to be excellent "beaters".

The problem is that the 7S26 movement is burdened with a couple of design compromises: you can't wind it by hand, and it is a non-hacking movement, which means that when you pull the stem out all the way, the movement doesn't stop as you might expect (making it very difficult to set the watch with much accuracy). Of course, Seiko sells several other watches with better movements, but they cost more.

As of April 2007, that's about to change. Seiko is introducing three new divers based on the 6R15 movement which is more accurate, can be wound by hand, and can be hacked. With stainless steel cases, they come in black (SBDC001), blue (SBDC003), and orange (SBDC005), and will be priced at $428 (63,000 yen).

The 6R15 divers cost a bit more then their predecessors, but still represent excellent value for the money, and are generating a lot of interest on the net. I can safely predict that they'll displace the 7S26 divers from a lot of wrists.

By Paul Hubbard

I don't have a Seiko Spring Drive yet, but I hope to get my hands on one fairly soon. The biggest reason for my procrastination is that, as usual, Seiko is saving all their most interesting Spring Drive models for Japan (like the Marinemaster GMT Spring Drive). I took a look at the Seiko US Spring Drive site the other day, however, and discovered a few new models since the last time I checked including the white dial SNR007 and the black dial SNR009. They look more or less like their predecessors, the SNR001 and SNR005, with the exception of a 24-hour hand.

Features of the Seiko GMT Spring Drive SNR007 and SNR009 include:

• Spring Drive technology.
• GMT, or 24-hour hand, to keep time in a second time zone.
• 72-hour power reserve.
• Stainless steel case and bracelet.
• Sapphire crystal (with anti-reflective coating).
• See-through sapphire caseback.
• Water-resistant to 10 bar (100 meters, or about 330 feet).

The US Spring Drive collection is getting more interesting, but I'm not ready to pull the trigger yet. If Seiko introduces a Spring Drive diver in the US, though, I'll be the first in line. Maybe we'll see some interesting announcements at Baselworld 2007.

The SBHL003 is an interesting new addition to Seiko's Ignition line. There are two things which differentiate it from other Seiko Ignitions. First, while the watch uses a classic analog display to present the time, the inner dial is an LCD used for timing and alarm features. Second, the stopwatch has a very precise resolution of 1/1,000th of a second (like the Seiko Sportura SNJ005 and the TAG Heuer Microtimer).

Since the watch is not available in the US, I've had some trouble determining a definitive list of features, but here's what I've been able to gather so far:

• Synthetic sapphire crystal.
• Titanium case and bracelet.
• Stopwatch with a resolution of 1/1,000th of a second.
• Daily alarm.
• Countdown timer.
• 40mm in diameter, and 12mm thick.
• Water resistant to 100 meters, or about 330 feet.
• Battery life of approximately 3 years.

The Seiko Ignition line is a tribute to the world of auto racing, and each watch tries to visually capture the essence of a race car's cockpit. The outer portion of this particular model's bracelet and portions of the case are coated using some sort of process which seems to translate into "diamond sealed" and both protects the watch from casual scratches, and gives the titanium a unique and very interesting look. The Seiko Ignition SBHL003 is only available in Japan for now, and seems to go for about $520. I'm a big fan of Seiko watches in general, but as you can probably tell, I'm a much bigger fan of the Asian models.

View the Seiko Kinetic Scubamaster photo gallery.

It took a long time to add the Seiko Scubamaster "Stingray" to my collection of divers. I don't remember where I first came across this watch, but since the moment I saw it, I was smitten. After over a month of frantic and persistent searching, I finally came across someone who was willing to part with the exact watch I was looking for. That was about a year ago, and despite all the other watches I've gotten since, it continues to see more than its fair share of wrist time.

The Seiko Kinetic Scubamaster is not the most expensive watch I own, but it is probably the rarest and most unique. In fact, I think it comes pretty close to being the ultimate diver watch. It is feature rich, extremely tough, very accurate, and has a bold, distinguished look. Here's a feature-by-feature breakdown:

According to this press release (translated), Seiko Instruments has developed a very interesting Bluetooth watch prototype. With the addition of software installed on your Bluetooth-enabled phone, the watch can do all of the following:

• Alert you with a sound or by vibrating when someone calls.
• Show you the name of the caller.
• Allow you to mute the phone's ring.
• Allow you to reject the call and forward to voice mail.
• Indicate that you have new mail on your phone, and display the subject of the message.
• Inform you if the Bluetooth connection between the watch and your phone is broken.
• Use the phone to calibrate the watch's time.

I think this is a hugely interesting experiment, especially considering the fact that a lot of people I know have replaced their watches with their mobile phones. And why not? In many ways, mobile phones make better timepieces than most watches. The time is always correct, they automatically adjust for daylight savings and time zone changes, they usually have built-in alarms and calendars, most of them can be configured to vibrate rather emit annoying beeps, and most of us have been trained to keep our phones charged and with us at all times. Glancing at a phone isn't quite as convenient as glancing at a watch, but for many of my friends, phones seem to be convenient enough.

If you're a Seiko fan, then you've probably heard of the Seiko Orange Monster. It's a must-have for all Seiko collectors. And if you're a real Seiko diver fanatic, you might even have the Seiko Yellow or Black Monsters, as well. But now, there's a new monster to add to your collect: the Seiko Blue Monster.

The Seiko Blue Monster (Ref. SKZ213K1) is a beautiful, limited edition piece. Features include:

• Thick, brushed stainless steel case.
• Domed sapphire crystal.
• Uni-directional rotating bezel.
• Screw-down caseback.
• Water-resistant to 200 meters, or about 650 feet.
• Screw-down crown (at the four o'clock position).
• Luminescent hands and hour markers.
• Automatic movement (23 jewels).
• Double folding safety clasp with diver's extension (to fit over a wet suit).

I have the Orange Monster myself, and it's a great watch with a very robust feel. They have a reputation for being high-quality automatic watches sold at a reasonable price, and for having unusually bright luminescent hands and hour markers. Seiko uses a material called Lumibrite which is very effective, especially on hands as wide as those found on the monster series.

View the Seiko Brightz World Time (SAGZ007) photo gallery.

The Seiko Brightz World Time watch is a great combination of technology and class. It has all the style of the Brightz line of timepieces, and all the convenience of atomic solar technology (which means you never have to get the battery changed, and you never have to set it). If you're a frequent traveler, there's plenty more to like about the Seiko Brightz World Time since it can easily be set to one of 24 time zones, and it will calibrate with atomic clocks in the US, Japan, and in Europe (details below).

The first thing you will notice about the Seiko Brightz World Time is its weight, or rather, the lack there of. The World Time is definitely one of the lightest watches I own, which initially makes it feel cheap, though I assure you it is not. The World Time is so light because the entire case and bracelet are made of polished titanium, which means it is as strong as it light. The crystal is highly scratch-resistant synthetic sapphire.

Remember the Seiko Sportura SLQ017? It's one of the new limited edition Kinetic Sporturas. Apparently there were only 1,500 made, and only 400 of those were shipped to the US.

Well, if you missed out on the SLQ017, Seiko just announced the new SLQ019. As far as I can tell, it's identical to the SLQ017, but in carbonized titanium, and with orange subdials. In my opinion, the SLQ019 is one tough looking watch. I've seen the SLQ017 in person, and thought at the time that it was probably the coolest of Seiko's Kinetic line, however I think the SLQ019 is even more compelling. It's sort of the Darth Vader of Seiko's Kinetic lineup. It seems to retail for just under $4,000, however Seiko's are typically discounted 20-25%, so I would expect to pay about $3,000. It looks like it comes with a tool for resizing the bracelet, and an interchangeable leather strap, as well. Nice touch.

• The Seiko Sportura SLQ0019 product page.
• The Seiko Sportura SLQ0017.
• Other watches in the Seiko Sportura line.

If you're a regular Watch Report reader, you know how much I love the combination of atomic and solar, which usually means Casio. It looks like Seiko is getting serious about their atomic solar collections, however, and has announced the first atomic watch which works worldwide. Of course, "worldwide" means wherever there is an atomic clock, which is Japan (Fukushima and Kyushu), Germany (Frankfurt), and the US (Fort Collins, Colorado). In contrast, the atomic Casios I have only work in Japan and the US (and unfortunately, Casio makes plenty that only work in Japan).

Initially, the watches will be additions to the Seiko Brightz line, which I love. Features will include:

• Worldwide radio-controlled atomic time calibration (Japan, Germany, and the US).
• Solar powered. When fully charged, the battery will hold enough power to run continuously for 6 months, or 1.5 years using the power saving function.
• Manual receiving function (which means you can calibrate the watch without waiting for its scheduled calibration time which is the middle of the night).
• Receive results display function (which means the watch will let you know that it has successfully calibrated).
• World time in 24 time zones.
• Automatic hand adjustment. If the hands become misaligned (as hands sometimes do due to magnetism or shock), it will automatically realign them.
• Bright titanium case and bracelet.
• Water-resistant to 10 ATM (that's 10 BAR, 100 meters, or 330 feet).

View the Seiko Sportura SNJ005 photo gallery.

With its impressive world time functions, the SNJ005 is the Sportura for the world traveler. It stands out among its three brothers because it is the only Sportura that is digital as well as analog. It manages to retain its family resemblance, however, thanks to the inverted LCD (white on black rather than black on white) which blends in almost perfectly with the rest of the face and gives it the same jet-black dial as the other Sporturas. And like the rest of the line, the SNJ005 is all stainless steel with a sapphire crystal, screwdown caseback, and double locking clasp.

Features of the Seiko SNJ005 include:

• World time. Quickly and easily check the time and date in 28 different cities.
• Time transfer function. (See below for an explanation.)
• World time alarm. (More on this feature below.)
• Automatic calendar (up to the year 2050).
• Stopwatch with a resolution of 1/1,000th of a second (no, that's not a typo!). The maximum time is 100 hours.
• Water-resistant to 100 meters, or about 330 feet.

I was in New York for a conference last week, and I ran into a girl wearing a big, dorky (in a cool way), very intriguing watch which turned out to be a Seiko AirPro. I'd never seen one before, and when she told me she'd bought it in Japan, my first thought was that it was a GSM mobile phone watch that had somehow slipped passed my Japanese wrist technology radar. But instead of being a speaker or a microphone, the big contraption below the face is actually a pump which can be used to inflate a small chamber under the case to make the watch fit snuggly against your wrist, kind of like the old Nike and Reebok basketball shoes. I'm not exactly sure why it's useful (the girl wearing it was a designer, and I think she was more attracted to its unique looks than its functionality), but I suppose if you were running, or playing tennis, or otherwise engaged in the type of activity that would send your watch bouncing up and down your arm, it might be nice to cinch it down by pumping a little air into it.

I can't explain why, but for some reason, I liked the watch enough to do a bit of research. I don't know if Seiko is still making the AirPro, but I do know for a fact you won't find one at your local authorized Seiko retailer. I found references to the Seiko AirPro as early at August of 1999, so we're definitely talking vintage technology here. I even found references to a version which actually spoke the time which I'm sure wouldn't get old for your co-workers and cube-mates at all.

This one isn't atomic like the Seiko Ignition Takuma Sato, but it is a solar Ignition, and it is most definitely a beautiful watch. Features include:

• Titanium case and bracelet.
• Seiko's own "Hardlex" crystal (used in many of Seiko's divers because it is especially hard).
• Solar-powered with a 6-month reserve and overcharge prevention.
• Quartz accuracy of ± 20 seconds per month.
• Double locking clasp with "one-push" diver extension (to go over a wetsuit).
• Water-resistant to 200 meters, or about 650 feet.
• Rotating bezel for dive timing (not sure if it's uni- or bi-directional).
• Screwdown caseback.

This watch does not appear to be available in the US, so the best way to get more information is to do a Google search, and click on some "Translate this page" links. And of course, you can always count on a translated version of Watch-Tanaka for good information and nice pictures. It looks like this watch should go for about $450.

The Seiko Ignition Takuma Sato is an unusual watch in several respects. First, Seiko is not very well known for their solar watches. Kinetic, Spring Drive, and even automatic, yes, but you don't find a lot of solar powered Seikos out there. And you find even fewer atomic Seikos. Seiko is well known for their extremely accurate quartz movements which almost make atomic functionality unnecessary. However for the Takuma Sato, I guess "almost" wasn't good enough.

Takuma Sato is a famous Japanese Formula 1 race car driver, and the Seiko Ignition is a worthy tribute. The design of the dial is an attempt to capture the essence of Takuma's helmet, and the caseback bares an engraving of his signature along with the watch's serial number. Only 3,000 of these unique pieces will be made, and I seriously doubt very many of them will ever make it to US shores.

Features of the Seiko Ignition Takuma Sato include:

• Solar powered, with a 6-month power reserve.
• Radio controlled atomic time calibration. Again, this is the only Seiko watch that I know of with this type of functionality. (I should note that I don't think the watch is compatible with our atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado, but I don't know for certain.)
• Titanium case and bracelet.
• Domed sapphire crystal.
• Water resistant to 100 meters, or 330 feet.

The Seiko Ignition Takuma Sato will be available June 7th, and will sell for 73,500 yen, or about $680. If you read Japanese, check out the press release. If you don't, here's the Google translation.

Update: Watch Report reader Gilbert Sopakuwa has pointed out several other solar atomic Seikos in the Spirit, Ignition, and Brightz lines. Thanks, Gilbert! One of the things I really love about watches is that I'm always learning and finding something new, often thanks to my readers.

Seiko continues to build amazing watches on top of their innovative new Spring Drive system. One of the latest is the Seiko Marinemaster GMT. I almost posted nothing but a picture of this watch because I think the mere sight of it says it all: it is big, beautiful, durable, and simultaneously both modern and classic.

I have an old Seiko titanium Kinetic Scubamaster which is one of my favorite watches in the world, and one of the things I really like about this family of watches is the amount of functionality Seiko packs into them. The Marinemaster has a 24-hour hand for tracking time in a second time zone, but rather than putting the hours for the second time zone on the bezel like most GMT watches do, the numbers are actually inside the bezel, around the perimeter of the dial. This leaves the bezel free for your standard dive time functionality, which means you get a GMT and a diver all in one. Of course, this makes the watch slightly less flexible purely as a GMT watch since the hours are typically marked on the bi-directional rotating bezel so that you can easily check times in other time zones (rotating the bezel clockwise takes hours off the second time zone while rotating it counterclockwise adds hours), however if you don't need the additional GMT flexibility, it's nice having the diver functionality, instead.

Features of the Seiko Marinemaster GMT:

The new Seiko Milemarker is an interesting combination of modern and classic technologies. On the modern side, the Milemarker has a 10 year battery, perpetual calendar, and an extremely accurate quartz movement which deviates less than 20 seconds per year (yes, that's per year, not per month). The more classic technologies include a map wheel and a manual compass.

The map wheel works by allowing you to trace routes along any map that has a scale, then calculate the distance between the two points. Not exactly a GPS, but then again, no batteries or satellites required. The compass works in conjunction with the 24-hour hand and the rotating bezel. Point the 24-hour hand toward the sun, and the 12 o'clock position will be pointing roughly north. This is definitely a watch for hikers and orienteers who like to do things the old-fashioned way, but with a certain amount of style.

Features of the Seiko Milemarker include...

In 1969, Seiko introduced one of the most disruptive technologies in the history of watchmaking: the quartz movement. Quartz movements are more accurate than automatic or mechanical movements, generally less temperamental, and are far cheaper to produce. Since then, the Japanese watchmaker has continued to innovate and help the industry evolve with inventions like the kinetic watch, the kinetic auto relay, and now, the Spring Drive.

To understand the significance of the Spring Drive, it probably helps to have a little background on more conventional watch movements.

Mechanical Watches

Mechanical watches contain a main spring, the tension from which drives the watch. The main spring is wound by hand (usually by twisting the crown), at which point it slowly unwinds at a regular rate over the course of a couple of days. Mechanical watches use devices call escapements which provide the friction necessary to cause the main spring to unwind at a rate consistent with units of time (otherwise the main spring would simply unwind all at once). Escapements are the most intricate, delicate, and expensive components of mechanical and automatic watches.

Getting caught up on my gadget news this morning, I noticed that my pals over at Gizmodo got the scoop on a new E-paper watch that Seiko exhibited at Baselworld 2005. It actually looks more like a bracelet than a watch, but since it tells the time, I guess that makes it a watch. The concept is very interesting. It contains a curved sheet of high-contrast e-paper (electronic paper) which displays both the time and a constantly changing mosaic pattern. Here's what Seiko has to say about their creation:

"We aimed to develop a new type of watch that has never existed before. Then electronic paper caught our eye. Through the utilization of its curvable property, innovative designs have become available. As this is the first watch ever that uses e-paper in the industry, we believe that the industry will be strongly interested in it."

I believe they are right, at least in Japan. The coolest Japanese watches never seem to make it to our shores, except through super secret Japanese contacts we Japanese watch fanatics maintain. Anyway, the Seiko e-paper watch may be available in Japan as early as this year.

Additional Resources

• Gizmodo's post about the Seiko e-paper watch.
• English article on TechOn.

If you're looking for a moderately priced, high quality, very cool, and totally unique looking watch to surprise someone with this holiday season (or even to surprise yourself with), you might want to check out something from Seiko's new Sportura collection. The inspiration for the Seiko Sportura design was high performance sports cars, and each watch clearly has the feel of a complex but exhilarating dashboard in the type of car I will probably never be able to afford.

The Seiko Sportura collection consists of four models (SLQ017, SNL015, SNJ005, and SNA451), each with its own unique look and feature set, and each in a different (but relatively affordable) price range. All the watches in the Sportura collection start off with the following set of features:

• Jet black dials.
• Scratch-resistant, anti-glare sapphire crystals.
• Screwdown casebacks and crowns.
• Stainless steel bracelets (also available in leather, however).
• Double-locking clasps with push-button release.
• Water resistant to 100 meters (10 BAR, 10 ATM, or 330 feet).
• Japanese quartz movements (though only two of the pieces in the collection actually require batteries).
• Very bright luminous hands and markers.

Now that we know what all the watches in the Seiko Sportura collection have in common, I'll cover each watch individually, starting with the least expensive.

Unfortunately, I don't own this watch, and even more unfortunately, it's likely I never will. There were only 1,500 made world-wide, and only 400 of them found their way to the US. It's a shame because I think this is an absolutely fantastic looking timepiece, and I've always had a soft spot for Seiko ever since I worked for them at their world headquarters in Japan for the better part of a year. This was some time ago, however, and unfortunately, all I left with was an inexpensive stainless steel Chronograph (which I still really like), and a few of those funky Alba Spoons which people in Japan were falling over themselves trying to get back then.

The Sportura, as the name implies, is a sports chronograph, which means it's primary function (aside from looking very cool) is to time events. If you're an Olympic track coach, you're still going to be better off with something in the digital realm with multiple splits, etc., but if you just need to time the occasional yacht race or something, the Sportura will work, and look, just fine.