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Summer can be a particularly difficult time for watch straps for multiple reasons. The hot weather makes for sweaty wrists which can damage leather and build up grime on metal bracelets. At the same time we find ourselves outdoors more often, exposing our watches to bumps, scrapes and in the case of dive watches, chlorine and salt. Is there even a watch strap out there that can effortlessly handle such a barrage? Well, yes, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this article. It’s the Artem Straps Loop-Less HydroFlex.

The concept behind the Loop-Less HydroFlex was to create a stylish looking strap that is equipped to deal with all circumstances while retaining comfort and convenience. That’s a tall ask. However, Artem found the solution by developing their own proprietary FKM-rubber compound produced over an eight-hour mixing process with dual-stage vulcanisation at extreme temperatures, called HydroFlex.

The resulting rubber is extremely durable while also being soft and supple, giving you optimal comfort from day one while also being resistant to sweat, salt water and sun. While there are lots of rubber straps that offer similar capabilities, what sets the HydroFlex apart is its equally immaculate sense of style. It’s been designed with a fabric texture that emulates the surface of a sailcloth strap, which is the foundation Artem Straps was built on. Most rubber straps are flat, modern, sporty things in lurid colours but Artem’s has the genuine look of a fabric strap – almost like an illusion. That’s what provides it so much versatility because you can wear it in the boardroom and no one will notice that it’s rubber.

I briefly mentioned colour above and the Artem Straps Loop-Less HydroFlex is available in a wide selection, each with a cool moniker inspired by space. For your more traditional sailcloth aesthetics you have Dark Matter and Event Horizon, which are black with either black or white stitching respectively. There’s then your classic grey and brown with Lunar Ash and Nebula Dust. You can also opt for one of the bolder, more colourful choices such as Cosmic Tide blue, Blood Moon red, Orbital Moss green, Nova Light white, Solar Flare orange, and Titan Dune beige.

We’ve talked about what HydroFlex is and the variety of colours, but there’s one more thing in the strap’s name that needs addressing. What does Loop-Less mean? In short, it refers to the fact that these are deployant clasp straps rather than your typical pin buckle. We actually recently published a complete guide to types of clasp if you want more information on the wealth of styles out there.

A deployant clasp essentially takes a folding clasp of the style you commonly see on a metal bracelet and presents it on a fabric or rubber strap. It means there’s no fiddly keeper loops (hence Loop-Less) and once you set the size to your preference, you simply slide the watch onto your wrist, shut the clasp and away you go. Artem create two styles of clasp that can be fitted to the Loop-Less HydroFlex, either in exposed steel or with a DLC coating. Alternatively, it’s compatible with deployant clasps from existing watch brands with Artem giving the example of the OEM Omega clasp.

The Loop-Less HydroFlex is also available at six different sizes to fit lug widths of between 18mm – 22mm with varying tapers. It also comes with quick release spring bars, making swapping the straps onto your watch easy. All that remains is the price, £187. That’s around what you expect for a premium watch strap that should last you a lifetime with sensible use. Artem’s customers evidently thinks so as the brand have had to implement a two straps per customer limitation due to their popularity, to ensure a fair chance for everyone to purchase one.

More details at Artem Straps.

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Oracle Time’s second collaboration watch is here, following in the footsteps of the Dune Shoreline. However, this time our collaborative partner isn’t Christopher Ward, it’s Ball, the titan of tool watches and master of magnetism (or rather, anti-magnetism). As this is a creation we have spent a year working on it’s obviously very difficult to be objective but I will try my absolute best to be as unbiased as possible by focussing squarely on the Ball x Oracle Time Engineer II Dazzle in the metal. If you’d like to learn more about some of our thoughts on why Ball are the ideal collaborative partner and the design thoughts that went into the production, check out our full cover feature article from Issue 113 of Oracle Time.

Taking the Ball x Oracle Time Engineer II Dazzle out of its packaging, the first thing you notice is unquestionably the dial. It’s a riot of shape and colour with dynamic angles in white, grey and black. It’s also embossed, giving it a subtle three-dimensionality that really makes the shapes pop. Dazzle camouflage, upon which the pattern is based, is not a traditional style of camo because it’s not designed to hide anything – it’s impossible to hide a ship floating above the horizon line. Instead, it’s more about obfuscation, deceiving the eye like an illusion (in order to make enemy torpedoes miss or strike less valuable targets onboard) and the dial replicates that quite well.

Fortunately, while obfuscation is the name of the game, the Ball x Oracle Time Engineer II Dazzle remains surprisingly legible. Because of the inconsistent angles of the Dazzle pattern, the consistent rectangles of the hour markers actually makes them stand out quite significantly. They’re also made from Ball’s signature H3 tritium micro-gas tubes meaning they glow in low light conditions more intensely than traditional lume without needing to be charged by light. They’re hard to miss.

The colour of the emission is a pale blue, which is starting to become something of an Oracle Time signature at this point. That blue colour is matched by the tips of the hour, minute and seconds hands, helping them to stand out against the dial as another safeguard to preserve the readability of the watch. I personally also find that the combination of the monochromatic dial and blue accents gives the watch quite an arctic feel, like a rocky tundra beneath the ice.

On the wrist, the Ball x Oracle Time Engineer II Dazzle has the reassuring heft of a 40mm tool watch, produced from 904L stainless steel. That’s not to say it’s bulky because it really isn’t with a thickness of 11.5mm. It has a circular design with a smooth bezel and brushed lugs creating a nice amount of contrast between the finishes across the piece. The lugs lead smoothly into a three-link steel bracelet with butterfly clasp.

Undoing the clasp and turning the watch over reveals something fairly uncommon for a Ball watch, an exhibition caseback. Most Ball watches use solid casebacks in order to maintain their incredibly high anti-magnetic resistance, which means you can’t see the movement housed inside. However, as the Ball x Oracle Time Engineer II Dazzle houses the lovely calibre BALL RR1101-C, we wanted you to be able to see it. Plus, the watch still maintains a magnetic field resistance up to 4,800 A/m, which is plenty for day-to-day life.

In terms of specs, the BALL RR1101-C features a 56-hour power reserve, putting it just inside that weekend proof goldilocks zone, meaning you can put it down on Friday evening and it will still be ticking on Monday morning (just about). On top of that, it’s COSC chronometer certified, which means it’s undergone strenuous testing by the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres to ensure a high level of accuracy and reliability in multiple positions.

The Ball x Oracle Time Engineer II Dazzle is priced at £2,480 (incl. VAT) and is limited to 100 pieces. Oracle Time members will have priority access to purchase the watch from 11^th June with general sale beginning on 14^th June when the watch is presented at Hands On Horology. If you aren’t yet an Oracle Time member, you can sign up here to receive all the benefits including early access to collaborations, exclusive member events plus receive 10 issues of Oracle Time magazine straight to your door.

More details at Ball Watch.

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Beaubleu Ecce Vesperal, £710

Beaubleu have one of the most distinctive displays in the watch industry thanks to their circular hands. It’s amazing how much impact changing the shape of a hand has, and when it’s as non-traditional as this, it stands out all the more. The hands themselves feature on the dial of the Ecce, which is their sportiest and most industrial model with a steel case and broad, brushed bezel—especially in the Vesperal variant with a matching brushed steel dial. If you prefer a more luxe look, there’s also the white-dialled Lys with rose gold accents.

Available at Beaubleu.

Straum Jan Mayen Black Sand, £1,400

Straum have become the masters of textured dials, with the Jan Mayen available in a selection of seriously detailed and stylish interpretations. The Black Sand swaps the glacial inspiration for the arctic coast with the wavey texture of dark sand continually beaten by chill waters. Inside the Jan Mayen is the La Joux-Perret G101 automatic, one of the most highly rated third-party movements in the watch industry at the moment.

Available at Straum.

Héron Watches Mirabel GMT, £520

While Héron’s recent launches have proven their skill when it comes to dive watch design, the Héron Mirabel GMT presents an altogether different style. It’s a GMT dress watch with a vintage-inspired sector dial, offering a classy and luxurious aesthetic that takes you back to the golden age of travel. It’s powered by the Miyota 9075 automatic movement, which as a ‘True GMT’ allows you to adjust just the hour hand to change time zones.

Available at Heron Watches.

Costins Watches Elysian, £395 (Early Bird) and £595 (RRP)

Introducing Costins Watches, a new voice in contemporary watch design, rooted in Moldovan heritage and based in London. The debut Elysian is a study in architecture, pattern, and tradition reimagined in steel. Influenced by Ornament Moldovenesc, a traditional pattern known for its geometry, the Elysian blends heritage and refinement. It’s the first watch to draw directly from Moldova’s culture, architecture, and traditions. It makes for a unique design housed in a 40.5mm steel case powered by the Miyota 9039 automatic.

Available at Constins Watches.

Palmos Palmos One

The PALMOS ONE is the debut watch from Palmos, bringing a sleek integrated bracelet design to life with monochromatic dials. It measures 40mm with a thickness of 9.2mm in stainless steel. Its broad, flat bezel gives it quite a strong industrial charm. Powering it is a choice of the SOPROD M100 (A10) or Sellita SW300-1, offering a solid level of accuracy and value. In terms of colour, there’s a choice of black, olive, steel grey, or blue.

Available at Palmos Watches.

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When Abraham-Louis Breguet devised the first tourbillon at the turn of the 19th century, he could never have imagined what the device would become. What began as a practical way to counteract gravity in a pocket-watch has evolved into a modern-day showpiece, now spinning at varying speeds and angles across one, two or even three axes.

Today, the question of how well a tourbillon actually improves timekeeping has largely fallen by the wayside. Most modern examples are celebrated less for chronometry than for artistry – and artistry is precisely what Bianchet has built its entire identity on.

Bianchet G5000 Active Tourbillon

Bianchet appeared at an undeniably unique moment: Baselworld 2019. Launching a new brand just before a global pandemic might not sound ideal, yet the company’s debut – the G5000 Active Tourbillon – made an immediate impact. Designed to withstand shocks of up to 5,000g, it proved that a traditionally delicate complication could thrive in a true sports watch.

Which brings us to the new UltraFino Titanium. Integrated-bracelet sports watches are hardly new, but where most echo Gérald Genta’s designs, Bianchet has forged its own aesthetic. Its tactile, tonneau-shaped case – while sharing a basic silhouette with Richard Mille – feels uniquely elegant, with seamless crown guards that flow into the barrel profile.

Bianchet Flying Tourbillon UltraFino Titanium Black, CHF 55,500 (excl. taxes)

Every element underscores its sporting credentials. The 40mm case and integrated bracelet are crafted entirely from lightweight titanium – unusual in a tonneau watch and executed here with exceptional fluidity – so the UltraFino wears light yet substantial. Like the 2019 debut, it remains shock-resistant to 5,000g. That would be impressive for any sports watch, but this is a flying tourbillon, supported only from below, giving the mechanism its “floating” look while usually making it more fragile. Bianchet’s engineering keeps it robust.

Durability comes in part from a titanium tourbillon cage and in part from the movement’s architecture. Flip the watch over and you’ll see bridges forming two concentric circles in a 1.618 ratio – the Golden Ratio found in nautilus shells and Greek columns. Beautiful as it is, the geometry also strengthens the automatic rotor assembly, absorbing shocks that could otherwise damage the movement.

Offered either skeletonised or with a sumptuous blue guilloché dial, the UltraFino Titanium stands as one of the purest expressions of sporty haute horology: a watch that looks exquisite, performs fearlessly and was designed to be worn, not stored.

Don’t take our word for it – Bianchet will be at Hands On Horology on 14 June 2025. Try the UltraFino Titanium for yourself; you won’t regret it.

More details at Bianchet Watches.

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Ok, yes, we have been absolutely hammering the Hands On Horology content recently, but frankly we’re just excited to see all these projects that have been months in the making come to fruition. Projects like the Paulin John Nicol Neo Hands On Horology Edition, exclusives that are available only from the exhibition on June 14th, a fun and colourful collaboration between the Scottish watch brand and the Glaswegian artist.

John Nicol is a lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art using multidisciplinary techniques in his work including drawing, painting, sculpture, music and performance. He has a bold, abstract style that incorporates strong elements of colour and shape. Additionally he’s worked with multiple watch brands on painted dial watches including a previous series with Paulin.

The new series of painted watches uses the Neo as its basis, meaning the dials are housed in a comfortable 38mm steel case that’s powered by the Seiko NH35A automatic movement with a 41-hour power reserve. However, with a watch like this, the actual horological elements of the design feel almost secondary to the artwork on the dial.

Each of the watches in the nine-piece series is completely unique. Describing them in words is virtually impossible because of the nuance of shape and colour as well as the various textural impressions they create. And anyway, art is about interpretation, so you and I may see completely different things. What I will say is that compared to Nicol’s previous Paulin watches, the designs are much more intense and maximalist with powerful stroke and a wide application of colour.

Each watch in the Paulin John Nicol Neo Hands On Horology series is priced at £750, which for a completely unique piece of artwork built into a popular British microbrand watch is great. Avoid missing out by picking up your ticket to Hands On Horology today.

More details at Paulin Watches.

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Beaucroft Seeker Black Ice

Hands On Horology is this month and, if you don’t have your ticket by now, you may well be missing out. But just to rub that fact in a little, there’s the HoH exclusive, Seeker Black Ice. This 10-piece limited edition by Cambridge-based Beaucroft combines a fittingly pale blue dial with a blacked-out case, transforming the usually dressy Seeker into something completely different. High contrast doesn’t even come into it; this is about as punchy as a 37mm watch can get, and yet another reason to love the British brand.

More details at Beaucroft.

Monceau Model 01

Another revival of a watch name lost too soon to the quartz crisis, the modern incarnation of Monceau eschews the brand’s vintage chronographs in favour of a less complicated – but by no means simple – three-hander, the Model 01. The wavy dial is more gentle seabed than rugged sand dunes and the red and grey versions get a smoky gradient towards the edge. The white and black on the other hand get baby blue highlights.

Either way, it’s wrapped up in a sleek integrated sports bracelet and backed by a classic Sellita number. It’s not the Monceau you’ll see at your local vintage dealer, but there’s a lot to love – and worth a look on Kickstarter, where it’s running until 15th June.

More details at Monceau.

Anemoic Versailles

Given their rep in the microbrand world, an endorsement from Studio Underd0g’s enough to make you sit up and take notice, but honestly, the debut design from Anemoic doesn’t need the fanfare. Created by Magnus Swann, who also had a stint at Underd0g, the Versailles aims to recapture 1970s French couture – specifically the legendary fashion showdown that was the Battle of Versailles – and does so with a jewellery-adjacent rectangular case and dramatic faceted, aquamarine crystal.

At 28mm x 39mm of stainless steel, it’s not nearly as small as you’d expect and should have some serious wrist presence. But, despite it having a solid specs sheet and a price tag of £1,900, the Versailles (and the Anemoic brand) is Magnus’ student design project, with no plans for production. Yet. We’ll need to wait and see what the reception among collectors is like, but I’d be surprised if this watch doesn’t go any further. At the very least, Magnus is killing his coursework.

More details at Magnus Swann.

Nuun Official Origen N1837

Rounded, porthole bezel? Check. Big, muscular shoulders? Check. Hype-infused Tiffany blue dial? Check. Far from being one of the most expensive watches ever sold, Nuun Official’s Nautilus-riffing Origen offers all the hotness of a grail watch at a fraction of a fraction of the price.

It puts its own spin on things with Eastern Arabic numerals and a blacked out case. Even if you don’t buy into the Patek hype, it offers a solid, summer-ready watch with 100m water resistance and a lightweight, durable carbon case.

More details at Nuun Official Watches.

Paulin John Nicol Neo Hands On Horology Edition

When they’re not building super fun, super accessible beaters, Paulin have an artistic streak. Case in point, their reprised collaboration with John Nicol. The last run back in 2023 sold out quick, with each unique, hand-painted dial offering a different personality. Now, the partnership is back with a 10-piece run of funky pop art dials, exclusively for Hands On Horology. If you’ve not got your ticket yet, you might want to. ASAP.

More details at Paulin Watches.

Palmos One

The debut from London-based Palmos, aptly named the Palmos ONE, distils that quintessentially 1970s flair for industrial, integrated bracelet sports watches down to a minimalist beauty. With its round, flat-planed bezel, there’s more than a hint of the IWC Ingenieur here, but without the visible screws or guilloche dial, it’s a much sleeker, calmer experience. That carries through to the dials in black, olive green, blue and a monochrome grey version (in my opinion the highlight). Backed by a workhorse Soprod movement, it’s everything you love about this sub-genre of watches in a more accessible format.

More details at Palmos Watches.

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Stone dial watches have seen a major increase in interest across the past 12 months making the Nodus Sector II Sport Tiger’s Eye a very timely watch. The limited edition of 15 pieces will be available exclusively at Hands On Horology, London’s new watch exhibition and showcase, taking place on June 14th. There are still tickets available so make sure to secure yours here.

Much as its name suggests, the Sector II Sport Tiger’s Eye takes the versatile Sector II Sport, with its slim 38mm diameter x 11.7mm thickness steel case, and presents it with a semi-precious stone dial. Tiger’s Eye has long captivated watch collectors thanks to its warm tone and shifting striations. Here, the stone offers a gorgeous backdrop to the oversize lumed hour markers that ensure great legibility in all lighting conditions.

Building on the warm, earthy tones of the stone, the Sector II Sport’s bezel and crown have been produced in CuAl8 bronze. Bronze is a fascinating watchmaking material because it naturally patinas over time, meaning each watch will eventually become unique to the wearer. It thematically links with the individuality and unique patterns of each Tiger’s Eye dial as no two are identical. The bronze offers another way in which that individuality is expressed.

Below the new dial of the Sector II Sport Tiger’s Eye Hands On Horology Edition is the TMI NH38 automatic movement by Seiko. It’s a stalwart of the accessible watch arena and a trusted work horse. It features a 41-hour power reserve and normally an accuracy of +20/-40 seconds per day, which is its greatest weakness. However, Nodus have regulated every movement themselves to achieve a significantly improved +/-10 seconds per day.

Plus, the Nodus Sector II Sport Tiger’s Eye Hands On Horology Edition brings stone dials to a new level of accessibility with a price of just $525 (approx. £392). It’s also a limited edition of 15 pieces and is exclusively available at Hands On Horology on June 14th, making it very exclusive indeed.

More details at Nodus.

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After the warmest spring on record here in the UK, the summer sun is also well on its way. Which makes a difference from the usual torrential downpours. Almost enough to conjure an existential crisis about global warming… but if you are going to have an existential crisis, you may as well do it in summer style. For Hublot, that means releasing their annual summer watch, which this year is inspired by the island of Mykonos. It’s the Hublot Big Bang Unico Summer 2025.

Colour and sunny vibes are the focus here. Which is why the 42mm case is made from vibrant orange ceramic with a sky-blue bezel also produced in ceramic. It’s designed to represent the golden sunset seen over the waves lapping at the shore as the heat of the day begins to dissipate ready to be replaced by the heat of the club as DJs set the mood and parties roar into life. It is, after all, the natural habitat of the Hublot fan i.e. footballers with no common sense.

As easy as it would be to continue commenting on Hublot’s penchant for attracting footballers, the Hublot Big Bang Unico Summer 2025 does offer some important horological merit. Coloured ceramic is incredibly difficult to produce because it’s virtually impossible to predict what colour a pigment will become after the firing process, leading to a lot of trial and error.

Even when you have mastered the colours, the fail rate is surprisingly high as the material can shatter, or the colours emerge splotchy and inconsistent. The smooth tone of the Big Bang Unico Summer 2025 is impressive especially given the slightly lower saturation compared to most coloured ceramic you see, meaning any slight variations would be readily apparent. Though it’s not quite so desaturated as to be described as fully pastel.

For the dial it’s Big Bang business as usual. An openworked display with a bicompax, big eye chronograph layout featuring central hours, minutes and chronograph seconds with small seconds at 9 o’clock and a 60-minute counter at 3, overlapping the date window. The colours echo that of the case with orange and sky blue over a dark blue base to provide contrast.

The movement powering the Big Bang Unico Summer 2025 is the HUB1280 Unico Manufacture, an automatic calibre with a 72-hour power reserve. It’s a column wheel flyback chronograph, which means the chronograph function can be stopped, reset and started again with a single pusher press, a feature first developed for aviation but that has found use in sport as well.

Between the ceramic case and flyback chronograph movement, the Hublot Big Bang Unico Summer 2025 has a price of £26,900. It certainly doesn’t do anything to argue against the claim that Hublots are particularly pricy but then, when your clientele are going to be attending parties in Mykonos where the DJ is Usain Bolt (a real event Hublot are hosting) they know to cater to the people who are actually buying their watches.

More details at Hublot.

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Frederique Constant is showing a lot of love to the British watch collecting scene this summer. Not only are they attending Hands On Horology, a new watch exhibition and showcase taking place in London on June 14^th, but they’ve also released the latest watches in their continued partnership with heritage British car brand Healey. There are two watches in the new limited-edition series, the Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Date and Chronograph Automatic.

Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Chronograph

First up, and the racier of the two watches, is the Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Chronograph. It has a 42mm case in steel with a classy round design equipped with classic pump pushers to start, stop and reset the chronograph function. The polished lugs lead down to a navy calf leather strap in the same shade of blue as the bicompax chronograph counters on the dial.

Speaking of the dial, it’s presented in a lovely shade of sky blue known fittingly as Healey Blue, the signature shade of the Austin-Healey 3000 MKII BM7. It’s finished with a sunray brushing that radiates out from the centre towards the gently faceted baton hour markers (with lumed strips) and 12 o’clock Arabic numeral. The two chronograph subdials have a snailed finish, with the subdial at 9 o’clock serving as running seconds and the one at 3 o’clock presenting a 30-minute timer. The two chronograph timer hands (the 30-minute and central seconds) are bright red, a key colour motif of the 2025 collection.

Inside the watch, and visible through an exhibition caseback, is the calibre FC-397. It’s the same chronograph movement that Frederique Constant have used in their Healey collaborations since all the way back in 2018. While it’s not a spring chicken, it still has more than respectable specs with a 62-hour power reserve. It’s not one of FC’s manufacture movements, meaning it is likely based on the Sellita SW510. The Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Chronograph is priced at £2,995 in a limited edition of 1,888 pieces, as is tradition for the series.

Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Date

In addition to the large 42mm chronograph, Frederique Constant are offering a far more svelte option with vintage inspired proportions, the Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Date. It measures just 36mm in diameter with a thickness of 9.85mm, ideal for those with slimmer wrists or to make a fun his & hers pairing with the above chrono. The overall shape with its smooth bezel and polished lugs is the same so they make for a great set together.

The dial here is much less complex as it does away with any chronograph subdials in favour of central hours, minutes and seconds (again accented in red) with a date window at 6 o’clock. Above that date window you’ll find the Healey logo, paying tribute to the classic marque. The display has the same Healey blue colour and sunray brushing as the chronograph.

Powering this watch is the calibre FC-303, base Sellita SW200 (a rather different tier of horology than their recent excursion into perpetual calendars). It’s protected by a solid caseback this time, which is engraved with an image of the Austin-Healey that inspired the collaboration. A fun, small British sports car that conjures images of dashing about on country lanes in the fleeting sunshine. The Frederique Constant Classics Vintage Rally Healey Date is noticeably more accessible than its chrono counterpart at £1,295, also in a limited edition of 1,888 pieces.

More details at Frederique Constant.

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Before anOrdain brought porcelain dial production to the UK there’s only really one brand I could name who produce porcelain dials regularly: Seiko. They do so as part of their Craftmanship series dedicated to traditional Japanese crafts and materials. However, in classic Seiko style they’re not happy to achieve a simple design and move on, they want to test the boundaries of style and production to see what is really possible. Enter the new Seiko Presage Classic Unglazed Arita Porcelain Limited Edition.

Without hyperbole, this is one of the nicest Presage watches I’ve been hands on with in a long while. The porcelain dial is stunning with its three-dimensional diamond-cut ridge pattern running around the circumference below the hour scale. The detail and precision required to create textured/patterned porcelain is impressive to see – the production of porcelain involves firing it at high temperatures in a kiln, so fractures and failures are common, especially if you introduce additional complexities beyond creating a simple disc.

The term Arita Porcelain refers to porcelain produced in and around the historic ceramics town of Arita in Japan. Similar to how in the UK our historic ceramics region is around Stoke. Porcelain is made from a clay base so the region it’s produced in and therefore the composition of the clay used can have a large impact on the product. That’s why for this limited edition release, Seiko have opted for an unglazed porcelain – a glaze being what gives the material its colour – showing the traditional cream, off-white colour associated with Arita Porcelain.

Another impact of the dial being unglazed is that it has a matte finish. I’m used to seeing porcelain have that classic gloss shine to it but I’m actually glad that it doesn’t here. A gloss finish, while looking nice, can have the effect of flattening a design as the shimmer of light hides the true three-dimensionality of the piece. When you have a design like the diamond-cut ridges, that would be criminal.

Completing the display are gold coloured feuille hands and bar hour markers, playing into the dress watch design of the piece. On the wrist, it feels genuinely unisex, with a diameter of 40mm it sits right in that goldilocks zone of being a large watch for a woman and mid-size for a man, following traditional sizing conventions. The long lugs with facetted edges help it sit on the wrist well connected to a classy black leather strap produced from sustainable leather with hints of gold stitching.

The Craftmanship Series has always been at the top end of the Presage collection and so they house movements from the 6R family, and the same is true for the Seiko Presage Classic Unglazed Arita Porcelain. Specifically, it houses the 6R51 automatic with 72-hour power reserve and a daily accuracy of +15/-25 seconds. That contributes to the £1,650 price along with the fact that the watch is a limited edition of 1,200 pieces.

More details at Seiko.

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