I am on a roll talking about all these cool watches from Seiko (and Citizen) that Japan gets, but we don’t. If you’ve been to Japan, you know that they have a ton more watch stores than we do,  and such stores are often combined with other items such as electronic gadgetry. Everything from the mundane to the unique is displayed tightly together and unless you have a good eye, much of the time you need to know what you are looking for – else you miss it.

So today we have another interesting watch from Seiko that was released about a year ago, and has had a lot of mixed reviews (from a style perspective). No one argues about the watch quality or function, but not everyone appreciates its simplicity. It is also a contradiction of sorts, as it uses a mechanical movement to produce a (semi) digital time display, but that just makes it more interesting.

The watch itself is just a variation on a standard three hand movement. Instead of hands, revolving discs are used to display the time. The outermost ring represents the hours, then minutes, and then seconds on the inside. Other than the display porthole, the rest of the dial is covered in a mostly opaque black or white cover which looks to be ceramic, and is used on the sides of the watch as well. The material might also be polished black PVD steel, and as you can tell the white faced version is obviously steel.

Mimicking the front of the watch, the rear has a small porthole where you can view the mechanical automatic movement. The discs themselves are a slightly textured metal, which adds a nice look, and whereby the front and rear of the watch can complement each other. I also like the addition of the folding clasp on the soft leather strap.

Here are some specs directly from Seiko:

* Designer: Tomoko Tomita
* Manufacturer: SEIKO
* Reference: Seiko SCBS007 and SCBS005
* Automatic self-winding movement
* Calibre 6R15
* 23 Jewels
* 50 hour power reserve
* Average accuracy between +25 seconds from -15 seconds per month
* Diameter 41mm
* Thickness 14.3 mm
* Weight: 70 g (without strap)
* Leather Strap
* Hardened Stainless Steel case
* Sapphire crystal

Looking at these details you can imagine that this will be included in Seiko’s higher end collection. Actually, while the price is higher than most Seiko watches you know of, it is reasonable at about $800 retail. The trick is finding one over in the US. There are few floating around online. Overall this is a great looking Seiko, and a great looking watch. I’d be happy to have one.

See Seiko and Disc watches on eBay here.

See Seiko watches on Amazon here. [phpbay]seiko discus | seiko disc, num, “”, “”[/phpbay]