It’s the first snow day in Montreal, with two feet of fresh powder that’s accumulated overnight, literally, everywhere – and the only thing on my mind is this incredible brown turtle shell motif dial on the King Seiko SPB365. This is a limited release of 1200 pieces from Seiko, to celebrate their 110th year of Japanese watchmaking, and I’ve been enjoying the companionship of one of these fine examples thanks to the Gem Bijou watch store in the Toronto area.
While the focus of this hands-on inspection is going to revolve around the dial, I would like to point out that there’s much more to the watch than just that. The SPB365 is an expertly tuned package that brings to the table 110 years of craftsmanship, from the perfecting of the wearable proportions due to the help of its 37mm case, to its interesting and Seiko infused faceted lugs, bevelled bezel, and shimmering bracelet. I guess what you can say, is that my first impressions of handling this watch, brings about a very “Seiko-esque” vibe, but in a more high-end fashion, for a lack of a better way to put it. Please allow me a moment to pour another coffee, and lets get into the details below.
The Motif Dial
There’s few things more trending than natural earthy hues, and motif dials, in the watch industry currently. If you’re in touch with recent events, you’re probably well aware of releases like the popular Rolex Datejust Motif dials that we featured in our most collectible Datejust models article, and watches like the recently discontinued Cartier Santos De Cartier WSSA0064 with its caramel brown sunburst dial, or even the Rolex GMT Master II 126711CHNR with its half brown GMT bezel. The SPB365 has taken a hint or two from these classy, albeit Swiss references.
The turtle shell motif dial we’re looking at here, is dark. Dark enough that it requires a good amount of natural light, or the turning on of studio lighting, to distinguish the actual motifs. Not only is it a fairly dark hue, but to my eyes, it has a lightly fume gradient to it as well. With the center of the watch being a light somewhat glossy copper or almost rust like color, as it gradually darkens towards the outer edges of the dial with a final, and very dark chocolate brown appearance. When viewing from afar, perhaps on someone else’s wrist, or when placed at a distance on a shelf, the motif pattern turns into a textured dial with a gradient. When wearing the watch and bringing the watch up closer to your face for viewing in adequate light, only then are the super unique turtle shell motifs revealed – that now actually look like 6 sided geometrical tortoise shells.
The batons indices are applied along the dial, and are quite prominent in size, and easy to spot with their high polished finish. The double baton markers at 12 o’clock have a really nice micro-pattern on them, a very intricate detail which is quite impressive. The regular Seiko logo is in a brighter contrasting bronze color and located at 12 o’clock matching the long skinny seconds hand, and the “King Seiko” insignia is in a silver color matching the minute and hour hands, at the bottom of the dial along with the “Automatic” text. The hands are in a very sharp dauphine style, pretty much on cue with Seiko’s most used style of hands. The size and breadth of the dial is just right for the size of the watch, with just enough amount of spacing between the markers and the rest of the dial intricacies to not feel cramped when reading the watch.
Fit On Wrist
The fit is indeed perfect on my 6.5 inch wrist, we could just leave it at that. This is a 37mm watch with a skinny bezel and super intriguing, but airy dial. The proportions are immaculate, with much of the design emulating the original 1960s King Seiko models. The chunky lugs fill any leftover voids on my wrist and it’s also fairly lightweight, with a bit of that retro appeal from its 7 link stainless steel bracelet.
Surprisingly for me, I found this watch to be built to a better standard than most “higher-tier” Seiko watches. Something about the feel and heft in hand are leaving me with a satisfied sense that this watch was manufactured to last, which is not always my experience with many of the Seiko models I’ve personally handled in the past.
The caseback is closed on this watch with a nice solid piece of steel, giving that cold sensation when placed on wrist unlike something with a sapphire exhibition window. The case back is lightly engraved with the King Seiko insignia as well. Overall, while the watch is small, it does not wear like a dainty watch, and has a nice presence on wrist, with the lug style and small bezel helping in this regard.
6R31 Movement and Final Thoughts
It’s always nice to know that a watch has been made entirely in-house, and luckily this is the case with the King Seiko SPB365 as it’s using the automatic Seiko Calibre 6R31. While not the most impressively accurate movement out there, with a recorded +25/-15 seconds per day – pretty much on par with what I’ve experienced while wearing it, it does have a nice power reserve of 70 hours. It beats at 6 beats per second with a 21,600 VPH. One thing to note, is the lack of rotor noise coming from this movement, which could be attributed to the closed caseback with thick steel, or perhaps a more refined choice of movements from Seiko.
I think this is a fantastic heritage watch, and while I have not scoured the internet to gauge perceived interest in this specific model, I’d guess Seiko enthusiasts are already loving this one. You’re getting a well put together watch that’s ticking the boxes in terms of retro design, high quality fully in-house build, with some nice pizazz from the lovely an interesting brown motif dial. The price is steep for a Seiko, at $1800 usd, but when factoring all the details it makes sense for a unique commemorative release.
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