Few watch brands are as associated with the so-called watch modding community than Seiko. With many affordable watches and equally affordable replacement parts, modding enthusiasts ? basically collectors who engage in hands-on tinkering (“modifiying”) of their watches to produce customized pieces ? have long championed the Japanese brand as their most popular canvas for a whole world of creativity. This sentiment seems to have only increased in recent years with Seiko?s launch of its Seiko 5 Sports collection and the subsequent sans-bezel follow-up ? excellent sub-$400 watches, both attractive in their own right and easy to work with.

This past year, looking to strengthen ties with this growing subset of the watch community, Seiko unveiled the Custom Watch Beatmaker campaign, a unique digital event which ran from October 2020 to January 2021. The event encouraged enthusiasts to submit customized designs of the Seiko 5 Sports, which were then voted on by other enthusiasts. In total, more than 48,000 designs were submitted, garnering over 8.5 million total votes, and resulting in the new watch that Seiko has unveiled this summer, the aptly named Seiko 5 Sports Custom Watch Beatmaker Limited Edition
At its core, the watch is a new colorway of the classic Seiko 5 Sports, but beyond that it bears remarkable similarities to the iconic Seiko ?Pogue? Chronograph (above). That vintage model was a particular colorway of the historical Seiko 6139-6005 chronog...