Japanese watchmaking giant Seiko is introducing a new sub-family named Sharp Edge into its upmarket-focused Presage collection, set to hit retailers this September. The collection features four references, with unique dials made by skilled craftsman and artisans from four locations throughout Japan. It follows in the tradition of the brand’s 2019 Presage Arita Porcelain Dial models, using a new type of Arita porcelain that is “more than four times harder,” made by master craftsman Hiroyuki Hashiguchi.

The Presage Sharp Edge collection Ref. SPB169.

The watch’s dial inspiration, a traditional hemp leaf pattern called Asanoha, comes from Japan’s Heian period (794-1185 AD); a symbol that represents “growth and prosperity,” it’s interpreted here by the pioneering modernist designer Riki Watanabe, whose designs have inspired past Seiko Presage models, most recently the Presage Cocktail Time editions. The dials’ sharply angled surface textures, which create subtle color gradations and catch light at varying angles, are a product of traditional Japanese artistry and lend the Sharp Edge models their name.
The Presage Sharp Edge collection Ref. SPB167.

All four references come in 39.3-mm-diameter cases with screw-down casebacks, water-resistant to 100 meters (10 bar), encased in either stainless steel or rose-gold-plated steel. The three steel models all feature Seiko’s “Super-Hard” coating (which ac...