Some things are as sure as the rising sun, and in the Land of the Rising Sun, that means nature-inspired dials from Seiko…King Seiko, to be exact. As friendly divisional rivals in the 60s and early 70s, the workshops of King Seiko and Grand Seiko challenged one another while pushing the technical and aesthetic envelope of Japanese watchmaking. While some consider GS victorious as the KS name was sunsetted in 1975, the reality is that both were instrumental in establishing Seiko?s mid-century identity. More recently, Grand Seiko has spun off as a high-end, independent brand, and the King Seiko nameplate was rebooted in February of last year as a more premium offering within Seiko. Today, we take a look at a watch that isn?t entirely new yet brings an interesting flourish to the recently resurrected collection.
The SJE095?s specifications are reasonable for the average wrist: 38.6mm x 45.8mm x 10.7mm, 5 bar water resistance, and powered by in-house caliber 6L35 (28,800 vph, 45 hour power reserve, +15/-10s a day) with a date complication and boxed sapphire crystal. Like the other SJE and SPB-reference King Seikos, it features a striking stainless steel case, sharp angles, and expansive flat surfaces, attributes of the original 1965 KSK on which the entire modern KS line is based.

This new dial features a self-repeating pattern of circles and fine lines known as kiku tsunagi-mon. This particular design holds special significance in Japanese culture for se...