Japanese watches
In a matter of days, the Japanese conglomerate Seiko will start selling the new Grand Seiko Sport Collection Spring Drive GMT Limited Edition (Ref. SBGE245G) hybrid-powered wristwatch. With the luxury gadget being limited to the Japanese domestic market, the watch will be a bit difficult to come by if you happen to live on the other side of the globe. Yet, the device is so beautiful, so impressive that is seems to be absolutely worth going into all the trouble to get one.
Japanese watches / Quartz watches
To some, the new Casio G-Shock Rangeman (ref. GPR-B1000-1 / 1B) line of adventure watches may look like a glorified steam engine trying to compete with sleek and glossy bullet trains. Still, offering solar-assisted GPS navigation, adequate (although not stunning) battery life, as well as a bunch of other usable (the watch won't bother you with incoming messages alarms, but will let you retrace your route step by step if you somehow get lost in a wilderness) functions, this gadget looks like a reliable backup for your standalone professional GPS tracker.
Japanese watches / Quartz watches
Already released as the Japanese Domestic Market (ah, that legendary 'JDM' abbreviation that's been rice-rocket freaks' and watch aficionados' darling for so many decades!) models, the new Seiko Prospex Diver Scuba Giugiaro Design Limited Edition (available as refs. SBEE001 & SBEE002) is an almost perfect re-issue of the wristwatch from the 1980s that had a great potential, but for some reason failed to become an icon of industrial design. Well, I can only welcome the Japanese brand's decision to give the collection a second chance, even as only a limited edition model.
Japanese watches / Quartz watches
With its new Casio PRO TREK PRG-600 "outdoor" world-timer, the Japanese watchmaking giant delivers a stylish, surprisingly tastefully designed wristwatch. Primarily targeting people who lead an active lifestyle and do need a time measuring device that would do a good job during a hiking expedition, it will also look great with a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt in a safe co-working environment. Although inevitably having limitations of its own, the watch seems to give you a great combination of good build quality, reasonable price and an almost overwhelming list of functions that would make an owner of a Swiss made analog/digital timekeeper literally drool. The only thing that spoils the fun is the "cased in Thailand" inscription on its machine-brushed back.
Japanese watches / Quartz watches
The Japanese brand has been in the business of (also) making GPS-equipped watches for quite some time now. Their new Citizen Promaster Navihawk Satellite Wave GPS (ref. CC9030-51E) is a fine example of how you can get a lot of experience, a block of high-grade steel, a handful of silicon parts and create an absolutely wonderful object that can be a watch, a gadget, and even a surprisingly low-priced fashion statement as well!
Japanese watches / Quartz watches
Featuring design cues similar to other "aviators" released by the Japanese brand during the last five or six years (those including not only relatively expensive members of their higher-range Prospex family like this ref. SSC279 wristwatch, but also a lot more affordable ones like their older SND253P1 model,) the new Seiko PROSPEX Radio Sync Solar World Time Chronograph, which is available in three different finishes, was probably designed to cover the niche of XXL-sized timekeepers designed with price-conscious public in mind.
Japanese watches
With its extremely precise mechanism and a nice sporty case, the new Grand Seiko 55th Anniversary Spring Drive Chronograph (ref. SBGC013) looks like a perfect (if not a bit overpriced) choice for a person who already has a collection of Speedmasters and wants to spice it with a lot more technologically advanced timekeeper from Japan.
Japanese watches
The Japanese watchmaker has fairly recently presented a line of affordable dress watches. Coming in different color variations and featuring both stainless steel and gold-toned bodies, the new Seiko Recraft collection comes in an unexpectedly finely crafted (albeit, a bit too oversized) case and is powered by an in-house Caliber 7S26 self-winding movement: the same inexpensive, but bullet-proof job that also animated their well-known Seiko SKX781 Orange Monster diving watch.