Presage Arita Porcelain Dial Ref. SARX061

In the early 1910s, the Japanese watch manufacturer debuted its first mechanical watch. In continuation of its development, Seiko has launched its automatic caliber in the 1950s, along with its marvel, which is the creation of its shock-absorbing system for the movement; known as the "Diashock" system.

Seiko has gone through decades of refinements and developing its mechanical watchmaking skills. This had led to the creation of Seiko's all-mechanical collection; the Presage. The Presage line started in 2016 and consisted of Seiko's leading mechanical watch collection, the caliber 4R, 6R, and 8R. At first, they offered with unique dials like fired enamel or traditional lacquer dials. For an instant, the 2018 Shippo Enamel duos (SPB073J1 and 75J1)
 

Today, we introduced to you the latest model; the Presage Arita Porcelain Dial Ref. SARX061 (International ref. SPB095J1). Seiko continued with the introduction with a dial made from Arita Porcelain at an incredible price point.

Seiko is both a genius watchmaker and master in craftsmanship, not just in reliability and quality of their timepieces, but also in their aesthetics and craftsmanship. Therefore today we will be focusing more on the latter.

The Seiko Presage Arita Porcelain Dial Ref. SARX061/SPB093J1 consists of a new traditional Japanese porcelain manufacturing technique with the combination of Seiko's usual watchmaking prowess.

The dial of the SARX061/SPB093J1 is definitely where the highlight is. But before we get there, let's talk about what is Arita Porcelain.

The name Arita comes from its town located at the island of Kyushu. Since the 16th century, Arita town is the hub for Japanese porcelain making, even until today. Porcelain products made in Arita is uniquely Japanese and still appeal globally for its traditional handmade charm. Therefore Seiko has earned the appropriate right path to apply this material for its latest chapter in its new Presage model.
 

So let's get started and straight onto the dial. The complexity of applying porcelain at this level to the dial is done by master craftsman Hiroyuki Hashiguchi and his manufacturing company, who have been making traditional porcelain since 1830. They developed this multi-level process for Seiko relatively low volume, but that means things are done the good old conventional way right! The result? The Arita porcelain dial radiates a type of soft glossiness yet with deep finishing that not seen on the usual enamel dials.

At first, the base material gone through a unique molding process that allows it to have a certain depth. Then, the dial goes true a firing process at some 1300 degrees to harden and producing the cream-white colorway. Wait, this is only the beginning as the dial gets a special glaze treatment by Hashiguchi before another round of baking until the bonding of the glaze takes place on the dial. After inspection the cut out of the hole and date window frame, the dial is fired again to smoothen up the surface what we get a luxurious and soft gloss finishing with a certain blue tinge that inherits the Arita' legacy of porcelain making.

All these finishings brings similarity to the enamel finishing, where it has unrivaled longevity, making it impermeable to nearly anything for many years to come. Like enamel, the Arita dial on the SARX061/SPB095J1 will continue to look as new as though it just came out fresh from the manufacturer even years down the road.
 

The 12'o clock hour marker is painted on top in red, to keep the consistency of the Presage lineup. The watch then paired with the blued-steel hands that tie nicely with its porcelain dial. As per the tradition of the Presage models, a genuine alligator strap is further combo-ed, elevating it on the elegant side of things, but one can swap out with another for a more casual look.

The watch case measures modestly at 40.6mm with a relatively proportioned profile of 12.4mm. With a lugs to lugs length of only 48.8mm, formating it to sit well most of our wrist. It includes a domed sapphire crystal that sits flushed to its polished case, with AR coating on the inner side.

Before getting into its specifications, we want to touch more on the milestone of this magnificent engine that Seiko uses for its JDMs. Seiko started to have the 6R15 engine since 2005, which derive from the well known 7S26 movement. Seiko collectors proudly admire the 7S and 6R family as one of their best in-house manufactured calibers found in their watches.

Well, since the 6R15 produced in 2005, the Seiko Sumo range adopted this movement since day one, and have relied on it until 14 years later, where Seiko decided that they should refresh the collection with the latest engine - the 6R35.
 

Therefore, the Seiko Presage Arita Porcelain Dial Ref. SARX061 /SPB095J1 is the pioneer to have a new movement; powered by Seiko’s latest automatic caliber, 6R35, which is an upgrade from the workhorse 6R15. It still operates at 21,600 BPH (3 Hertz) with hacking and hand winding capabilities. Its main updates are the increase of jewels to 24 and a power reserve of 70 hours from 50 hours on previous versions.

With the Presage Arita Porcelain Dial Pwr Rsv Ref. SARX061 / SPB093J1, Seiko has once again showcased their ability to produce an elegant timepiece, packed with traditional Japanese artistry techniques. This dynamic combination also showcases the design discipline behind the Urushi collection. With clean lines and high-level polishing with what is considered a unique dial available only to Seiko, this watch has a certain charisma that not seen in many other watches. It's more than meets the eye, appearing to be simple at first, until one scrutinizes it and realize the complexity and artistry work done to bring this dial to a whole new level.