Seiko SARW013 Review

First, let me transport you far back to about 3 years ago, when it was possible to simply walk into a Rolex A.D., ask for a basic O.P. and go back home with a new watch. Now, hold that thought for a moment, it feels good, right? At that time, there were also other "collector’s perks that don't exist anymore": the high-end Seiko JDM for around USD 1K. They were almost a Grand Seiko but for a fraction of the price. The difference between that line of watches and everything else in the same price range was shocking. The most satisfying purchases of my collection come from that category of watches and I would like to introduce you to one that is, in my opinion, the best of all, the Seiko Presage SARW013.

Mesmerizing is the best word to describe this watch. The deep and lustrous black is the perfect canvas for the elegant white hour numerals and the two golden sub-registers. This dial is everything, it can be clean and discrete or rich and complex at the same time depending on your feelings when you see the piece. Full of subtle details, even the second's hand has this elegant crescent moon on it, and the lugs are interesting with a little twist from the case to the strap. Speaking of which, it is a very comfortable alligator strap with a golden stitch that matches the golden hands and sub-dials.

The dials of this entire line are produced by the master craftsman of Kaga Maki-e and Urushi lacquerware craft, Mr. Isshu Tamura. These two techniques are fascinating. Urushi is a type of deep black lacquer used for literally thousands of years in Japan. It was applied even to coat the armor worn by samurai. The entire process is extremely time-consuming, taking about three weeks to hand-made each dial. Kaga Maki-e is the gold lacquer technique used on the details of the dial. As you can imagine, the result is mesmerizing. This master craftsman is the same responsible for some SBGK limited editions from Grand Seiko Elegance Collection, which costs up to 40x more.

This watch has a comfortable 40.5 mm in diameter, 47.8mm lug to lug, and 12mm thick. It is powered by a nice in-house caliber 6R27 with 29 Jewels, a power reserve of 45+ hours, and operating at 28,800 BPH (4Hz).

This watch was released in 2015, exclusively to the Japanese Market, of course. It is still relatively available in some sellers but I am not sure if Seiko still produces it or if they are “Old New Stock”.

Here are some external references:

• https://www.seikowatches.com/global-en/products/presage/special/timeless_traditions/urushi/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TtSnK5F_4g
• https://www.seikowatches.com/global-en/special/tokinowaza/tamura/interview/
• https://www.seikowatches.com/global-en/special/tokinowaza/tamura/

Here are some photos: