It seems like everyone is making a play in the “integrated bracelet sports watch” category these days. With prices for iconic designs like the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak skyrocketing, having an octagonal shaped stainless steel sports watch on your wrist has become a bit of an obsession for many well heeled collectors, and putting one on your wrist is quickly becoming the hottest new watch game among the Swiss houses going into 2020. With recent releases from Bell & Ross and Chopard taking direct aim at this market, there are plenty of hot takes out there about the relative import of these watches in the larger horological space. But this conversation seems to be happening mostly among the high end collector crowd. What about the enthusiast and value driven part of the spectrum?

Seals Model A.5

Case Material: Stainless steel

Dial: Black with Acid Green or Burgundy Roulette chapter ring

Dimensions: 41 x 11.65mm

Crystal: Sapphire

Water Resistance: 100 meters

Crown: Screw down

Movement: Miyota 9039

Strap/bracelet: Stainless steel bracelet

Price: $800

Expected Release: Pre-order beginning on November 9

Enter the Seals Watch Co. Model A.5. Here we have a sports watch in an integrated bracelet style, with a Royal Oak-ish case shape, and some really fun vintage inspired touches. The “F” word here is really important. This isn’t a 100 year old brand trying to stake their claim in an ultra competitive market with a focus group-tested, design by committee, flavor of the month watch. This is the brainchild of a fellow enthusiast and watch lover, someone who, you get the sense, wants nothing more than the wearer of his watch to smile when checking the time.

The Model A.5 has two variants, both using color in imaginative ways that we don’t see too often in mainstream watches. The Burgundy Roulette version uses a tri-color 24 hour chapter ring that would have felt at home in the 1970s but is used less in contemporary timepiece design. Red tones are tough to get right in a watch, but matching the deep burgundy with bright yellow and the white of the inner minutes ring works really well here.