Seiko is proud of their proprietary Spring Drive movement and rightly so; it’s a great piece of watchmaking. But until recently, it’s been one restricted to Grand Seiko, the upper echelons of the company’s horological efforts. Earlier this year though they added it into their iconic Prospex line. Now it’s the turn of the exponentially expanding Presage.

It’s perhaps less of a surprise to see the Spring Drive in the new SNR037 and SNR039 Presage pieces than in the Prospex. After all, the collection is basically Grand Seiko at a lesser price point. The watches have the same focus on Japanese artistry and hand-crafted nature as the prestige sub-brand.

The shape of the new watches is similar to the other Presage pieces, though here the 40mm steel eschews integrated lugs for straight ones, a little bit more restrained, a little bit more classical. The look is finished with either a black or a white enamel dial, with indicators set into depressions in the rich material.

These dials pay tribute to Riki Watanabe, with whom Seiko has had many past collaborations. The designer passed away back in 2013, but in this instance Seiko worked with Mitsuru Yokosawa, a long-time friend of Watanabe, to ensure the dials stayed true to his design ethos.

Behind both watches is, of course, the Spring Drive, the Seiko Calibre 5R65, which is not only extraordinarily accurate and reliable, but offers a solid 72-hour power reserve. You can see it for yourself through the sapphire casebacks; it’s a handsome sight.

The Spring Drive is fast becoming less of a niche, upper-tier offering, more of a reason to invest in a fine Japanese watch. The price of these new Presage pieces might seem steep for the collection at EUR 4,650 – just over £4,200 at our current painful exchange rate – but for what you get here that’s incredibly good value.

Price & Specs:

Model Name: Seiko Presage Prestige Line Enamel Dial Spring Drive

Ref: SNR037 (white dial), SNR039 (black dial)

Case/Dial: 40mm diameter x 13.1mm height, stainless steel case

Water Resistance: 100m (10 bar)

Movement: Seiko Calibre 5R65, in-house, automatic

Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, power reserve

Power Reserve: 72h

Strap: Cordovan leather strap with three-fold clasp with push-button clasp

Price: €4,650

More details at www.seikowatches.com