If you’ve ever come across the history of American watch brand Ball then you also know the history of early railroad watches. Essentially, in the early days of locomotion there were no timekeeping standards on board trains, with drivers reliant on their personal watches – unfortunately there was an incident when an unreliable watch resulted in a crash between two trains. In an attempt to avoid such disasters in future, the concept of railroad watches emerged. Timepieces tested and approved for use on railways due to their good accuracy. While Ball were over in America, Seiko were revolutionising the railroad watch in Japan. Celebrating this history is the Seiko Presage Craftsmanship in Enamel with Roman Numerals.
First of all, Seiko Presage Craftsmanship in Enamel with Roman Numerals is one hell of a name for a watch. Sure, it’s accurate but come on Seiko, where’s a little imagination to make it more exciting and more manageable to say. Why not take a leaf from Moser’s book and name it after a train like the Streamliner. Encyclopaedic names aside, it’s a really nice watch. It rides the line between dress and tool watch, featuring a refined dial made from enamel while also being inspired by professional railroad watches. It’s specifically based on the Timekeeper, a pocket watch from 1895, their first officially designated railroad watch.
The hybrid nature of the design is reflected in the watch’s dimensions. You’d expect a classic dress watch to be around 37mm, like the Presage Laurel from a few years ago, but the Presage Craftsmanship in Enamel with Roman Numerals is 40.2mm. That’s surprisingly big for a model inspired by vintage design but at the same time large enough to provide good legibility, which is vital when precise timing is important. It’s the same logic as to why dive watches and chronographs tend to be bigger, just applied to the railways instead.
Focussing in on the dial, it has the smooth, white surface of enamel, which provides excellent contrast to the black railway minute track and titular Roman numeral hour markers. It’s worth noting that here the term railway refers to the physical appearance of the scale looking like the train tracks, rather than having some secret purpose that makes it better for use on the railways. The central hour, minute and seconds hands are blue to add a spot of colour as is the hand on the 24-hour subdial at 6 o’clock.
It makes for a very refined display with the feel of an early 20th century design. It’s not quite Art Deco but it’s not far off either if you slapped it in a rectangular case. Beneath the surface of the watch is the 6R5H automatic calibre with 72-hour power reserve, one of Seiko’s top movements. Three-day power reserves hit the sweet spot of being weekend proof, meaning you can put it down on Friday evening and it’ll still be ticking on Monday morning – great for that daily commute after a few days relaxing.
The Seiko Presage Craftsmanship in Enamel with Roman Numerals is priced at £1,280. Sure, that’s a bit pricier than the £400 price tags we’re used to seeing from Seiko but given this is a Craftsmanship model and it houses one of their top movements, that seems like great value. I’m also a sucker for an old-fashioned railway so the idea of a railroad watch appeals.
Price and Specs:
More details at Seiko Boutique.
