Since its relaunch a few years ago, the King Seiko collection has slowly been expanding with new styles and designs with the main families being the KSK, 1969 and VANAC. However, one thing that has united them all is that they are presented on metal bracelets, even though the style of said bracelets is also distinct for each series. Now though, King Seiko are introducing their first leather straps, which we got hands on with, as part of an expansion to the VANAC series with the new SLA093J1 and SLA095J1, also known as the ‘Tokyo Horizon’ models.
Starting with a brief overview of the VANAC case, it’s a 41mm steel watch with facetted angles in a tonneau shape, finished with vertical brushing. It’s inspired by the 1970s original series with the distinction that the original collection was famous for its facetted crystal over the dial, which is absent here. Instead, to sort of emulate the visual style of the facetted crystals, the dial features horizontal engraving and a sectored hour scale, as well as retro indexes.
For this expansion of the VANAC line, Seiko have introduced two new dial colour options that pair nicely with their leather straps. The first is brown with gold-coloured accents for the hands and around the edge of the display. It has the retro appeal of a brown leather armchair, which is also the colour of its strap. The other option is a dark green dial with the same golden accents, paired with a black leather strap. The official names of the colourways are Urban Garden (brown) and Urban Greenery (green).
The straps themselves have a prominent calf leather style grain with a shiny finish. The texture feels great under the fingers, and it has enough flex to be comfortable while still staying sturdy on the wrist. They are tapered to follow the line of the case as it loops around your wrist leading into a deployant clasp. I often find myself preferring a regular pin buckle but the clasp here is at least satisfying to use with its push buttons.
With the watch off the wrist, you can see the exhibition caseback, which reveals the 8L45 automatic movement housed inside. It’s one of Seiko’s high-spec movements with a 72-hour power reserve and an accuracy of +10/-5 seconds per day, which is a significant improvement compared to Seiko’s entry-level calibres. It’s also finished nicely with striped finishing across the plate and rotor.
The King Seiko VANAC ‘Tokyo Horizon’ Leather Strap models are priced at £2,800. That’s slightly less than their metal bracelet counterparts, though only by £100, so not a huge margin. I do hope they eventually offer all versions of the watch on both of the strap and bracelet options rather than keeping them restricted to one style, as that would really open up the personalisation options. For now, though, if you like a strap on your King Seiko, this is your only choice (unless you go third party or swap to one of Seiko’s range of alternatives).
Price and Specs:
More details at Seiko.
