If you’re unfamiliar, Seiko’s Power Design Project is an annual event where Seiko invites their watch designers to let loose and create off-the-wall concept watches that are displayed in a global exhibition. The watches produced in the project are typically prototypes and unique pieces, but when a design resonates particularly strongly with the public, they are occasionally turned into production runs. That is what has happened to 2024’s Power Design Project Panda Chronograph (not to be confused with the panda-style Speedtimer SSC813), which is now available in a 5,000 piece limited edition split across two variations.
In brief, the Seiko Power Design Project Panda Chronograph is a 43mm, 14.6mm-thick quartz chronograph based on designer Kiyotaka Sakai’s 2024 concept. It is limited to 5,000 pieces (3,000 white, 2,000 pink), costs £510 in the UK, and is available to pre-order from 6 October 2026, with deliveries from November.
The concept of a panda chronograph is well established in watchmaking; it refers to a chronograph display where the base of the dial is white and the subdials are black – giving it the appearance of a panda’s face with the black markings around its eyes. Kiyotaka Sakai took that concept and created a more literal interpretation where the chronograph subdials are shaped like the actual markings on a panda’s face and a nose and mouth have been added below the central hands. Completing the piece structurally are the ear-shaped chronograph pushers positioned at 11 and 1 o’clock.
For colours, the Seiko Power Design Project Panda Chronograph is available in white like the original model from 2024 and in a new pink tone. The pink is a reference to the fact that baby pandas are pink before their iconic black and white fur starts growing. Around the edge of both dials is a tachymeter scale that has been renamed ‘Sasameter’ with sasa translating from Japanese as bamboo, the fast growing plant central to the panda’s diet. The panda theming continues on the caseback, which is striped to look like the shoulders of the bear while a three-dimensional tail sits at the bottom.
Structurally, the Seiko Panda Chronograph measures 43mm in diameter with a thickness of 14.6mm, making it a very large chronograph – after all it is a Giant Panda. Inside the case is the quartz calibre 8T61 with an accuracy of +/-15 seconds per month. The use of a quartz movement does make sense due to the unusual positioning of the chronograph pushers, which would be harder to achieve mechanically without a specialist ‘bullhead chrono’ movement. It also helps to keep the watch affordable despite its unusual and very specific design elements.
The Seiko Power Design Project Panda Chronograph is priced at just £510. The white edition is limited to 3,000 pieces and the pink is slightly more exclusive with 2,000 pieces being produced. They are available to pre-order from today, October 6th, with deliveries expected from November. An important note is not to be fooled into thinking that 5,000 watches is a lot – I expect these watches to be immensely popular, similar to the Pink Panther from 2025 and that watch sold out within seconds upon launch despite being limited to 9,999 pieces.
IG: The Seiko Panda is here! First created in 2024 as part of the Seiko Power Design Project, the concept watch is now getting a limited edition production run of 5,000 watches. Priced at £510, could it sell out faster than the Pink Panther which sold out in a matter of seconds when it was released last year?
Price and Specs:
More details at Seiko.
