Seiko’s Design Project Bears Fruit with the Collection 1

A gender-neutral revival of the 1980s Tissé.

The Seiko Collection 1 is the first commercial release from the brand’s revived Power Design Project. The look revisits the Tissé, one of many popular Seiko designs from the 1980s. A delicate watch on a beaded bracelet, it was a big hit in Japan. Four decades later, its spirit returns in a compact, unisex format designed to be worn loosely like jewellery.

Designed by Yuya Suganuma, the Collection 1 debuts as a 500-piece limited edition in each of three colours, blending typical Seiko build quality with a playful, accessory-first design.

Initial thoughts

For much of the Swiss watch industry, the 1980s was an era marked by the painful triumph of quartz technology. But on the other side of the world, quartz pioneer Seiko was thriving. The brand’s catalogues of the era reflects the optimism of the moment with an astonishing number of interesting designs, many of which have been reimagined over the years; we’ll likely see more of them in the future.

The Tissé was one such model, introduced as a ladies watch in 1984. A tiny watch on a beaded steel bracelet, the Tissé was designed to be worn loosely, and became a big hit in the home market. The Tissé was eventually discontinued, but the concept was reimagined in 2022 as part of the brand’s re-launched Power Design Project, an internal design initiative with the theme of “rebirth”.

The watch that would become the Collection 1 drew attention for questioning traditional norms for wristwatch ergonomics. It was designed by Yuya Suganuma, a graduate of the Kanazawa College of Art who joined Seiko in 2021, and who also designed the clever ninja watch for the Power Design Project earlier this year.

Today the re-born Tissé debuts as the Collection 1, the first product commercialised directly from the Power Design Project. And while the 1984 original was designed at a time when small, delicate watches were marketed exclusively to women, times have changed. Small watches are now in vogue for men as well, so the Collection 1 is officially a unisex offering.

Designer Yuya Suganuma

Pricing has only been announced in European markets, where the watches will cost €405 for the stainless variant and €450, for the black and yellow gold-plated models, when they go on sale later this year. The pricing is significantly higher than similar Swatch models like the Inspirance, but the style will surely resonate with some. And they won’t be that common; each colour is a limited edition of 500 pieces, offering typical Seiko build quality in a fashion-forward package.

A watch to wear loosely

The original Tissé became popular because it allowed the watch to be worn loosely, more like an accessory than a watch. The Collection 1 seeks to recreate this concept, and is necessarily quite small at just 20 mm in diameter; it would nearly fit between the lugs of a Daytona. The case of the watch itself is the largest of many circular bracelet links, which are larger above twelve than below six; the result is pleasing asymmetry.

Worn loosely as intended, the watch will be subject to more wear than the typical wristwatch, so it would have been nice to see a specialised scratch-resistant coating used, but doing so would have likely increased the price substantially. Another item liable to scratch is the crystal, which isn’t sapphire but is instead Seiko’s Hardlex mineral crystal. But the durability of Hardlex, being more shatter resistant than sapphire, makes it the right choice for the Collection 1.

The Collection 1 is powered by the in-house quartz cal. 4N30, which is ordinary in most respects, save for its diminutive 12.5 mm size. Rated to +/- 15 seconds per month, it should run for about three years between battery changes.


Key facts and price

Seiko Power Design Project Collection 1
Ref. SSEH021 (stainless steel)
Ref. SSEH023 (blackened steel)
Ref. SSEH024 (gold-plated)

Diameter: 20.2 mm
Height: 6.7 mm
Material: Stainless steel
Crystal: Hardlex mineral crystal
Water resistance: 30 m 

Movement: Cal. 4N30
Functions: Hours and minutes
Frequency: 32,768 Hz
Power reserve: Battery life of approximately 3 years

Strap: Stainless steel bracelet

Limited edition: Limited to 500 pieces in each configuration
Availability: From December 2025 at Seiko boutiques and retailers
Price: €405 (SSEH021); €450 (SSEH023 and SSEH024)

For more information, visit seikowatches.com.


 

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Long-Hidden Patek Philippe Watches Headline Sotheby’s NY Sale

Graves, Packard and... Emery?

This December at its New York auction. Sotheby’s will bring one a hitherto secret collection of complicated Patek Philippe watches to market, The Olmsted Complications Collection.

Accrued by late financier Robert M. Olmsted over six decades, the collection includes watches commissioned by the most prominent American collectors of the early 20th century, including Henry Graves Jr., Thomas E. Emery, James M. Morehead III, and Elliot C. Lee, some of which were completely unknown to the public until now.

An “Extra” quality observatory watch made for Henry Graves Jr.

It couldn’t be better timed either, with the flagship lot being a previously undocumented Patek Philippe perpetual calendar desk clock, just months after the brand launched its modern equivalent.

Better still – at least for American bidders – these watches are already stateside, avoiding the hefty import taxes levied against Switzerland. In addition to rare and exotic pocket watches, the auction also makes room for a few watches with more mainstream appeal, including a Rolex ref. 6100 with a cloisonné enamel dragon dial.


The Thomas E. Emery Desk Clock

The headline lot is a Patek Philippe desk clock made for one Thomas Emery – the same client who commissioned Patek Philippe’s first wrist-borne perpetual calendar in 1925. Until now there were only two publicly known Patek Philippe perpetual calendar desk clocks, those made for James Ward Packard and Henry Graves Jr.

Like its siblings, Emery’s desk clock has a silver wedge shaped cabinet. Inside is a large key-wound and key-set movement with a perpetual calendar and an eight-day power reserve from two barrels.

The movement in Emery’s clock is, practically speaking, the same as that found in the Graves, giving it a much different dial from Packard’s, which inspired Patek Philippe’s modern desk clock, launched earlier this year. The movement in Emery’s clock, however, has one refinement the others lack: a diamond end stone for the balance, which Patek Philippe used sparingly.

The clock’s original owner was Thomas E. Emery, whose family owned Emery Industries, a Cincinnati-based chemical company. Emery passed in 1975, and according to Sotheby’s, Olmsted acquired the clock in 1976, making him only the second owner.

Interestingly, Daryn Schnipper of Sotheby’s revealed that Patek Philippe claimed not to know of the timepiece’s existence, despite it being recorded in their books. That implies the firm’s records aren’t fully digitised, or at least haven’t been thoroughly analysed, meaning the Patek Philippe Museum’s information advantage over private collectors may be less significant than previously thought – at least for now.

The Emery deck clock carries an estimate of US$500,000 to $1 million.


Two watches with four movements for James M. Morehead

Another of Patek Philippe’s important American clients, John Motley Morehead III, had a penchant for unusual watches. He commissioned a triple complication with a double, split chronograph – as in two separate chronographs and split seconds, not two rattrapantes. Morehead also commissioned a pair of unusual and beautiful double-movement watches, which come to market for the first time.

Both are minute repeaters, and one has a chronograph with split seconds and a minutes totaliser. Patek Philippe presumably sourced both movements (for both watches) from Victorin Piguet, a complications-focused établisseur in the Vallée de Joux that had a very close relationship with Genevan watchmakers. The firm is best known for coordinating construction of the Henry Graves Supercomplication for Patek Philippe.

Turning the crown clockwise winds the primary (complicated) movement, while turning the crown counterclockwise winds the simple movement underneath – like most two-train watches of this era. You can set the primary movement by pulling out the crown (negative setting) while the secondary movement sets with the aid of a small pin at one o’clock. The secondary movements aren’t easily accessible in either watch, but the rates can be easily adjusted using a lever by the escape wheel bridge on one watch, and an adjustment screw on the other.

Movements of the watch without chronograph.

While I’ve seen a handful of pocket watches that are essentially two movements that share a main plate, and I even know of one with a balance on the dial side and another on the back, I don’t know of any others with two discrete movements stacked on top of each other.

Movements of the watch with chronograph.

The obvious explanation for this arrangement is that one movement tracks civil time, and the other, sidereal time. Morehead had such a passion for the celestial that he donated the Morehead Planetarium to his alma mater, the University of North Carolina. However, purpose-built sidereal timekeepers usually use a 24-hour time scale, so perhaps it was for another reason entirely.

The less complicated of the two is expected to hammer for between US$300,000 and $500,000, while the chronograph model is valued between US$500,000 and $1 million.

The most conventional of Morehead’s watches is a minute repeating clock watch with grand et petite sonnerie, made in 1906 by Patek Philippe. Morehead passed in 1965, the same year Olmsted acquired the three watches, once again making him their second owner.

The sonnerie is estimated at a comparatively modest US$100,000 to $200,000.


Elliot C. Lee’s Grand Complicated Tourbillon

The most complicated watch from Olmstead collection revealed so far is a Dent grand complication made for another prominent American collector, Elliot Cabot Lee, in 1901. It is a minute repeating clock watch with grande et petite sonnerie, perpetual calendar, and split seconds chronograph with 60-minute totaliser.

The watch photographed with other members of the Lee Collection. Image – The Jewelers Circular and Horological Review 1924

Louis-Elisée Piguet’s firm in Le Brassus supplied the ebauche, while the massive tourbillon is the work of Nicole Nielsen. It features a semi-helical or “duo-in-uno” hairspring, which is half flat and half helical, matched to an English lever escapement.

The Dent grand complication carries an estimate of US$150,000 to $250,000.

A Familiar Frodsham

No, you are not experiencing déjà vu, this watch is in fact the near identical twin of no. 09649, with which we went hands-on with last year. It is just as massive, with an elaborate engine-turned dial.

Tourbillons are common today, but were much rarer and highly revered in 1915 when this watch was built, with only a highly skilled few specialising in their construction and adjustment. One would assume the tourbillon subassembly was entirely of English make, like the Dent, but on close inspection, this English tourbillion uses a Swiss-style club-tooth steel escape wheel – make of that what you will.

Oddly, the watch only has grand sonnerie striking. More affordable repeating clock watches often omitted the more complicated petite sonnerie function, suppressing hour strikes except on the new hour.

However, this watch would have been the furthest thing from “affordable”. When it was made, it would be been extraordinarily expensive, partially because English watches were far more expensive than Swiss watches in general, but mostly because of the tourbillon.

The Frodsham’s historical value translates to an estimate of US$300,000 to $500,000.

For more about Important Watches featuring Exceptional Discoveries: The Olmsted Complications Collection, visit sothebys.com.


 

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Mineral Stones for Audemars Piguet Code 11.59 Flying Tourbillon

38 mm and striking.

It took a while, but Audemars Piguet’s Code 11.59 has matured enough that the new debuts are more likely to be interesting than not. The Code 11.59 Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon 38 mm with stone dials aren’t a novel proposition, but they are a trio of good looking watches that use the dial design of the Code 11.59 to maximum effect, while also scaling down the case to 38 mm and relying on the impressively constructed cal. 2968.

Audemars Piguet (AP) has experimented with various unusual materials for the Code 11.59 dial – the onyx version was launched three years ago – all of which have evidently been commercially successful, explaining the three new models with dials in mineral stones of red ruby root, blue sodalite, and green malachite, respectively.

Initial thoughts

The Code 11.59 was widely panned at launch in 2019, occasionally unfairly, but it’s evolved in the right direction since. The new tourbillon line-up illustrates this.

The wide, relatively deep-set dial of the Code 11.59 makes it a good platform to show off dial patterns and textures, especially when executed in a minimalist way as it is done here. Mineral stone dials are recent fad, so the new Code 11.59 tourbillons aren’t revolutionary, but they look good.

The three watches are each in a different colour of gold, but share the same case dimensions of 38 mm by 9.6 mm, making them smaller and thinner than the original, 41 mm version of the Code 11.59 tourbillon.

The downsizing gives the case a surprisingly compact feel that will appeal to anyone who prefers more manageable sizes. That said, the inherent style of the Code 11.59 design still leaves the case feeling somewhat tall, even though it measures thin in absolute terms. That’s a missed opportunity as the movement inside is notably slim.

Price wise, the new tourbillon is comparable to earlier models with similar specs. They’re about US$150,000 a piece, which is fair in today’s (highly priced) market.

Mineral stones

The new Code 11.59 tourbillon is available in three dial types: red ruby root, blue sodalite, and green malachite, with each stone matched with a white, rose, and yellow gold case, respectively.

All share the same minimalist dial design. The mineral stone dial is entirely unadorned save for the applied brand logo under 12 o’clock, leaving the grain of the stone on full display.

The raised chapter ring carrying the minute scale is colour matched to the dial, while the hands and logo appliqué are solid gold and matched with the case metal.

The new Code 11.59 Flying Tourbillon is powered by the cal. 2968, one of AP’s latest generation movements that hails from the same family as the cal. 7121 in the Royal Oak “Jumbo” and the new cal. 7138 perpetual calendar. Featuring open-worked bridges on the back, it’s arguably AP’s most sophisticated time-only movement with tourbillon.

The cal. 2968 a thin movement – just 3.4 mm high – but sports a full rotor, a notable technical achievement that explains why the calibre was first launched as the RD#3 limited edition in 2022.


Key facts and price

Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Selfwinding Flying Tourbillon 38 mm Stone Dials
Ref. 26665OR.OO.D349CR.01 (sodalite, pink gold)
Ref. 26665BC.OO.D632CR.01 (ruby root, white gold)
Ref. 26665BA.OO.D412CR.01 (malachite, yellow gold)

Diameter: 38 mm
Height: 9.6 mm
Material: 18k gold
Crystal: Sapphire
Water resistance: 30 m

Movement: Cal. 2968
Functions: Hours, minutes, flying tourbillon
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 21,600 beats per hour (3 Hz)
Power reserve: 50 hours

Strap: Alligator strap with folding clasp

Limited edition: No
Availability: At AP boutiques and AP Houses
Price: Approximately US$150,000

For more, visit Audemarspiguet.com.


 

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