Seiko and HUF Revisit the Playful and Affordable Time Sonar

It should be on your sonar.

Seiko and American streetwear brand HUF team up to reimagine a classic from Seiko’s back catalogue with the affordable Seiko 5 Sports HUF Limited Edition. Inspired by Seiko’s Time Sonar flyback chronographs from the 1970s, the sunburst translucent dials have been given a new look in HUF green that works particularly well with the sonar theme.

Initial thoughts

Seiko’s latest streetwear collaboration is with HUF, an American brand founded by professional skateboarder-turned-fashion designer Keith Hufnagel. This is Seiko’s fourth outing with HUF, following a trio of diver-style “5KX” limited editions.

The dial is inspired by a pair of Time Sonar flyback chronographs with translucent plastic dials that Seiko sold during the 1970s. Despite not being a chronograph, the design is essentially the same as the original, which also had only three hands despite being a chronograph.

The Seiko 7015-6010. It initially came with a compass that attached to the strap – most were lost with time. Image – Seiko Design 140

In its original chronograph format, the user could leave the Time Sonar’s chronograph running to act as a sweep seconds hand while reducing wear on the vertical clutch, and a flyback function enabled immediate timing of intervals up to one minute. In this sense, the unusual functionality was similar to that of the more recent Patek Philippe ref. 5975.

Seiko offered the originals with brown and blue-green translucent dials (meant to appeal to teenagers) which Seiko has recently referenced in several 5KX models. Obviously HUF’s signature green was not one of the original colourways, but it’s a natural fit for the aesthetic as green is so strongly associated with sonar (and radar) displays.

So-called “smoked” dials are having a movement now, with recent offerings from Patek Philippe to Hermes, but the aesthetic isn’t exclusive to the high end. The transparent dial works as well now as it did in the 1970s, revealing the user-selectable day disc capable of displaying English or Kanji characters.

At just US$400, the HUF collaboration maintains the affordable pricing of the original, though it seems the days of cheap chronographs from Seiko are well behind us.

Beyond the dial

Like most Seiko 5 models, the watch is stainless steel, 100 m water-resistant, and equipped with day and date windows. Inside is the brand’s entry-level automatic workhorse calibre 4R36, which powers most of the Seiko 5 lineup today. Unlike Seiko 5s of the past, it is equipped with hand-winding and “hacking” seconds. It is visible through the case back, which is fitting as the plastic-dialed Time Sonars were two of the very first Seiko models with display case backs.

The case back is emblazoned with a map of HUF’s hometown: San Francisco.

Like most Seiko limited editions, each watch is individually numbered (with the limited edition number replacing the serial number) which isn’t always the case with limited edition watches, regardless of price point. Another thing Seiko does well with limited edition is the packaging, which in this case, is a HUF-branded metal tin.