Affordable Travel-Time with the Seiko Presage GMT Urushi Lacquer

Featuring an urushi lacquer dial.

Seiko adds travel time functionality to its line of affordable dress watches with the Presage GMT Urushi Lacquer Dial SPB447. The new Presage is part of the Craftsmanship series that sports dials decorated with traditional Japan artisanal crafts ranging from lacquer to porcelain to enamel, and features glossy urushi lacquer dial to go along with the GMT function.

A key part of Japanese culture for millennia, urushi is obtained from the lacquer tree and used for a variety of applications, ranging from kitchenware to samurai armour. Here it is applied to the dial by hand at the workshop of urushi specialist Isshu Tamura, which was also responsible for lacquer dials on past Presage models.

Initial thoughts

The new GMT offers a similar value proposition as past Presage Craftsmanship models: the dial is decorated by skilled artisans, a feature typically associated with more expensive watches, but the price tag remains an affordable US$1,750. And it has the added bonus of a GMT, giving it an added dimension of utility compared to most Craftsmanship models that either have calendar or power reserve functions.

The only downside is the fact that it’s not a “true” GMT with an independently adjustable hour hand, but that is the case for practically all GMT watches in this price range, so it doesn’t put the Presage GMT at a disadvantage relative to the competition.

Urushi dial

The Presage GMT sports a dial finished in black urushi, with the gilt markings on the dial done in gold-powder print. The brush-shaped GMT hand is similarly coated in gold-powder lacquer, while the seconds hand is gold plated. For nighttime legibility, the hour and minute hands as well as hour markers are coated with Lumibrite. A notable details is the date disc that is black to match the dial.

Measuring 40.2 mm in diameter and 12.4 mm in thickness, the case is steel with a “super-hard coating” that boosts its scratch resistance. It’s a little thick for a watch of this style, but the case height is required to accommodate the in-house 6R54 movement. The 6R54 runs at 21,600 beats per hour and has a useful three-day power reserve.

Because the GMT function was built onto the base movement, rather than being integrated from the ground up, the 6R54 is not a true GMT. The gold GMT hand is adjustable back and forth in one hour steps, instead of the local time hour hand being adjustable as would be the case in a true GMT (that would naturally cost more).