Seiko expands Prospex family with stunning new Grand Touring collection

Seiko has just expanded its Prospex watch family with a capsule collection called the Grand Touring Mechanical Chronograph.

Drawing inspiration from vintage motorsport, the watches include a tachymeter on their dial, which with the chronograph movement and pushers can be used to calculate the average speed of an object – like a race car – traveling a known distance – like a road race, a circuit, or a standing quarter-mile.

Also distinctive is the vertical pattern on the dial, which Seiko says was inspired by a highway. Other details include a date window at the half-past-four position, a dual-curved sapphire crystal, 100 metres of water resistance and a steel case back. Behind that is Seiko’s in-house 8R48 mechanical chronograph movement with vertical clutch and column wheel.

Two models are available. The first has a sky blue dial with a white 60-second track and a black tachymeter scale around the outer edge, matching the sub dials. The other carries a silver-grey colour scheme across all elements of the dial, and swaps out the sky blue model’s steel bracelet – which is itself inspired by Seiko’s original 1972 ‘Panda’ chronograph – for a grey leather strap.

I think these both look fantastic, but for me the silver-grey model is the one to go for. I really like how the dial and strap manage to include a handful of different shades of the same colour palette, but while retaining a simple, restrained aesthetic. The tachymeter and its markings add some motorsport vibes, of course, but also give the watch a vintage feel without doing anything as overt as resorting to faux patina.

Available for pre-order now, the Seiko Prospex Grand Touring in sky blue and silver grey is priced from £2,250 to £2,340 – or around $3,050-$3,170. Deliveries are due to start this month.