Hands-On: Seiko Debuts Revived 5 Sports Line With 27 New Models
Since 1963 the Seiko 5 series has been an affordable backbone of the brand's lineup, offering reliable mechanical watches to the entry level consumer. While all models have followed the same five basic criteria (water resistance, a durable case and strap, a day/date complication, an automatic movement, and a 4 o'clock crown), the Seiko 5 nameplate has been shown on a massive array of styles and designs over the years. For many years, one of the cornerstones of the Seiko 5 stable was the Seiko 5 Sports series, first launched in 1968 as a sporting timepiece aimed at the youth market. Although the Seiko 5 Sports name gradually faded from Seiko's lineup over the years, in August of last year, the marque announced it would revitalize this historic line with a massive array of new models sharing the same cases, dials, movements, and handsets. This series is further divided into five sub-lines: Sports, generally the most traditional and conservative styles; Suits, an upscale, vintage-, and dr
How To Understand 'Swiss Made' & Switzerland's Watchmaking Culture
The purpose of this guide is to help people better understand the culture that designs, manufactures, and sells high-end Swiss timepieces-ideally, in the most lighthearted and non-stuffy of ways. I've spent the better part of 15 years looking at the Swiss watch industry from the outside, and most of that time actually working with it.While Switzerland produces a lot of nice things (from delicacies to cosmetics), it is their watches that capture my attention. I love watches, I really do, but I can say that many elements of Swiss culture that allow them to continue making excellent-quality timepieces also make them pretty awkward (to say the least) in other areas. To be clear, I'm not Swiss (just an uncivilized American), and I'm not here to define the Swiss people or Switzerland’s watch making segment, but I can help explain a lot of it to those people who are understandably mystified by a lot of what I've come to understand are elements of the culture that have caused feelings fr