Seiko, it’s time to bring the Age of Discovery back

Buffy Acacia

Ever since Seiko gutted their catalogues in 2019, making way for more cohesive and distinctive product ranges, I’ve been waiting for a very particular kind of old Seiko spirit. Sure, the huge variety of colours, dials, and collaborations have been fun, but there haven’t been many of those little weirdo watches you need to do a double-take at, and those are the ones which win my heart.  Granted, Seiko’s Age of Discovery collection was long-gone by 2019, and there was even a limited edition reissue in 2020. However, the timing was totally wrong for that re-issue when people were still lamenting the loss of the OG Seiko SKX. I firmly believe that now is the time for the quirky Age of Discovery range to come back.

It’s a little bit unclear as to whether the original Seiko Age of Discovery was introduced in 1990 or 1992. The launch was supposed to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ landing on American islands in 1492, but the 30th anniversary reissue came out in 2020. In any case, the early ‘90s welcomed this romantic idealisation of the swashbuckling centuries. The advertising was saturated with tales of sea beasts and battling elements, along with the notion that there’s little mystery left in our ever-shrinking world. That’s something which resonates with me, and clearly also for the customers who made the collection a commercial success. Even ignoring the designs, some of these Age of Discovery references used Seiko’s most technologically advanced quartz movements, and ones such as the 6M13 Perpetual Calendar (needing no adjustment between the years 1400-2499, even switching between the Julian Calendar and Gregorian Calendar in 1582) are still impressive three decades later.

The Age of Discovery as a period generally covers the years 1400-1700. Plenty of exploration had happened before then, but this was a time of mapping the entire world, contacting previously isolated cultures (for better or for worse), and setting the stage for globalisation in the following centuries. Crossing the Renaissance and Baroque periods, just think about how much the world changed during that time. The printing press was invented, Constantinople fell, the Salem witch trials were conducted, and Seiko somehow captured the spirit of all of that within an aesthetic style. The scroll lugs, the gold coatings, the cartographic references, and the Roman numerals all transport you into this world of antiquity. So why is it time for a return?

This really is an unprecedented era for watchmaking, where colour and character have begun to be prioritised above almost everything else. Even in 2020, when microbrands truly began to soar in popularity, it would have been hard to imagine major brands like Panerai, Doxa and Laco leaning into distressed case finishes. Dials, maybe, but never cases. Now, those watches tell a completely fictional story about their age, wear and hardship, but who cares if it’s genuine damage when it gives you a feeling which only aged watches can give? Panerai especially wouldn’t release a watch unless it was sure it would get sales, proving that there’s a market for watches which are essentially the wrist version of an adventure novel. That’s why the Seiko Age of Discovery series should come back, but not necessarily reissuing all of the old models.

There’s a wonderful opportunity to come up with new models under the Age of Discovery banner, aged as if they’ve been worn at sea for 500 years. Fantastic calibres such as the 6M13 should definitely make a return, perhaps with some modern upgrades like solar charging and atomic clock synchronisation. It’d be one thing to have a watch which looks like a renaissance relic, and it would be even better with immense complications, so that interacting with its various functions and dancing hands feels like you’re solving an ancient puzzle. The tank-style rectangular watches also deserve some more love, even if their time-only displays aren’t as awe-inspiring as the calendar and moonphase watches. The calibre 21907 desk clock is also an incredible collector’s piece, and would surely attract serious interest as a limited edition.

With at least 97 total references over the years, the Seiko Age of Discovery collection is a veritable treasure trove of inspiration for future models. Many of those references also sell for high amounts whenever they pop up on eBay or other marketplaces, showing the appetite for this kind of characterful watch. The 30th anniversary edition was fine, but it didn’t do the best job of capturing what made the original run so special, and it certainly wasn’t the right time to do it. This past year has changed that.