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Seiko’s Affordable New Retro-Futuristic Dive Watch Is Almost Too Cool

The watch draws inspiration from vintage Seiko references and adds a touch of sci-fi.

Close-up of a Seiko wristwatch with a blue dial, orange and white hands, and a black bezel featuring orange and white markings. The watch displays the day and date as "MON 6." The strap is black with blue and orange stripes. The background is a gradient from white to orange.Seiko

By Johnny Brayson

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Most of the time, Seiko plays it pretty safe with its designs, which is one of the reasons why the Japanese giant is one of the largest and most successful watch brands in the world.

But once in a while, Seiko lets loose and launches something really weird. Sometimes, the result isn’t so hot, but other times, these weird Seikos develop a cult following on their way toward becoming modern classics.

Seiko’s latest release, the brand’s first-ever collab with British luxury watch customizer Bamford Watch Department, falls firmly into the latter category of weird Seikos. This watch is almost too cool.

Seiko automatic wristwatch with a bright blue dial featuring Japanese characters and a day-date display. The watch has a black and orange bezel, silver hour markers, and orange-tipped hands. It is paired with a black fabric strap accented by blue and orange stripes and a metal clasp engraved with "BAMFORD.
If there’s a cooler Seiko 5 out there, I sure haven’t seen it.
Seiko x Bamford Watch Department

Back to the Future

Using the versatile Seiko 5 Sports SKX Series diver-style watch as a template, Bamford went wild on the design, combining elements from a pair of vintage Seiko divers from the twentieth century with science-fiction influences to create a retro-futuristic watch that looks unlike anything Seiko has ever made before.

Front and center is a translucent turquoise dial that gives a full view of the day-date wheel below. The days alternate between English and Japanese kanji, giving the dial a sort of Big Hero 6 San Fransokyo vibe that’s just achingly cool.

The handset you’ll recognize as the tried and true SKX handset from the ’90s, which is currently seen on the modern Prospex Turtle, but in this case, the minute and second hands have been finished in neon orange.

Seiko wristwatch with a turquoise dial featuring white hour markers and orange accents. The watch has a black bezel with white numerals and an orange segment from 0 to 15 minutes. It includes a day and date display at the 3 o'clock position. The strap is black fabric with two thin turquoise stripes and one orange stripe running down the center. The watch is placed on a sandy surface.
The hands and indices are derived from a 1980s SKX diver, while the bezel comes from a 1960s Seiko 5 Sports model.
Seiko x Bamford Watch Department

The indices you may not recognize, as they’re a bit more obscure. The blocks combined with a sharp double triangle at 12:00 were actually cribbed from an earlier SKX diver from the 1980s, which also featured the now-iconic handset. On the ’80s model, the indices were printed, but they’re applied on the Bamford version.

Neon orange accents are also found on the black-and-white minute track, and more prominently on the black aluminum bezel, which was borrowed from a 1960s Seiko 5 Sports model. There, orange is used to denote the first 20 minutes of the 60-minute timer.

Seiko watch caseback with a black and blue circular design featuring the letters "BWD" in the center. The case is stainless steel with a crown on the left side and a black strap with blue and orange stripes. The background has dynamic streaks of blue and orange light radiating outward. The watch is marked as a limited edition, water resistant to 10 bar, and numbered 0001/2025.
The caseback features an additional translucent blue disc.
Seiko x Bamford Watch Department

Flip over the familiar 42.5mm stainless steel case and you get another translucent turquoise disc on the caseback, partially revealing the in-house Seiko Cal. 4R36 automatic movement. However, much of the action is obscured by a large, black “BWD” logo in the center of the caseback. More subtle Bamford logos appear on the strap hardware and in orange at 6:00 on the dial.

The strap is a black NATO with a center strip in the same neon orange, flanked by two smaller stripes in turquoise. The design feels very cohesive with the colors used for the dial and bezel, and it’s quite eye-catching overall. But where this watch really kicks things up a notch is under a blacklight, as the neon orange accents on the dial, hands, bezel and even strap all glow brightly under UV light. The hands, indices and bezel pip are also filled with Seiko Lumibrite lume.

Black wristwatch with a black fabric strap featuring an orange and blue stripe down the center. The watch face glows blue with luminous hour markers and hands, accented by orange details including the second hand and a segment on the bezel. The watch displays the day and date.
All orange neon accents on the watch, including on the strap, glow under a blacklight.
Seiko x Bamford Watch Department

Pricing and availability

UV-activated neon accents, a translucent dial, kanji characters and deep-cut Seiko design touches all add up to what is probably my favorite Seiko 5 Sports model yet. This watch feels original, looks like nothing else out there and is filled to the brim with fun little details that reward closer inspection. Bamford knocked this one out of the park, and kudos to Seiko for seemingly giving George Bamford and his team free rein to do whatever they wanted.

a seiko wristwatch on a wet surface
The watch is limited to 2,500 examples, and something tells me that won’t be enough to satisfy demand.
Seiko x Bamford Watch Department

The Seiko 5 Sports x Bamford Watch Department Limited Edition is priced at £400, which as of this writing converts to around $537. That’s a hefty increase over a standard Seiko 5 Sports SKX Series watch, which starts at $350 on a bracelet. But for the amount of custom work that’s gone on here, as well as the overall cohesion of the design, I think it’s still a good deal even at that higher price.

The watch is limited to 2,500 pieces worldwide, but given the amount of buzz this is already getting online, I don’t expect that relatively high amount of stock to last. The watch will be available in October online at BWD and Seiko’s online boutiques, as well as at Seiko boutiques around the world.

Seiko automatic wristwatch with a stainless steel case and a black bezel featuring white and orange markings. The dial is turquoise with silver rectangular hour markers and orange accents, including the second hand and minute hand. The watch displays the day and date on the right side. It has a black fabric strap with central orange and blue stripes. The dial also includes the text "Bamford" and "Automatic.Seiko

Seiko 5 Sports x Bamford Watch Department Limited Edition

Specs

Case Size 42.5mm
Movement Seiko Cal. 4R36 automatic
Water Resistance 100m
About the Author:

Johnny Brayson is an editor at Gear Patrol mostly covering watches. He enjoys watches that are packed with blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em details and believes nearly every watch could stand to be a tad smaller.

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