I recently visited the Seiko boutique and lingered around the handcrafts section, where one watch in particular caught my eye. What drew me in was a soft, wavy effect around the dial, so subtle I couldn’t tell whether it was just a reflection from the plastic wrap or an actual detail in the dial itself.
Leaning in for a closer look, I realised the pattern was real. This is the new Arita Porcelain Dial Limited Edition, and it’s unlike any porcelain, enamel, or Urushi lacquer dial Seiko has done before. For the first time, they’ve used unglazed porcelain, with no coloured coating. It has a soft, powdery texture that gently blurs the pattern and gives the dial an almost snowy look.
Unglazed porcelain. But why?
For centuries, it is the glaze that sets porcelain apart, a defining layer that craftspeople around the world use to distinguish their work. But unglazed? That means stripping away porcelain’s finest coat and revealing the bare core beneath. No clear coating, no white glaze, just the porcelain clay, fired on its own. It takes a bit of nerve for Seiko to ask Arita to step away from one of its best-known strengths.
There is, however, more to it than novelty. Unglazed porcelain is not about breaking the rules for attention. While glaze often draws the eye, the truth is that much of a porcelain piece’s character is defined by the clay itself. This is why the world’s finest porcelain has always been linked to place. Jingdezhen in China and Arita in Japan are not just historical centres of craft; they are regions where the natural clay offered something special.
Which is exactly why unglazed porcelain works so well here. Arita’s clay is naturally of high quality. Without the glaze, the surface turns matte, with a soft, powdery finish that almost resembles snow. Most importantly, the colour is off-white. It does not feel clinical the way pure white porcelain sometimes can. It still reads as white, but there is a warm, mellow undertone.
The dial reminds me of the Grand Seiko SBGH267 “Whirlpool” from 2018, but in a much more subtle way
An extra benefit of the unglazed surface is the texture, which softens everything. Seiko makes full use of this. The dial features a guilloché-like pattern with a gradient effect, where the texture is more pronounced at the edge and turns finer toward the centre. The pattern is gentle, almost like the ripples in beach sand that slowly fade as they reach the shoreline. It is something unique to this unglazed dial, and gives it a softness and subtlety you do not often see in CNC, guilloché, or stamped dials.
To match the powdery look of the dial, the applied markers are given a fine, random surface finish. This keeps them from looking too shiny or standing out too much against the dial. But Seiko, of course, keeps a touch of shine where it matters – in the thin, beautifully polished hands. Especially attractive is the seconds hand, with its long counterweight shaped like a crescent moon. The whole thing brings to mind the Credor Eichi, but this is something every hardworking person has a chance to own, and something any owner can happily wear every day.
The dial may be the star of the show, but I can’t help noticing the crown which is beautifully shaped with a conical profile and a gently raised top
A solid but restrained package
Even though the dial and hands suggest high-end, dressy classicism, the case tells a more practical story. It is built to handle the unpredictable moments of daily life with ease.
At 40 millimetres wide and 12.5 millimetres tall, the case isn’t exactly petite like a traditional dress watch. That’s why I understand some readers will yearn for something even smaller and slimmer, but it’s also true that this is far from the bold proportions of a modern watch. It feels just right for everyday use, large enough to offer excellent legibility and presence yet compact enough to slip under a cuff. More importantly, it’s built with 100 metres of water resistance. That means you can wear it through almost anything short of scuba diving, and it’s reassuring to know this is a watch you don’t have to baby.
The gilded rotor does add to the look and feel of the watch on top of matching the colour of the hands and markers on the front
Inside is the cal. 6R51, a solid workhorse movement that has recently been upgraded from 70 to 72 hours of power reserve, improving on the earlier 6R31. It’s the same movement used in some King Seiko models, and here it comes in a time-only format, thankfully with no date to interrupt the porcelain dial.
Despite its straightforward layout, there’s a surprising amount of high-end tech under the hood. According to Seiko’s published parts list and technical guide, the pallet fork is skeletonised, a detail that suggests it was produced using MEMS fabrication. It’s the kind of thing most would overlook, but for those who notice, it’s a subtle reminder of just how far Seiko goes to set itself apart from competitors at this level.
Tech Specs: Seiko Presage Classic Craftsmanship Series Unglazed Arita Porcelain Dial Limited Edition
Reference: SPB497J1
Movement: 6R51; automatic; 72 hours power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes, and seconds
Case: 40.6 mm x 12.5 mm; steel; water resistant to 100 m
Strap: Black leather strap with folding clasp
Availability: At Seiko boutiques and retailers
Limited edition: 1,200 pieces in total
Price: USD 1,850
