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Seiko Moves Two Laurel-Inspired Presage Models Into Its Regular Collection
Two dials, enamel and urushi, drawn from Japan's first home-grown wristwatch, now sit in the standing catalogue rather than a limited run.
Seiko has moved two Presage models, HCC005 (enamel dial) and HCC006 (urushi lacquer dial), into its permanent collection. Both draw from the 1913 Laurel, and according to Seiko, this is the first time the Laurel’s Arabic numerals and enamel dial have appeared together outside a limited edition.
That detail is the real news. Seiko’s designers, quoted on the same page, describe the Laurel as representing “the origins of wristwatch design” for the company, and say they made it the basis of regular-series models rather than limited ones so that more people could experience the design. Permanent availability means no ballots, no allocations, no countdowns.
The Laurel itself was a bold improvisation. Seiko dates its completion to 1913 and calls it Japan’s first domestically manufactured wristwatch. The movement inside was a 12-ligne calibre, around 27 mm, of a size then intended for pocket watches, fitted into a case of roughly 30 mm. Daily production peaked at 30 to 50 pieces. Seiko also traces two firsts to that era: a domestically made hairspring in 1910, and the fabrication of the Laurel’s own enamel dial face in 1913. HCC005 brings back the red “12” from one of the two original Laurel dial variants.
But details are sparse. Seiko lists the automatic Cal. 6R5H and roughly 72 hours of reserve for HCC005. For HCC006 the pages give case dimensions only, with no movement, power reserve or water resistance published. Neither model carries a price on Seiko’s pages. We’ll leave those blank for now.
| Reference | HCC005 / HCC006 as named on the story page; corresponding Seiko product-page URLs list them as HCC005J1 and HCC006J1. Seiko's material does not explain the J1 suffix or confirm whether HCC005/HCC006 and HCC005J1/HCC006J1 denote the same reference or regional variants, treat as unconfirmed. |
| Price | Not disclosed on the Seiko pages collected. (Note: a third-party Instagram post lists a euro price for HCC005, but per sourcing rules that media figure is excluded here as unverified maker information.) |
| Released | Not explicitly stated on the story page itself in the text captured. A separate Seiko press-release URL (au-en/news/2026/pr/20260813) suggests an official announcement dated 2026-08-13; the story/heritage page was indexed by search as of 2026-09-05. Seiko's own explicit "release date" language was not found in the material provided. |
| Specs | – HCC005: Automatic Cal. 6R5H, 24 jewels, 21,600 vph, approx. 72-hour power reserve; stainless steel case (super-hard coating per product page), 39.6 mm diameter, 12.4 mm thick, 46.8 mm lug-to-lug (per HCC005J1 product page), dual-curved sapphire crystal; water resistance given as "3 atm" but the source sentence is truncated ("3 atm wat…") so the full wording (e.g., "water resistant") is not confirmed verbatim. |
Source: seikowatches.com
Why this watch, on this wrist?