Seiko's Japanese Garden Presage watches expand to other markets

Following an announcement and subsequent launch in Japan, Seiko has brought two Presage Japanese Garden watches to the US, expanding a collection built around textured dials and partially exposed mechanical movements. The HCB007 and HCB008 combine an open-heart aperture (on the left) with a herringbone-textured finish (on the right), inspired by patterns found in traditional Japanese gardens. Both models are powered by Seiko’s 4R71 automatic movement.

The HCB007 takes the more colorful approach, pairing a deep green dial with a rose-gold-tone stainless-steel case and matching Roman numeral markers. The HCB008 instead uses a predominantly black dial with gold-tone details. Both feature leaf-shaped hour and minute hands, while the exposed section provides a view of the movement’s gears, bridges, screws and balance assembly. A transparent screw-down caseback offers another view of the internals.

Beyond their visual design, the two watches are essentially identical. Their 41.8mm stainless-steel cases measure 48.3mm from lug to lug and 12mm thick, while the window is made of dual-curved sapphire crystal. The 4R71 offers manual winding, hacking seconds and approximately 41 hours of power reserve, with a stated accuracy tolerance of +45/-35 seconds per day. The watches are also rated for splash resistance rather than swimming, limiting their practicality for more demanding water use. Prospective buyers wanting a clear overview of the full spec sheet can find it at the bottom of this article. 

In the US, Seiko lists the green-and-rose-gold HCB007 at $725, while the black-and-gold HCB008 costs $675. That makes the HCB007 $50 more expensive despite the two models sharing their movement, case dimensions, crystal and principal mechanical specifications, meaning that buyers are paying extra for green-and-rose-gold styling only. The watches are also available in other markets, including the UK and Australia.