Seiko's four new mechanical Speedtimers priced in the US, undercutting UK and EU tags

Seiko has listed all four of its new Prospex Speedtimer mechanicals on its US store. The HBC003 and HBC004 come in at $995 and $950. The two HBD chronographs are listed at $2,500 and $2,400.

Arguably, the cheaper pair is the more interesting one. Seiko built a Speedtimer without a chronograph. A second crown at 4 o'clock turns an inner ring carrying a countdown scale. You line it up by hand against whatever interval you care about. Nothing starts. Nothing stops. The hands basically sweep past a number you set yourself, which is more or less how drivers kept time before stopwatches got cheap. It also keeps the dial clean; a sub-register layout can never do that.

Both are powered by the 6R55 caliber at 21,600 vph with a 72-hour reserve. The steel case measures 39.5 mm across, 12 mm thick, 44.5 mm lug to lug, and is rated for 200 m of depth. Curved sapphire protects the dial — it also has an anti-reflective coating on the inner face. LumiBrite covers the hands and indexes. HBC003 is equipped with a light blue vertically brushed dial. You get orange on the chapter ring and seconds hand, on a bracelet. HBC004 does dark grey on embossed cow leather. It is meant to look like a classic car interior.

If you spend more, you lose out on some features and get some new ones. The HBD001 is 42 × 14.6 × 49.5 mm and drops to 100 m of water resistance. Its 8R48 column-wheel chronograph holds only 45 hours, a full day behind the cheaper watches. What it does have is 4,800 A/m of magnetic resistance, exactly the ISO 764 threshold, plus a tachymeter and 30-minute and 12-hour registers.

American buyers do well on paper against the £870 Seiko UK asks for the HBC003. If we don't consider the VAT, most of that gap does disappear, however.