Seiko’s new affordable limited-edition chronograph turns its dial into a vinyl record

Seiko has put Kessoku Band on a chronograph. Only 300 people will get one. U-Treasure opened preorders on October 7 for the first Bocchi the Rock! watch Seiko has made. It costs 59,400 yen, about $375, and the window shuts on November 27 or whenever the run sells out.

Let's start with the dial. It is black and cut with concentric grooves, so it reads as a record. The twelve o'clock marker is a guitar pick with the Kessoku Band logo. The subdial at six holds the image colors of Hitori Gotoh, Nijika Ijichi, Ryo Yamada and Ikuyo Kita, with Bocchi The Rock! printed underneath. The crown is engraved with the band logo too.

Turn it over and the caseback features the series logo, a serial number and the Tsuchinoko of Shimokitazawa. U-Treasure then adds a warning most brands wouldn't. Because of how the case is built, the caseback may not end up sitting upright — your tsuchinoko could arrive crooked.

The watch underneath is basic Seiko. Japanese quartz, plus or minus 15 seconds a month, three years on a battery. The stainless-steel case measures 39.8 mm across, 47.0 mm from lug to lug and 11.7 mm thick. Water resistance is 10 bar. LumiBrite sits on the markers and the hour and minute hands, and the bracelet fits wrists from 14.5 to 19.5 cm. The glass is curved Hardlex, not sapphire. 

Serial numbers go to 300 and are handed out at random, so nobody picks their own. U-Treasure has not said when the watches ship. It sells the piece online and through its concept stores in Ikebukuro and Shinsaibashi, with a sample on display in Ikebukuro while preorders run.

Buy the Seiko SSB427P1 on Amazon.