Seiko's seven experimental watch concepts go on free display this August

Back in March, we covered Seiko's seven Power Design Project concepts when they opened in Tokyo. Now, the same concepts are travelling to Japan House London from 27 August to 15 September. Plus, entry is free. As per Seiko, none of these are intended for production. However, that claim holds a little less weight than usual, because it has been contradicted before.

In December 2025, Seiko released collection 1. It was the first stand-alone product to come from the revived project. Specifically, it came from the 2022 "Rebirth" theme, roughly three years after that concept was shown. At launch, it was priced between ¥50,600 and ¥56,100 and capped at 500 pieces per finish. Designer Yuya Suganuma had joined the company only the year before.

Seiko's own design archive is proof that prototypes from the 2001 to 2009 era were shown publicly and some were commercialized. For example, Shadow from 2003, which told time using shadows cast by standing metal numerals, and Marunouchi from 2008.

Some of the seven watches would be easier to produce than others. For example, Takuya Matsumoto's Dial texture is embossed to a hundredth of a millimetre with seasonal Japanese motifs. It alters only the dial, and Seiko already produces enamel, urushi and Arita porcelain dials at Presage prices. Yuki Omori's Hands are built around the cat mascot Ten-chan. Seiko already markets multiple character and anime collaborations, so it wouldn't be new territory for the company in the least.

Some others would need new hardware. Kento Ito's bezel-as-gear winding mechanism, for example, would both need equipment that a dial does not. This makes them much less likely to be candidates. 

Japan House London is at 101-111 Kensington High Street, and this is the third consecutive year it has hosted the project. The concepts were shown at Light Box Studio in Aoyama in March before travelling.