Seiko’s New Prep-Inspired Watches Are Surprisingly Understated

A few years ago, Seiko teamed up with New York’s Ivy League label Rowing Blazers to release a collection of downright wacky watches.

This unlikely collaboration used the Seiko 5 Sports watch as its backdrop, which was rather fitting. This model first arrived (in its original form) in 1968, a few years after the release of Take Ivya seminal photography book of the neo-prep style that took the Japanese fashion world by storm.

Launching in 2021, the watches built on Rowing Blazer’s colourful, tongue-in-cheek approach to collegiate style, leaning heavily on bold patterns and candy-coded Liquorice Allsorts stripes ready for Henley Regatta.

The record quickly sold out, and another collaboration followed a year later. And again, a year later.

Will we get a fourth release in 2024? Who knows. But Seiko’s fascination with preppy style is clearly far from over. The Japanese watch giant has just released three new 36mm automatic models in its King Seiko KSK 6R collection, all inspired by the impact of varsity style in Japan in the 1960s: “Preppy Blue,” “Preppy Green,” and “Preppy Burgundy.”

They retail for £1,720 and are available to purchase now via the Seiko Store.

Nick Pope is the site director of Squirein charge of the brand’s digital, video and social media strategy. He has worked in cultural, fashion and lifestyle journalism for over a decade, focusing on men’s fashion, gastronomy and cinema.