Seiko's Seven Experimental Watches Head to London for a Free August Show

Seiko's experimental Power Design Project watches are crossing the ocean. From 27 August to 15 September, all seven concepts will be on display at Japan House London, and entry is free. The same pieces were shown in Tokyo back in March, and now they travel abroad for the first time.

Seiko insists none of these designs are meant for production. That claim, however, is easy to doubt—the company has broken such promises before. In December 2025, it released Collection 1, the first standalone product from the revived project. It was based on the 2022 "Rebirth" theme, roughly three years after the concept was first shown. The series was capped at 500 pieces per finish and priced between ¥50,600 and ¥56,100. Notably, designer Yuya Suganuma had joined Seiko only a year earlier.

Seiko's own archive proves that prototypes from 2001 to 2009 were shown publicly, and some were eventually commercialized. Examples include Shadow from 2003, which told time via shadows cast by standing metal numerals, and Marunouchi from 2008.

Among the seven new concepts, some would be far easier to produce than others. Takuya Matsumoto's Dial features an embossed surface accurate to a hundredth of a millimetre, decorated with seasonal Japanese motifs. It changes only the dial, and Seiko already makes enamel, urushi, and Arita porcelain dials at Presage price points. Yuki Omori's Hands revolve around the cat mascot Ten-chan—Seiko already markets numerous character and anime collaborations, so this would hardly be new territory.

Others would require entirely new hardware. Kento Ito's bezel-as-gear winding mechanism, for instance, needs equipment that a simple dial does not, making it a far less likely candidate for production.

Japan House London is located at 101-111 Kensington High Street. This marks the third consecutive year the venue has hosted the project. The concepts were exhibited at Light Box Studio in Aoyama in March before heading to London.