There is a lot of crossover between watch and car enthusiasts. Perhaps this is because both are collectible mechanical machines loaded with specs that also allow their owners to showcase their personal style.
One fun game that such enthusiasts like to play on forums and elsewhere is to try and determine the automaker equivalent of watch brands. For example, Rolex is often compared to Mercedes-Benz, as both are highly recognized, performance-driven luxury brands that are attainable enough to be fairly ubiquitous when compared to more exotic brands like Richard Mille and Ferrari.
I’ve seen a number of these sorts of lists, and the one comparison that always seems to be present on every version is Seiko = Toyota. The comparison, frankly, makes a lot of sense. Both brands are massive Japanese corporations whose products are very common, are seen as dependable and offer great value for the money.
Seiko has been on a bit of a collab kick lately, and in the past week alone has announced crossover watches with Pepsi and Datsun. Although Seiko doesn’t have an official Toyota collab on the horizon (that I know of), we are getting the next best thing.
A Different Kind of Panda
Seiko’s latest collab is with Initial D, a Japanese manga about street racing that has spawned a sprawling media franchise that is very popular in its home country. The original manga debuted in 1995, and Seiko’s new watch was created to celebrate the property’s 30th anniversary.
The protagonist of Initial D is Takumi Fujiwara, the teenage son of a tofu shop owner whose years of delivering food to a mountaintop hotel have molded him into a downhill racing prodigy. Essentially acting as a supporting character in the series — and the best-known car from the automotive-focused franchise — is the panda-colored Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno that Takumi drives.
