Seiko’s Top Affordable Daily Watch Peaks With a Stunning Dial Update

This Presage Classic revives a handsome hue from Seiko’s archive.

Close-up of a silver wristwatch with a textured dark blue dial, silver hour markers, and hands. The dial features the text "PRESAGE AUTOMATIC 3 DAYS" and a date window showing the number 6. The watch has a stainless steel bracelet and a ridged crown on the right side.

Published September 16, 2025

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Seiko’s Presage Classic is already one of the best affordable automatic watches for daily wear.

Starting in October, it will also be available in the best dial color for daily wear. This hue has strong cultural significance in Seiko’s home country and is revered worldwide because of a completely different industry.

Seiko Presage wristwatch with a textured dark blue dial, silver hour markers, and silver hands. The watch features a date window at the 3 o'clock position and a stainless steel case and bracelet with a polished and brushed finish. The dial includes the text "SEIKO," "PRESAGE," and "AUTOMATIC 3 DAYS. — The Presage Classic is debuting in “Ai-Iro,” better known as Japan Blue or indigo.

The Presage Classic ‘Ai-Iro’ Japan Blue is the 40mm, time-and-date version of the all-purpose dress watch launched in 2024. Plenty of alluring dial colors have already been released, but this one is special.

‘Ai-Iro’ has deep historical roots in Japan. It was considered lucky by samurai culture during the Edo Period (1603 to 1868) and used to decorate armor and clothing. In the following century, it was used throughout Japanese culture in decorations, clothing and art.

Silver Seiko wristwatch with a dark blue dial, silver hour markers, and a date window at the 3 o'clock position, worn on a wrist with a dark sweater and light blue shirt cuff visible. — *Ai-Iro*, or Japan Blue, is perfect for daily wear because it complements almost every other color.

For those outside of Japan, Ai-Iro is better known as indigo, the plant-based dye made popular by denim.

The color of indigo

At this point, I should disclose that I have a personal connection to Japan Blue because my favorite watch in my collection is a 1977 Seiko Silverwave in that distinct shade of grayish-blue.

a watch on a man's wrist — Just like jeans, a Japan Blue dial looks good with everything.

This new Presage Classic reference marks a return to Japan Blue for Seiko. The beloved color was featured prominently throughout Seiko’s catalog in the 1970s.

Ai-Iro translates literally as “the color of the indigo plant,” and is used to describe the color derived from indigo dye. It encompasses a range of blues, stretching from tints of dark green to light grey.

Silver Seiko Presage wristwatch with a textured dark blue dial, silver hour markers, and hands. The watch features a date window at the 3 o'clock position displaying the number 6, and a stainless steel bracelet. The dial also includes the text "PRESAGE AUTOMATIC 3 DAYS. — The Presage Classic dial has a grainy matte texture meant to emulate the weave of Edo-period silk cloth.

Seiko acknowledges this range with a sunburst dial that fades from a grayish center to a dark rim. The dial is also decorated with a grainy matte texture meant to emulate the weave of Edo-period silk cloth, which has been featured on the Presage Classic since its debut.

The ultimate daily Seiko

Even when the price range is narrowed to $1,000, Seiko offers at least a dozen watches that are ideal for daily wear. For my money, the Presage Classic stands out by pulling some of the most successful elements from Seiko’s archive.

Silver Seiko wristwatch with a dark blue dial, silver hour markers, and a date window at the 3 o'clock position, worn on the left wrist over a navy blue cuff and under a gray suit jacket. — The Presage Classic has a 40mm steel case.

Applied baton indices with a double mark at twelve o’clock, a minute track chapter ring and a beveled-frame date window come from the 1960s and 1970s. They encircle the new Presage Classic lance hands, which are classical but uncommon for Seiko.

The Presage Classic case is an evolution of the Cocktail Timer it replaces, but with gentler lug-to-lug curves inspired by Seiko’s elliptical cases from the 1960s and 1970s, most notably the original King Seiko.

It is topped off with a seven-link steel bracelet also pulled from—you guessed it—the 1970s. The crown, however, is the only element that remains intact from the Cocktail Timer of the 2000s.

Underneath all those historical elements pulled from the mid-twentieth century and the Edo period is Seiko’s most reliable affordable automatic movement, the caliber 6R55.

Equipped with Japan’s most elegant color, pulled from the 1600s via the 1970s, the Presage Classic belongs on the shortest of short lists of the best affordable automatic watches for daily wear.

Availability and price

The Seiko Presage Classic ‘Ai-Iro’ Japan Blue SPB525 will be available in October 2025 for $950.

Seiko Presage automatic wristwatch with a textured dark blue dial, silver hour markers, and hands. The watch features a date window at 3 o'clock and a stainless steel case and bracelet. The dial includes the text "SEIKO," "PRESAGE," and "AUTOMATIC 3 DAYS.

Seiko Presage Classic ‘Ai-Iro’ Japan Blue SPB525

Specs

Case Size	40mm
Movement	Seiko caliber 6R55 automatic
Water Resistance	100m

$950 at Seiko

About the Author: Brad Lanphear is an associate editor at Gear Patrol covering watches and style. Before joining the publication, he previously wrote for Heddels and Men’s Health. Now, he’s on a never-ending quest to find the perfect pair of Japanese denim.