Seiko’s Most Accurate Mechanical Watch Puts Its Own Spin on a Resurgent Watch Style

If there’s one thing Seiko loves, it’s anniversaries.

In 2023, the brand celebrated its 110th anniversary with a series of commemorative watches. The following year, in 2024, Seiko celebrated its 100th anniversary with another series of special-edition watches. But wait, it gets weirder. This year, Seiko is celebrating its 145th anniversary with yet another round of watches dedicated to the occasion.

So, just what is going on with all of these different anniversaries? Well, 2023 marked 110 years since Seiko made its first wristwatch, the Laurel. 11 years after the Laurel’s 1913 release came the first watch with Seiko on the dial, hence the 100-year celebration in 2024. And this year, 2026, marks 145 years since the 1881 founding of the company that would come to be known as Seiko. Basically, I think Seiko just likes to party.

Seiko

As part of that partying mood, we’ve seen a spate of releases in recent weeks featuring “Seiko Blue,” an allegedly iconic color for the brand dating to the 1960s that I admittedly hadn’t heard of until it started popping up on these 145th-anniversary watches.

The latest “Seiko Blue” model comes from the King Seiko Vanac family of integrated sports watches, and it puts an interesting spin on a retro watch style that’s been experiencing a renaissance lately.

King of kings

The King Seiko Vanac 145th Anniversary Limited Edition features the same sharply finished case and integrated bracelet we’ve come to recognize since the ’70s Vanac was revived in 2025, but it’s sporting an all-new dial treatment.

Seiko

The silver-white dial is engraved with horizontal lines and encircled by an index ring in striking “Seiko Blue.” The contrast of this thick, dark outer layer and the lighter dial interior gives me the impression of a tuxedo dial; a classic, old-school design that a number of brands, from Serica and Oris to Laco and Sherpa, have turned to over the past year.

The white and blue combo is quite fetching, and is further amplified by the hands, which are treated in the same shimmering “Seiko Blue.” The hands and indices are all filled with white Lumibrite, and there’s a framed date window at 3:00.

Seiko

The display caseback features a blue King Seiko shield logo inspired by one from the ’60s. Beneath it beats the Caliber 8L45 automatic movement, which has a three-day power reserve and a stated accuracy of +10 to -5 seconds per day, which is the best you’ll find on any mechanical Seiko watch today.

Otherwise, this is the same Vanac we’re used to, with its 41mm case topped with a box sapphire crystal and integrated into its nicely finished, tapering, flat-link bracelet. However, Seiko has returned to stainless steel for this special model, eschewing the titanium makeover the Vanac received earlier this year.

Seiko

Availability and pricing

Like the other 145th-Anniversary editions we’ve seen from Seiko this year, the King Seiko Vanac in “Seiko Blue” is a limited edition. Seiko is making just 800 pieces of the model, which is quite a tiny run for the brand.

The watch, Reference HKF004, is priced at $3,300. It’s slated for release this July.

Seiko

Seiko King Seiko Vanac 145th Anniversary Limited Edition

Specs

Case Size	41mm
Movement	Seiko Cal. 8L45 automatic
Water Resistance	100m

• $3,300 at Seiko

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