FEW things are more precious than a father, and here is a lineup of precious timepieces just waiting to be unboxed by dear old dad, from everyday selections from Seiko to cutting-edge tech by IWC Schaffhausen.
SEIKO: A WATCH FOR EVERY DAD
In celebration of Father’s Day, Seiko presents a carefully curated selection of timepieces to complement every father figure. Celebrate the man of the house with a timepiece that reflects his unique personality and passions in life.
To the dad who loves to dive, the Seiko Marinemaster series offers ideal choices. Each Prospex model — SJE097 featuring a white patterned dial, SJE099 with a light blue frosted dial, and SJE101 with a dial inspired by dark water is crafted for durability and precision underwater. With up to 200 meter water resistance, these watches are for adventurous dads into water sports.
For dads who thrive on the track or trail, the Seiko Speedtimer series is a top pick. SSC933 has a striking dark green design and black sub-dials, offering a sporty yet relaxed sophisticated look, while SSC935 features a sporty yet more polished style, showcasing a pale blue dial and sunray finishing. Both models have robust chronograph functions, making it a thoughtful present for dads who embrace the thrill of running. Designed for the sophisticated golfer dad, the Seiko Alpinist SPB409 offers a striking aesthetic with its white sunray dial and blue and red accents. It has wedge-shaped markers and stylized numerals and hands, which enhance readability and add a touch of elegance to the watch. Overall, the model — which comes in a white 110th Anniversary collector’s box — embodies elegance and brings functionality in one.
For mountain-climbing dads who seek resilience and adaptability at high altitudes, the Seiko Landmaster SPB411 is made to conquer any terrain. This limited-edition model, which shows a sunburst gray dial, faithfully embodies the classic sports design and compact dimensions of its 1968 predecessor. Those who have career-driven and ambitious dads can opt to gift the classic and utilitarian SPB379 which features a matte black dial and band, or the modern and fancy SPB377 with a blue dial and strap. Both watches are great for those who balance business ventures with everyday pursuits. To the dad who suits any adventure, the Seiko Speedtimer SSC813 can be his ultimate day-to-day companion. Its white dial with a sand-blasted texture and black sub-dials makes it a versatile watch that keeps him ready for anything life brings his way.
Visit a Seiko store or shop online at shop.seikoboutique.com.ph.
TUDOR: NOW IN BRONZE
Tudor presents a bronze version of its famous Black Bay Fifty-Eight model, featuring for the first time a bronze bracelet fitted with a new clasp with rapid adjustment system. A new color palette, based on a rich “brown-bronze” tone, adorns the dial and bezel of a divers’ watch whose naval inspiration can be seen in every detail.
The watch has a 39 mm satin-brushed bronze case whose color evolves to match its user’s habits, as well as a shaded matte brown-bronze dial with applied hour markers and Arabic numerals at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. It’s powered by Manufacture Calibre MT5400, certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC) with a hairspring in silicon and a 70-hour power reserve. Snowflake hands, one of the hallmarks of the Tudor divers’ watches introduced in 1969, with grade A Swiss phosphorescent Super-LumiNova coating, adorn the timepiece.
A bronze bracelet with a Tudor T-fit clasp secures the watch, with rapid adjustment and a complimentary brown-bronze jacquard fabric strap is included.
A NOVELTY TO WATCH: IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN UNVEILS LUMINOUS CERAMIC TIMEPIECE
IWC Schaffhausen has developed a proprietary luminous ceramic technology called Ceralume. Based on a highly engineered and patent-pending process, developed by IWC’s engineering division XPL, the technology enables IWC to produce fully luminous ceramic watch cases for the first time.
Lorenz Brunner, Department Manager Research and Innovation at IWC Schaffhausen, said, “With the first fully luminous ceramic case rings, we underscore our role as a pioneer and innovator in ceramic watches. The development of Ceralume took several years. The main challenges we faced were producing watch cases with maximum homogeneity and meeting our exacting quality standards. To achieve these goals, we engineered a ground-breaking new manufacturing process — tailored to the unique combination of ceramic powders and Super-LumiNova pigments.”
The glow effect is achieved by adding high-grade Super-LumiNova pigments to the ceramic raw materials. Engineered by Swiss technology company RC Tritec, Super-LumiNova is a high-tech ceramic compound that behaves like a light storage battery. The material absorbs light energy from sunlight or artificial light, stores it temporarily and then emits the absorbed energy as visible light. This cycle can be repeated an infinite number of times without ever causing the material to age or diminishing its light storage capacity. In dark chamber tests, Ceralume watch cases have emitted a bright blueish light for more than 24 hours.
Conventional white ceramic is made by mixing zirconium oxide with other metallic oxides. These powders are shaped into a so-called green body, machined close to the final case geometry and then sintered at high temperatures in a kiln. For the white ceramic to glow in the dark, Super-LumiNova pigments are added to the mix of raw materials.
One of the main challenges in the development of Ceralume was achieving a perfectly homogeneous mix of raw materials despite their different particle sizes and avoiding particle accumulations. To achieve this, IWC’s engineers reverted to a dedicated ball milling process, which had to be customized to the raw materials used. In addition, the parameters of the sintering process and the grinding of the sintered ceramic body also needed to be specifically adapted to the luminous ceramic.
Using the new Ceralume technology, IWC’s experimental division XPL has manufactured a fully luminous ceramic concept watch for the first time. In addition to its Ceralume case, the concept watch in a Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 design features a white luminescent dial and a white luminescent rubber strap. The dial and the strap have also been enriched with Super-LumiNova pigments. The dial’s brass base is sprayed with a Super-LumiNova solution before the printing is added on top of the luminescent layer. Manufactured in an injection molding process, the white rubber strap is likewise enriched with Super-LumiNova pigments. Developed by IWC Schaffhausen, the patent-pending Ceralume technology will form the foundation of future developments and releases.
