Starting from scratch can be easier than reinventing a classic, because you can stretch the imagination as far as you can.
Takuya Matsumoto, Kiko Goda and Yugo Hibayashi.
Last year, Seiko challenged its designers to liberally refresh seven watches, whose reinterpretations are now on display in Bangkok at the Power Design Project "Rebirth'' Exhibition held at Central@CentralWorld.
Three of the eight designers attended the opening of the exhibition and shared their ideas on the rebirth of the vintage timepieces.
Takuya Matsumoto revisited a King Seiko from the 1970s. After more than 50 years, the model still retains its brilliance thanks to its distortion-free mirror surfaces rendered by the Zaratsu polishing technique.
"I was particularly drawn to this technique which involves polishing a material by pressing it against a flat rotating plate coated with an abrasive to create a uniformly smooth surface and a beautiful mirror surface," he explained.
His rendition, Radiant Time, shines with mirror surfaces on the multifacetesd case and three-dimensional ridges surrounding the dial.
"I want to design watches that can make people feel a little more positive. You will see the light emitted from the case and dial and feel the brilliance created by the Zaratsu polishing," said Matsumoto, who joined Seiko in 2010.
Yuya Suganuma and Yuka Aihara modified a ladies' watch for the gender-neutral Tisse Our Time.
In the preceding year, Seiko paused the Power Design Project launched in 2001. The project's comeback in 2022 had Yugo Hibayashi contemplating the theme Rebirth.
"I interpreted it as taking a watch from the past and giving it a new life," said Hibayashi, who's in charge of Grand Seiko's design development.
Instead of a luxury mechanical timepiece, he chose to do a playful model for kids based on the Prospex diver's watch nicknamed Tuna.
"My three-year-old son saw me wearing a watch and said, 'I want to wear one too!'. Then I started thinking about a sturdy watch that won't break even if a small child uses it," he said.
Water resistant to 20 bar, Hibayashi's Adventure Kids Watch features a silicon case and an integrated strap to withstand harsh play. The crown is also covered with the silicon casing to prevent accidental operation and snagging.
Children can wear the watch safely by themselves by simply putting their hand through the strap, which is made from an elastic, accordion-shaped silicone. Furthermore, the watch is detachable from the strap for easy cleaning if it gets dirty.
"An adult can guide the setting of an appointed time by turning the rotating bezel with the child and say, 'You can play until the rocket reaches the star!'. So even small children can easily understand the passage of time. I would be delighted to see children wearing my design as their first ever watch," he said.
LCD digital quartz 05LC from 1973 updated by Naoya Sukeda as Ceramic Ball.
With its silhouette resembling a can of tuna, another diver's watch released in 1975 was redesigned by Yuta Uchiura. The resulting Put On Time is inspired by fastening and unfastening buttons when putting on and taking off clothes. The smooth curved surfaces of buttons are emulated on its round case with delicate polishing.
Presage designer Kiko Goda reimagined an automatic chronograph from 1976 for today's generation. The Time Sonar was inspired by a submarine's sonar, used for exploring and mapping the ocean.
Goda's Time Sonar 434 Feels doesn't show the day and date. Instead, 14 and 31 English words are printed on two discs, and a new mechanism increases the number of feeds to generate a total of 434 different messages.
"Perhaps it is a reflection of the current state of the world, but I feel that more and more products focus on feelings. The messages displayed on this watch change daily to provide a little humour and inspire taking action," she said.
Two other 1970s models were given a rebirth by Natsuhiko Takahashi and Naoya Sukeda.
Takahashi removed a day and date display from a square watch, launched in 1971, to present only the chronograph function. He changed the materials, colours of the case and dial to green and black and replaced the bracelet with a sporty black strap for his version of the automatic chronograph, named Shikakuro.
After exactly 50 years, a digital watch with a mesh bracelet from 1973 has been updated with a glossy material as Ceramic Ball by Sukeda, who maintains the original's round silhouette, oval LCD screen and three characteristic buttons.
The seventh Rebirth watch is a modification of a ladies' watch from 1984. Yuya Suganuma and Yuka Aihara worked together on the gender-neutral Tisse Our Time with an edgy bracelet and a loose fit inspired by casual streetwear.
Seiko Power Design Project "Rebirth'' Exhibition runs untill Aug 30 at Event Arena, Floor 1 of Central@CentralWorld.
Takuya Matsumoto reinterpreted King Seiko from the 1970s as Radiant Time.
Button-inspired Put On Time fashioned by Yuta Uchiura
The original square chronograph from 1971 and Natsuhiko Takahashi's sporty Shikakuro.
Based on the Tuna diver's model, the Adventure Kids Watches designed by Yugo Hibayashi.
Original automatic chronograph from 1976 and Kiko Goda's playful Time Sonar 434 Feels.
