Seiko Prospex SpeedTimer 1/100th "World Athletics" PVD Black quartz solar dial black steel bracelet 42 mm

The story

The 1969 introduction of Seiko's Speedtimer was a milestone in the history of the chronograph. It was one of the world's first automatic chronographs, featuring caliber 6139, whose precision in measuring elapsed time represented a real breakthrough in the history of the automatic wristwatch.

A pioneer in sports timekeeping, Seiko broke new ground on the international sports scene in the 1960s with a set of timekeeping devices that set a new global standard for precision. Today, inspired by its rich tradition of sports timekeeping, Seiko introduces four new solar chronographs in the Prospex collection featuring the new Calibre 8A50, which measures elapsed time in increments of 1/100th of a second.

The new creations feature a 1/100th of a second chronograph counter at two o'clock, a seconds counter at twelve o'clock and a 1/10th of a second counter at ten o'clock. A sub-dial showing the hours and minutes is located at six o'clock, to clearly differentiate the time of day from the chronograph functions. When the chronometer function is activated, the hour of the day sub-dial becomes a 60-minute counter, with the hour hand hidden beneath the minute hand. In each watch, the hour and minute hands, as well as the hour markers of the time-of-day display, are coated with Lumibrite to contrast with the sub-dials and enhance readability in the dark. The pushers are specially designed to ensure high operability and precision when measuring elapsed time, essential to every Prospex Speedtimer creation.

Celebrating sport at the highest level

Since 1985, Seiko has been the timekeeper of choice for world athletics. In 2023, for the 18th consecutive time, Seiko will be the official timekeeper of the World Athletics Championships, to be held in Budapest, Hungary. This new limited-edition solar chronograph celebrates this sporting heritage and the World Athletics Championships. The dial features a texture that evokes the surface of the racetrack, and the hands, as well as the outer ring of each sub-dial, are gold-colored to recall the medal of the first place / step of the podium.