Seiko's New Panda Watches Are the Cutest Releases of the Year

If you think about it, the term "panda-dial" might be the most disappointing in watches. The phrase routinely underdelivers on its literal promise: it refers simply to a watch, specifically a chronograph, with a white dial and black subdials. Developed in the 1960s, this popular aesthetic was adopted by brands like Rolex and Heuer. But what gives—where’s the panda? Well, Seiko just solved this problem with the announcement of two new watches that finally make good on the idea of a panda-dial.Inspired by a watch designed for the “Incredibly Specialized Watch Exhibition” in 2024, the new KHK001 and HKK002 not only adopt the contrasting color scheme that characterizes a “panda” dial, but also turn the subdials into the panda’s eyes and the pushers into the animal’s ears. Measuring 43mm in stainless steel, they use a 1970s-esque configuration often referred to as “bullhead” in which the pushers are situated at 12 o’clock atop a modified tonneau-shaped housing. The result, in this case, is a watch head that really does resemble a panda’s head—especially given the playfully drawn smiling mouth and snout that feature just beneath the dial center.Powered by a Seiko quartz movement, the watch comes in two colorways: HKK001 is a classic “panda” with a silver dial and black totalizers, plus black pushers and black accents within the outer timing scale. HKK002, meanwhile, features a pink dial—which represents a newborn panda—with black totalizers and a black timing scale. Look closely at the dial texture on each watch, and you’ll notice that it’s meant to evoke a panda’s fur, while the totalizers are eye-shaped—though they do feature traditional round timing scales within.An examination of the outer timing scale, meanwhile, reveals the word “SASAMETER,” which references sasa, the Japanese word for “bamboo.” Calibrated to 30km/h—the theoretical top running speed of a grown panda—it should give you an extra talking point whenever someone flags you down to chat about. We imagine that will be a frequent occurrence with one of these on your wrist. Finally, each watch is paired to a leather strap that matches its primary dial color with a contrasting suede-like section near the top, echoing the panda’s bi-color appearance.Quartz-powered, retailing for €590 (roughly $660), and available beginning in November, these playful new watches are technically called “Power Design Projection Collection 2”: part of a line that allows in-house Seiko designers to flex their creative muscles, it’s limited to 3,000 pieces per colorway and isn’t meant to be part of the Japanese brand’s core catalog. However, we wouldn’t be terribly surprised if the firm is compelled to change its limited-edition mindset. When every watch collector with even an ounce of whimsy finds out about these, Seiko’s gonna need way more than 6,000 pieces to go around.