Seiko’s Power Design Project 2024, the latest iteration of its annual showcase, arrives at Japan House London with a set of timepieces that question what a watch can be, as well as reveal something of the creative culture that permeates the Japanese watch brand.
The project will show seven conceptual timepieces designed and realised by Seiko designers around the theme of ‘incredibly specialised watches’. The project began in 2001 as a way of encouraging Seiko’s designers to find new ways to express the elements of creativity and culture that feed into the brand’s project design. Each year’s programme is centred around a different theme, with previous incarnations including ‘Tokyo’ and ‘Rebirth’.
Seiko Power Design Project 2024: ‘incredibly specialised watches’
'The themes every year may be different, but there is no change in our position regarding the ideals we pursue through design. Times change; cities change; life changes; but so long as there are people, we intend always to offer up time that everyone is sure to love,' says Tetsuro Maruyama, Seiko’s Design Center general manager.
This year’s seven watches are wonderfully diverse, shining a light onto design concerns that are essentially Japanese in their focus – how to make hide and seek fair is the ambition of one watch, while others pay homage to sukiyaki (Japanese hot pot) and washi tape. Another, designed by Kiyotaka Sakai, asks what a real Panda dial (usually just a white dial with black subdials) would look like.
In each case, what might seem a whimsical question is treated with serious attention, as the reversible Ambidextrous watch by Kento Ito demonstrates, while the standout is a sundial for the wrist designed by Yu Ishihara (director of the Design Development Team) that considers every detail and includes a compass, spirit-level and can be set to account for the time of year, latitude and longitude.
The watches are on show until 20 June 2024, at Japan House London. Designs from previous years can be seen on seiko-design.com, which also showcases a radical design history that stretches back 140 years.
seiko-design.com/powerdesignproject2024
-
Meet the Palestinian artist putting a candy-coloured twist on traditional glassmakingWith her company Ornamental by Lameice, designer Lameice Abu Aker is bringing joy and optimism to a time-honoured craft
-
Messika’s fluid jewellery is given a textural twistThe Parisian brand borrows a textural finish previously reserved for high jewellery with its new collection, ‘Move Ciselé’
-
This ingenious London office expansion was built in an on-site workshopNew Wave London and Thomas-McBrien Architects make a splash with this glulam extension built in the very studio it sought to transform. Here's how they did it
-
Sylvain Rieu-Piquet flits between jewellery and design in a Carpenters Workshop Gallery show‘Design is a way to think,’ says Rieu-Piquet ahead of his London exhibition ‘Chimaera’, featuring 40 pieces of sculptural jewellery and ceramics
-
Cartier’s major new exhibition opens at the V&A and it’s a gem‘Cartier’ at the V&A in London takes an epic tour through the house’s history and archives
-
Van Cleef & Arpels light up London with the Dance Reflections festivalVan Cleef & Arpels are celebrating their ties with the world of choreography with the second edition of the Dance Reflections festival across London
-
As London’s V&A spotlights Mughal-era design, Santi Jewels tells of its enduring relevance‘The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence’ is about to open at London’s V&A. Here, Mughal jewellery expert and Santi Jewels founder Krishna Choudhary tells us of the influence the dynasty holds today
-
Discover the fantastical jewellery world of Castro NYC in LondonCarpenters Workshop Jewellery celebrates the work of Castro NYC with a London exhibition
-
Art takes London: Tiffany & Co, Damien Hirst and artists take over Selfridges' windowsFour British contemporary artists celebrate Tiffany & Co's pioneering history with a series of storied window displays
-
Self-Portrait launches first jewellery collectionSelf-Portrait rethinks traditional motifs in its first jewellery collection, turning the feminine flounces of the bow into chic, contemporary pieces
-
Van Cleef & Arpels' immersive London exhibition takes visitors inside the watchmaking worldVan Cleef & Arpels’ exhibition, ‘Poetry of Time’, at South Kensington’s Cromwell Place gallery, traces the early days of the maison
