SEIKO Chariot "Crosshatch" 1977

A hand-wound Chariot from Seiko, made in 1977, with a crosshatch pattern running across both the wide bezel and the dial. Chariot was Seiko's dress-watch line in the 1970s. Here the grid covers almost the whole face, from the edge of the case to the centre, and each line of it picks up the light differently as the wrist turns. Inside is the hand-wound Cal.2220, wound by the crown. It comes on Seiko's own stainless steel mesh bracelet, which keeps the whole watch in steel and works as well with a shirt cuff as with knitwear.

The case is stainless steel and shows light scratches from use, with no major damage. It measures 37mm across without the crown and 36mm from top to bottom, with an 18mm lug width. There are no protruding lugs, because the bracelet attaches underneath the case, so the watch sits on the wrist as a flat disc. The wide bezel makes it look larger than its measurements, while the slim profile lets it slide easily under a sleeve.

The silver dial carries the same crosshatch as the bezel at a finer scale. On it are only the SEIKO logo at 12 and two slim baton hands, with no hour markers. In direct light the dial reads bright silver, and in shade the grid darkens toward charcoal. With so little printed on it, the pattern itself becomes the design.

- wrist size in our picture is 17cm circumference -