SEIKO "Ivory Dial" Two-Tone Quartz 1990s

A small, clean dress watch made by Seiko in the 1990s. The ivory dial is warmer than plain white, and its gold markers and hands match the gold bezel and the thin gold line that runs down the centre of the bracelet. Inside is the Cal.7N01, a three-hand quartz movement Seiko began producing around 1990, so the watch needs no winding and keeps steady time on a single battery. It comes on its original SEIKO two-tone bracelet, which works as easily with a shirt and jacket as with a sweater at the weekend.

The case is stainless steel with a gold-tone bezel. The front keeps a clean finish, while the caseback shows scratches from use. It measures 30mm across (excluding crown) and 35mm lug to lug, with a 16mm lug width, and the bracelet fits a wrist of up to 17cm. That is small by today's standards, so the watch sits low and close to the wrist, the way dress watches of the period were meant to be worn.

The dial is original. Applied gold baton markers sit along a fine dotted minute track, and a thin gold ring printed inside them frames the centre. Only the SEIKO name is printed on the dial, which leaves open space around the slim gold hands and keeps the time easy to read. In daylight the dial looks soft cream, and under warm indoor light it turns closer to the colour of old paper, a tone that sits well with the gold accents.

- wrist size in our picture is 17cm circumference -