This time, it’s about Seiko ALBA and the personality behind it. I’m sure, among all who are reading this; some own the Seiko Alba automatic watch. Some know its inner story, some don’t; they bought just for the good looks and stylish, cool design. Little they know about the value for money an Alba brings; but more than that, it’s the touch of a designer with close-to-a-century’s accumulated wizardry up his sleeve. It’s sad that he passed away at 101 years, but the RIKI WATANABE touch on the House of Seiko gives every Alba watch an individual, unique identity to carry forward his legend. His clean, legible lines made him famous and form the core of the Alba designs.
As a sub-brand of Seiko, every ALBA watch comes with Seiko movements. The difference is in the style; they are designed for younger customers, primarily in the Asian markets. Whether Seiko wants to give the young a hint of the true wonders it has in stock or not (and build their loyalty for the days ahead) is a different story, the clean ALBA designs also gelled well with consumers more traditionalistic in approach.
Alba was established in 1979, in Japan and is as popular as Seiko itself in Asia and Middle East because of the unique designs, a good quality and more than anything, an affordable price. The word Alba means dawn (or light, hope or new beginnings; in Spanish/Italian). If your watch collection is about to begin, this is a good start, even in its literal sense.
As mentioned earlier, Alba’s classic designs owe to Japanese designer Riki Watanabe. He emphasized on fitting thinner wrists, so his designs are petite, mostly with round faces and deep cases and raised numbers/indices on molded plastic or metal dials and topped with lens glasses. It imparts a bigger look.
This is also the biggest reason why Alba stays confined within closed circuits; the clean, simple and larger appearance is a traditional-watch thing, not the food for general masses. See these two (Seiko Alba RIKI WATANABE black strap & ALBA Automatic “RIKI WATANABE”) for the time being. If it’s something very minimalist but dressy you are looking for, the Seiko Alba Riki Watanabe designs will bring your hunt to a stop.
