Seiko and Rowing Blazers two new colourways, a new smaller case size, and the same result: gone within hours
Seiko and Rowing Blazers released the fourth watch in their collaboration on 9 July 2026, and it sold out the way the first three did. Two colourways went live at 11am ET through Rowing Blazers, Seiko USA and a small allotment at the Rowing Blazers flagship in New York: a racing green 38mm case and a racing blue 42.5mm case, both with a checkerboard bezel matching the dial. Seiko capped the run at 2,500 pieces per colourway, 5,000 total, priced at $495.
Rowing Blazers
Rowing Blazers is a New York clothing label built around the loud, colour-blocked blazers worn by rowing clubs, the same ones its founder Jack Carlson documented in his 2014 book of the same name. Carlson, a designer, archaeologist and former US national team coxswain, launched the brand in 2017 and built it into a small but well-connected name in fashion, known for collaborations and a following among people who don’t otherwise follow rowing. Burch Creative Capital, the investment firm founded by Tory Burch co-founder Chris Burch, took a majority stake in Rowing Blazers in February 2024. Carlson stayed on as creative director for about a year, then left the brand entirely in March 2025; he’s since become creative director at J. Press. Worth flagging because it means the founder whose book and aesthetic built the brand isn’t the one running it day to day anymore, though the Seiko partnership itself predates the sale and has continued under the new ownership.
The partnership started in 2021, when Rowing Blazers teamed up with Eric Wind’s vintage dealership Wind Vintage to design a run of Seiko 5 Sports divers with checkerboard bezels, based on a 1969 Seiko Wind had bought as his first vintage watch. Three colourways launched that year in 42.5mm cases, limited to runs as small as 500 to 888 pieces each, and one, the checkerboard “Rally Diver” (ref. SRPG49), became the standout of the set. Two more collaborations followed in 2022 and 2023, both reworking a different, smooth-bezel 38mm field-watch model rather than the diver. The 2026 release is the first time since 2021 that the trio has gone back to the diver case and the Rally Diver’s checkerboard look, now in colour instead of the original black and white.
The Collaboration
Both new pieces run Seiko’s 4R36 automatic movement, 24 jewels, 21,600 vph, 41-hour power reserve, in a 100-metre water-resistant case. Each comes with a steel bracelet and a nylon NATO-style strap in the contrasting colour, green strap on the blue watch, blue strap on the green one, plus a Rowing Blazers-monogrammed crown and a caseback stamped with the brand’s “Bath Club” faucet motif, replacing the skeleton caseback used on past models.
Reviews have been positive without much hedging. Original 2021 Rally Divers are reportedly trading at close to double retail, which says demand has held rather than faded five years on. Across all four collaborations the pattern repeats, strong reviews, fast sellouts, resale premiums, which is presumably why Seiko keeps returning to this exact design instead of trying something new.
The Specs
Seiko x Rowing Blazers
Brand: Seiko
Model: 5 Sports x Rowing Blazers x Wind Vintage “Rally Diver”
Diameter: 38mm (green) / 42.5mm (blue)
Case Thickness: 13.4 mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Dial Colour: Racing green or racing blue
Bezel: Checkerboard insert, colour-matched to dial
Indexes: Applied, lume-filled
Lume: Yes (LumiBrite)
Water Resistance: 100 metres
Crystal: Curved Hardlex crystal
Strap/Bracelet: Stainless steel three-link bracelet, plus nylon NATO-style strap in contrasting colour (green strap on blue watch, blue strap on green watch)
The Movement
Caliber: 4R36
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, day-date
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
Jewels: 24
Power Reserve: 41 hours
