The Seiko Panda Chronograph was never meant to be sold. It was a concept, drawn in 2024 because a designer’s son told him his “panda” watch was not a panda. Two and a half years later, it is a production watch, and you can pre-order it.
“Panda dial” is one of the oldest nicknames in watches. A white dial, two black subdials, and suddenly everyone sees a bear. Seiko designer Kiyotaka Sakai owned one. His son was not convinced. To him it was not a panda. It was just a watch.
So Sakai drew a real one. He called it the Pandagraph, and it was one of seven concepts in Seiko’s Power Design Project exhibition, “Incredibly Specialized Watches”, shown at Seiko Seed in Harajuku, Tokyo, from 19 January to 31 March 2024. The Power Design Project is where Seiko’s in-house designers get to play. These were exhibition pieces, not products.
On 6 October 2026, Seiko opened pre-orders for the production Seiko Panda Chronograph.
What the 2024 concept was
The concept took every part of a chronograph and asked what it would look like if it really were a panda.
- The dial was white and textured to look like fur.
- The subdials at 3 and 9 o’clock sat inside black shapes cut like a panda’s eye patches.
- The pushers moved to the top of the case, at 11 and 1 o’clock, and became the ears.
- The nose sat below the centre of the dial, and under it the word “Pandagraph” was printed in a curve, as the mouth.
- The tachymeter became a “Sasameter”. Sasa is Japanese for bamboo.
It is a joke, but it is a well-built one. Every element of a normal chronograph is still there. It has just been given a second job.
What made it to the Seiko Panda Chronograph
Almost all of it.
The fur texture, the eye-patch subdials, the nose, the ear pushers and the Sasameter are all on the production Seiko Panda Chronograph. Seiko did not water the idea down to make it easier to sell. Concept watches often lose their strangest ideas on the way to the shop. The Seiko Panda Chronograph kept them.
The case is a big, round, cushion-like shape, with the dial filling most of it. The black chapter ring carries the Sasameter scale. Reports from the launch say the hour and minute hands are shaped like bamboo leaves .
What changed
Three things are different, and one of them is the name.
The word “Pandagraph” is gone from the dial. On the concept it formed the panda’s mouth. On the production watch the mouth is a simple line, and the only word above it is SEIKO . Seiko’s own product pages do not use the name either. They list the watch as part of the “Seiko power design project collection 2”, and the Australian boutique calls it the “Panda” Chronograph. Pandagraph is now the nickname, not the name.
The panda now has a back. Turn the watch over and the caseback carries on the joke. A wide black band runs across it like a panda’s shoulders, and it is reported to have a small three-dimensional tail at the bottom . It also carries the words “LIMITED EDITION”. Seiko’s Australian boutique says the watches are not individually numbered.
There is a pink one. The white HHK001 is the 2024 design. The new HHK002 has a pink dial and a pink leather strap, and the idea, as reported at launch, is that newborn pandas are pink before their black and white fur grows in .
What is inside
The Seiko Panda Chronograph is quartz. It uses Seiko’s Caliber 8T61, a quartz chronograph that times up to 60 minutes in fifths of a second, with a small seconds hand. Seiko quotes ±15 seconds a month and a battery life of about three years.
That will matter to some readers and not to others. At this price, quartz is the honest choice, and it keeps the case from getting even thicker. But it is worth knowing before you order.
The trade-offs
There are a few, and I would rather you hear them here than find them on the wrist.
- It is big. The case is 43mm across and 14.6mm thick. The lug-to-lug is short for that width, at 44.1mm, because of the round shape. The ears add height at the top.
- It is only splash resistant. Seiko’s own product pages say “Splash Resistant”, not a depth rating. Some launch reports quote 30m. Go with Seiko: do not swim in it.
- The crystal is Hardlex, Seiko’s mineral glass, not sapphire.
The Specs
The Basics
- References: HHK001 (white, HHK001P1) and HHK002 (pink, HHK002P1)
- Case: Stainless steel, 43.0mm x 14.6mm, 44.1mm lug to lug
- Lug width: 20mm
- Dial: Fur-textured, white (HHK001) or pink (HHK002), black eye-patch subdials at 3 and 9 o’clock, panda nose and mouth
- Pushers: At 11 and 1 o’clock, shaped as panda ears
- Scale: “Sasameter” (Seiko’s renamed tachymeter)
- Crystal: Hardlex
- Water resistance: Splash resistant
- Magnetic resistance: 4,800 A/m
- Strap: Cow leather, white (HHK001) or pink (HHK002)
- Caseback: Panda back design, engraved “LIMITED EDITION”
- Edition: 3,000 pieces (HHK001) and 2,000 pieces (HHK002), not individually numbered
The Movement
- Calibre: Seiko 8T61
- Type: Quartz
- Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph up to 60 minutes in 1/5-second steps, Sasameter (tachymeter) scale
- Accuracy: ±15 seconds a month
- Battery life: About 3 years
Pricing & Availability
- Australia: A$875 for either colour (Seiko Australia)
- United States: US$540 for either colour (Seiko USA)
Seiko lists both references of the Seiko Panda Chronograph for November 2026. Pre-orders opened on 6 October. In Australia, Seiko’s online boutique says dispatch will take place in November and December 2026, with tracking.
Where to buy: Seiko sells the white HHK001 through its Australian online boutique, and lists both versions on its Australian product page. For a store, use Seiko’s store finders for Australia and the United States. US buyers can start from the HHK001 page on Seiko USA.
More new releases are in our watch news.
