A green concoction at Chumley’s
highlights Seiko’s newest green-dial
Presage automatic.
“DO YOU WANT ANOTHER COCKTAIL SIR?” ASKED
THE WOMAN WITH A TRAY OF GREEN LIBATIONS
THAT GLOWED LIKE ANTIFREEZE IN THE DIM LIGHT OF
CHUMLEY’S, A FAMOUS MANHATTAN SPEAKEASY, AND
THE BACKDROP FOR SEIKO’S ROLL OUT OF ITS 2019
PROSPEX AND PRESAGE MODELS.
Green was the theme and Seiko was seeing money, moving its product
line upmarket across the board, to rewrite a brand identity that had become
diluted with distribution in everything from high-end jewelry shops to
sporting goods stores. As part of the process Seiko was shutting down the
spigot and eliminating 1,000 distributors from their roster.
To celebrate this strategic play the company assembled a group of the Chosen:
retailers, watch journalists, sales reps, assorted bloggers, Instagrammers and repre-
sentatives of a watch fan club (we’re told they have enthusiasm and sometimes
buy watches) on a rainy Spring night to consume cocktails and the broad range of
products that collectively contributed to Seiko’s thick catalogue.
The company had several goals: generate orders, reinforce relation-
ships between retailers and their sales reps, and stir up content. I was part
of the latter group, those selected to spread the message, and to Seiko’s
credit, they are successfully marrying the narrative with some smart busi-
ness moves.
But what else would you expect from a company that has legitimately
remained in operation since 1881 and can lay claim to everything from the
Orange Monster ($147.39 at Sears – includes free shipping!) to the Credor
FUGAKU limited edition tourbillon ($450,000 – and good luck finding one).
Seiko wisely primed the event with copious collections of colored
alcoholic concoctions designed to emulate the appearance of its products. The
watchmaker showcased their collaborations in a junket that took the Chosen to
several famous Manhattan speakeasies, with the evening culminating in three-
hour tour around Manhattan on a party yacht. Each speakeasy presented a
themed cocktail designed to reflect the color and impart an association with
a particular watch.
We drank Old Fashioned’s at Bathtub Gin on Ninth Avenue because the
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