Known by few except die-hard Seiko (and Citizen) fans, Seiko has saved their best watches for the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) only since middle of the last century, and few make it outside Japan – if you’ve traveled to Japan, you’ve no doubt seen watch stores are far more numerous there than most places in the world.
One of these JDM-only watches was the Seiko SCBS00x Discus “Burger” series, Seiko’s take on the iconic jump hour watch - like the 2007 Seiko SCBS007 here.
Instead of hands, the Discus utilizes clockwise-revolving discs to display the time, with the outermost ring representing the hour, then minutes, and then seconds on the smallest, inside disc. Time is shown through a transparent round window in the smoked black Hardlex crystal.
Conceived by Seiko’s famed Design Center designer Tomoko Tomita, Seiko issued the SCBS Discus as part of its "Moving Design Collection" in mid-2007, and initially featured two distinct models, one variant with a black “dial” (Ref. SCBS007) and one with a white dial (Ref. SCBS005).
The jump hour is a century-old movement design, made famous by Cartier in the 1930’s, and the design is rather rare today, with the Sicura jump hour being the most well-known horizontal integration time piece from the 1970’s time period. Until Seiko came out with the Discus, that is.
The Discus is powered by Seiko’s Calibre 6R15, which debuted in late 2005 – it remains one of the most commonly used calibres in modern Seiko watches, a step below Seiko’s “high-beat” movements. The 6R15 was used by Seiko’s JDM SARB Spirit series, it’s “Sumo” watch, the Alpinist, and the 62MAS re-issue.
When the Seiko SCBS Discus debuted in 2007, it won the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP) foundation’s Good Design Award program, sporting their famed “G Mark” symbol. The JDP G Mark award program is a uniquely comprehensive platform for design evaluation and advocacy, and honors exemplary design in many areas – all with the potential to drive industrial growth and enrich lives. The award program has a distinguished history and has grown to an unmatched scale over its more than 60 years in existence.
This Seiko Discus comes on a leather strap with its original PVD deployant clasp buckle, second leather strap, nylon strap, Pelican travel case, and springbar tool.
2007 Seiko SCBS007 Discus "Burger" Jump Hour Automatic
DIAL: The SCBS Discus features three discs – one for each the hours, minutes, and seconds – and the discs are constructed of slightly textured metal.
CASE: This SCBS007 features a black smoked stainless-steel cushion case measures in at a hefty 44mm x 46.5mm, with black finish remaining uniform throughout. Black caseback retaining ring is full intact, with crisp and legible writing; smoked transparent caseback has no scratches or blemishes.
CRYSTAL: Hardlex Seiko-signed smoked black crystal is fully intact, no scratches.
BAND: This SCBS007 comes on a generic black leather strap, with original Seiko-signed PVD deployant clasp buckle; it also comes with a black nylon strap and a light brown leather strap.
MOVEMENT: Seiko Calibre 6R15-series automatic movement, 23 jewels, which beats at 21,600 bph; manufactured in June 2007. The 6R15 is a hacking movement, which can also be hand-wound and features a power reserve of 50 hours (when new).
CROWN: Black stainless-steel unsigned crown operates as designed.