Alba Riki Watanabe Collection — A Step Above
Editor’s note:
This article about Alba Riki Watanabe Collection Automatic AAAA105, made by Seiko, is based on behind-the-scenes discussions between Lee® and Petew. Both own this watch. Lee® liked the black-dial one so much, he picked up the white-dial Alba AAAA101 too! That says a lot. Both Lee® and Petew have collections that include Grand Seiko and Credor, so they are accustomed to Seiko’s finest. Alba Riki Wantanabe Automatics sell for about $170 USD, and are only available in Japan, along with a few other Far Eastern countries. All photos by Lee®.
Lee®: When I first laid eyes on a pic of this Riki Alba, my heart literally skipped a beat. It’s a Seiko, mechanical 7S-based movement with a proven track record, and the price!
Petew: In all my years of Seiko collecting, I’d never owned a low-cost Seiko 5. I can’t tell you how many times I’d looked at them, but the sheer number of models available always overwhelmed me, and I could never pick one out. Nevertheless, I always had it in the back of my mind that it would be nice to have one for the collection.
The Alba sold me immediately. Maybe it’s not as cheap as a Seiko 5, but it’s essentially in the same product category. It’s a low-cost automatic with a display back. Unlike Seiko 5’s, which almost tend to all look the same after you’ve seen a hundred of them, the Alba really stands out.
Lee®: Well stated Pete. Nicely done. You made me think—the Riki Alba is such a cut above the a typical 7S–powered Seiko 5 that I would never have even considered the two to be in the same league. However, at the end of the day, it is a 5 in much fancier suit. And yet, it’s hard to think of it as that.
Petew: Some (many) might dismiss the Alba because of its size (36mm x 13mm), but….it’s all dial, and the case does have a chunky profile that makes it feel and look larger on the wrist than it really is.
Lee®: I took the photo above to illustrate a point—a couple of years ago, I traded off a Seiko Marinemaster rubber strap for the Mondaine. I thought it was a pretty good trade as I had several of the straps (still sealed ) and I must say that I really liked the clarity and simplicity of the Mondaine’s Bauhaus dial. Granted, the quartz movement of the Mondaine didn’t exactly thrill me too much, but I never failed to get positive comments from people who saw the watch since, it was simply, all dial.
Lee® (continued): I’ve always told myself that, should a good deal on a quality Bauhaus-inspired mechanical timepiece, such as if a Nomos Tangente comes along, that I’d jump on it. Well, I never really saw anything up my alley and thought that was that. [Then I saw this], far less than I’d ever expect to pay for a Nomos. When the watch arrived, I was pleasantly surprised as to its build quality and how substantial it was. For what I paid, I felt I was getting an outstanding deal on such a stylish timepiece with a proven mechanical movement. Of course, I ended up getting two of them.
Petew: Mine runs about 15–20 seconds a day. From an overall quality perspective, I’d say it’s on par with a standard Seiko 5. From a design perspective, it’s a step above. I echo your comments about Nomos and Bauhaus…I had a Mido Chronometer a number of years ago with a similar look. It’s long gone, but I always liked the style…this Alba fits right in. Plus….for those who are sticklers about it….the Alba is…Made in Japan!
Lee®: I couldn’t resist pairing these two Bauhaus-inspired Lamy pens with the watch—note how the clip on one of them so closely resembles the hour markers!
Petew: Damn you Lee….I wish I thought about that….I’ve got some Lamy’s including the big 2000 like yours and also the all Stainless Steel anniversary 2000. That’s a cool one. In fact, the clear demonstrator version of the Safari is right here in front of me on my desk as I type this note.
Lee®: Perhaps a better view here of the hour markers that resemble little springboards at swimming pools.
Petew: Lee, the springboard analogy was spot on….nice call.
Lee®: Another thing I noticed is that the dials aren’t exactly flat—You will note very fine concentric lines circling the inner dial. Frankly, I have no idea if this was intentional, or just a by-product of the manufacturing process. However, the end result is that added something that simply adds more life to the dial as it catches the light in certain angles.
Petew: The unique color of the dial, the absolute starkness and absence of superfluous writing, those really cool floating indicators, and a pretty darn cool case design all differentiate it from typical low cost autos.
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March 25th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Nice work, Lee and Pete.
Lee, your pictures are outstanding. They really make me want to buy a white-dial version, which reminds me of Riki Watanabe’s 1972 masterpiece “pole clocks” located in front of Hibiya station in Tokyo!
Both, the clocks and the watches, are so round and thick, and simple, easy to read, with short wide hour hand and long thin minute hand, and even though the hour indices are squarer on the clocks, they remind me of the ones on the watch. It’s easy to see both were designed by the 95-year-old master, Watanabe Sensei, himself. Picture above courtesy lovethelife.org.
March 26th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Great article guys! I really like the back and forth style between you two, makes for a great read!
March 26th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Thanks, Larry, but Bryan deserves the credit for that. It was his idea! I’m just glad we didn’t come off sounding like an old married couple!
March 26th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Perhaps we should do another review like we were an old married couple! That could be kind of funny. Bryan, good eye in discovering that train clock. You can certainly see the resemblance.
March 27th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Thanks for the great writeup guys! It always feels great to find a gem at such an affordable price. Like Lee, I have been eyeing the Nomos Tangente for a long time; however these inexpensive Rikis may very well satisfy my yearning for a Bauhaus inspired watch. What’s really interesting is that the dark coloured dial seems to radiate a dark copper colour just like the Grand Seiko SBGR023 when lit with a brigh light source from certain angles. I’m wondering why I haven’t purchased one of these yet, in fact, I’m gonna send an order to one of our favourite watch pushers right now.
March 28th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Glad you enjoyed the writeup, Evan. And when you contact that watch-pusher, be sure not to mention my name—he’ll charge you extra!
April 5th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Lee, check out this link I found. It’s to the blog of a Czech psychoanalyst. He does several other blog posts on his Alba AAAA101 Riki Watanabe Automatic. Click the picture below to go to sivek.com’s blog. Image comes from that Czech-language website.
April 5th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Thanks for the link, Bryan. Wish I could read Czech though! That fountain pen he’s using caught my eye too. Note the use of clear plastic on it - pen companies tend to call a pen like this a “demonstrator” model because the transparency allows you to see its innards.
April 5th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Yup, that caught my eye right away. Another kindred spirit who knows the difference between Bauhaus and the bow-wow house, who appreciates pens, and fine whiskey (see his most recent post on his blog). Looking at your article here again today, it really hit me how outstanding your pictures are. Again, nice work on this one, Lee.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
“psychoanalyst” has landed! hello to you all dear japan-watch enthusiasts
you have a very nice blog here, Riki was one of the watches I liked most - unfortunately was as I have exchanged it for a Seiko Spirit and more than one dress watch is just too much (for my wife of course) although the riki’s are officially certified as “wives approved” 
- low cost, great design…
April 25th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Hi kubson,
Thank you for visiting gmtplusnine.com! We also like your blog very much. It’s funny you exchanged your Riki for a Spirit. I exchanged my Spirit for a Riki! I guess we were keeping everything in the world in balance.
Regards,
Bryan
May 27th, 2007 at 8:56 am
[…] This piece shares much in common with watches designed by Japanese master Riki Watanabe (see here and here for GMT+9 articles on Riki Watanabe designs). Both Castiglioni and Watanabe created affordable, yet high quality, machine made watches with lots of design. Both designers preferred inexpensive quartz movements over mechanical ones because they were cheaper to produce and therefore the watches were affordable. This was an important consideration to many industrial designers in the periods just before and after World War II. […]
May 31st, 2007 at 1:18 am
very nicely written article. I came across this watch in of the stores in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. I like it instantly. I tried it on and it did’t fit me very well in terms of it’s look on my wrist. In my opinion, the watch is more for women than for men tho’ i know it is a men’s watch. Also, with 7S movement in it, i think it is a bit pricey. I understand that one of the features of Watanabe-san’s designs is “praticability” (correct me if I’m wrong). However, with a +-1 minute in accuracy, I wonder the watch meets his standard. This makes me wonder if it was his idea at all to have a mechanical line in his collection.
October 28th, 2007 at 3:23 am
Hi Pete,
The wife just purchased the copper dialed version! I found it through Japan auctions and couldn’t pass it up…not many around! Thanks to Mr. Anderson’s review on the military Riki, it led me further to your blogg on these dress Rikis. Yes, you can call me your Seiko groupie haha! As you know, your past posts on the SUSs and Fieldmaster series led me to acquiring examples of both models…Geez wizz…what next??? haha! I think I should start a petew watch fund!
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:53 pm
[…] SNAA41 Seiko Chronograph arrived on Saturday, and I’m glad it did. I wrote about the black-dialed version, SNAA45 Seiko Chronograph, a few weeks back. Like Lee® with his Alba Riki Watanabe Automatic, after the black-dialed one arrived, of course I had to have the white-dialed one too. […]