Alessi Record AL6003 by Seiko—Apassionado
Seiko has made more than one true, certifiable masterpiece. Ones displayed in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City. This is the story of one. It was designed not by one modern master of 20th century industrial design, but by two, Achille Castiglioni and Max Huber. Beat that.
The Alessi Record model AL6003, made by Seiko Instruments, was designed by Achille Castiglioni. One of Italy’s greatest industrial designers of the last century, MOMA has displayed 15 of his pieces at the Museum of Modern Art. One is this watch made by Seiko. It was introduced in 1988, and reissued in 2002. The watch looks big on the wrist, has a quartz movement, and sells for around $90 US.
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.
Achille Castiglioni (1918–2002)
Italian design was trend setting in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s. Many hoped industrial design would help bring beautiful objects into the homes of the lower and middle classes. Things that were handmade had negative associations to many designers during this time, according to Ettore Sottass, Jr., quoted from a book on George Nelson entitled The Design of Modern Design (MIT Press, 1995).
In those days, I personally hated craft industries . . . craft industries were a metaphor for classical refinements at the price of slavery and poverty . . . On the other hand Italian industry was just beginning to become aware . . . not only of new techniques and technologies but also of the new existential people, the new figures. It was beginning to notice the new needs and desires of a society plunging at supersonic speed into modernity and the future.
It is hard for many 21st century Japanese watch enthusiasts to feel the same excitement for quartz watches they do for mechanical ones. But when watches with quartz movements took over in the ’70s there was great interest in them. The promises the new technology made—to bring highly accurate, dependable watches to everyone at affordable prices, were right in step with the passionate philosophies of aging master designers in their sunset years.
The Alessi Record is a good example. It is called the “record” because its shape is based on the long playing (LP) record album that predated the compact disc (CD) music format. Below is the entry on the watch from the Castiglioni Exhibition 1997-98 on MOMA’s webpage. Click here to go to the exhibition page. Notice how long the second hand appears, and how black the minute and hour hands are set against the metallic dial.
Several important things are mentioned here. One is that the watch face is large. Just like the Nomos Tangente, also 36mm wide, the Alessi Record seems much bigger than its case dimensions. That’s because it has almost no bezel—it’s all crystal and dial. Below is a picture of Castiglioni wearing one to illustrate this point.
Click here to go to his design company’s official website, Studio Museo Archille Castiglioni.
Another important thing mentioned in the MOMA entry is Swiss graphic designer Max Huber (1919–1992) helped design the watch. Huber had a great interest in Italian design and studied in Italy before World War II. After the war he often worked with Castiglioni. Huber was an important figure in Swiss design, a contemporary and friend of fellow Swiss designer Max Bill. Huber’s Japanese wife, an artist and designer, Aoi Huber Kono, is the daughter of Japanese designer Takashi Kono. An exhibition of both men’s work is currently on display at m.a.x.Museo in Switzerland (click here for information).
The graphic design on the watch dial is in line with Italian design ideals. Writing about Giorgetto Girgiaro, who also designed many Seiko watches, (click here for a GMT+9 article related to Girgiaro) Toni del Renzio says in Contemporary Designers (St. James Press, 1990):
Italian design . . . has, in the main, been a search after the appropriate without settling for the banal and the unadventurous.
The Alessi Record is appropriate in that it has a large dial so is easy to read, yet rides low to the wrist and has a recessed crown so it is unobtrusive. The lugs are adventurous. It is lacks banality because of the humor in Huber’s graphic design, in particular the way the numbers 3 through 9 appear on the dial.
Ironically, these watches are probably better known to artists and designers than to Japanese watch enthusiasts. Though some might wish the masters had worked on expensive mechanical watches instead, it’s no accident they worked on quartz designs that sell for under $100 US, but that are high quality and beautiful.
Click here to go to Alessi’s official website.
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May 29th, 2007 at 2:29 am
Hi Bryan,
Where can i buy this watch? Does Kobayashi-san sell it?
I’m in HK.
Regards
Chee
May 29th, 2007 at 4:45 am
Hi Chee,
You can buy this watch in Hong Kong. Contact your local Alessi distributor for a list of stores that sell it in HK.
Regards,
Bryan
May 29th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Hi Lee,
I saw the watch for less than $30.- on eBay. I was very tempted to go for the yellow strap version after reading and was really amazed about the price (too bad the shipping costs as much as the watch).
Cheers,
Sjors
May 29th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Hi Sjors,
That’s a nice tip about eBay, thanks! Somehow I didn’t think of looking there . . .
Regards,
Bryan
May 30th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Thanks for the very interesting article. I’ve always liked designer Seikos like the Sottsass collection, Watanabe Albas and various Giugiaro models. I’ve never paid any attention to Alessi watches before even though I’ve seen a few in Seiko Japan website’s news section. After reading the article and seeing the second photo I ordered one. The case profile and lugs look really neat.
While looking for a Record I found Andrea Branzi’s Alessi watches. I quite like these too and it’s funny how the design is similar to some of Bob Thayer’s and other’s Seiko diver mods.
May 30th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Hi mot_universe,
The AL13000 looks quite large! Check out the wrist shot below, and the closeup of the dial.
I’ll be very interested to hear your impressions of the Record AL6003 when it arrives.
Best regards,
Bryan
June 5th, 2007 at 7:26 am
Hi Bryan…thank you very much for this article on this Alessi watch.
Your articles are extremely well written, and explore other aspects
of Seiko watches, an entire new universe. For example, your exploration
of Thomas Jefferson’s handwriting. Your articles are a pleasure to read.
I have noticed that for me, there are several classic designs that
are extremely attractive, and are most likely one of the major causes
of why a watch is very popular. For example, the Cartier Pasha, or
the Seiko diver’s face. The record watch by Alessi is another of those.
Sometimes they are very expensive, but in this case, the price is
extremely affordable. Thanks again, for such a wonderful article.
June 5th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Hi blackdial,
Thank you very much for your kind comments and your encouragement. I look forward to writing more articles, and hope you find one or two of them of interest.
Best regards,
Bryan
June 10th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Bryan,
I’m a newcomer to the site and ‘am delighted to be introduced to two wonderful watches- the Alessi and the Watanabe quartz- on my very first visit.
My compliments on two very well written features, and thanks for the introduction to two beautiful timepieces.
I look forward to more of your articles.
July 5th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I’ve now owned the watch a month or so. The one I got is AL6005 that’s the gents model with white dial, satin finish and nylon band. Out of the current models it could be the closest match to the one once displayed in MOMA. I would’ve preferred polished case but I couldn’t find one cheap. This one was $52 from eBay without warranty(?), shipping from United States to Europe included. I popped the caseback open to verify I got the genuine article and sure enough there was a Seiko movement in there and the inside of the case back was stamped “SII” something (forgot already).
The case is solid stainless steel but it weights very little. The finish is good except there are small imperfections on the sides near the case back but they aren’t very noticeable and are completely acceptable at this price point. I really like the shape of the case and the unique 18 mm lugs. The crown is very small and located so that in practice only one finger can be used. Being quartz and running at 8 secs/month I don’t have to set it often so it’s not an issue. As expected the watch is extremely legible. The hands are perfect length. I thought the upside down six on the dial could be confusing but it isn’t. It might look like a nine but you know it’s number six.
The watch came with two braided one-piece nylon straps, black and darkish yellow. The buckles are stainless steel and the finish matches the case. There are no holes for the buckle pin. The threads are loose enough for the pin to penetrate thus making adjusting easy. The bands feel a little cheap but works and looks great. The dark yellow strap makes the watch more noticeable while with the black does the opposite. All in all I like the AL6005 and for the money it’s good value. The fact that it’s a recognised design is a nice bonus. Thanks for introducing it Bryan.
July 12th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Hi mot_universe,
Thank you for the detailed review of your Alessi Record! I found your comments about the upside down 6 interesting because that was something I wondered about too. I’m glad to hear you report that this quirky design doesn’t negatively impact the user interface — a fancy way of saying it’s easy to tell the time despite the unconventional dial numeral layout.
I’m still amazed that this watch can be purchased for such a cheap price on eBay. There really are some awesome deals on “the Bay.”
Again, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this interesting watch!
Beat regards,
Bryan
July 15th, 2007 at 9:01 am
I just realized that it is a rarity to find such a good article about a small(ish), inexpensive and relatively obscure (before this article) quartz watch. It is cetainly refreshing to read about the nuances and subleties of a well designed timepiece and even more so that it does not include the words huge, diver and lume…..not that those aren’t features we like in a watch
Thanks Bryan!
July 18th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Thanks Evan. I’m pleased that you like the article, and appreciate your interest and support.
Regards,
Bryan
September 7th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
[…] Sometimes it seems if you want a watch with simplicity, you practically have to rob a bank to afford it. Think certain Dufours. Examples include Grand Seikos and Credors. That’s why it’s fun to discover a watch like the Alessi Record, made by Seiko. I wrote about its backstory here, but after actually nabbing one yesterday, I have to go on the record today and give eye witness testimony. Let’s examine the evidence from the beginning. […]