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- Seiko has turned its 2024 panda-lover concept into two limited-edition Power Design Project chronographs priced at AUD $875 each.
- The HHK001P sticks with the familiar black-and-white panda look, while the HHK002P goes Kawaii! pink in a nod to newborn pandas.
- Both arrive in Australia in November 2026, limited to 3,000 and 2,000 pieces worldwide, respectively.
When you spend as much time as we do admiring the world of horology, you’ll recognise a “panda dial” the moment someone turns their wrist over. Those fabulous-looking white chronograph dials with contrasting black subdials, like the one you’ll find on the Seiko Prospex Speedtimer, are some of the best around. But then Seiko decided that wasn’t quite literal enough for the panda lovers.
Meet the HHK001P and HHK002P, two watches from Seiko’s power design project collection 2 that take the nickname at face value. The subdials are now droopy panda eyes. The bullhead chronograph pushers are rounded into those adorable black ears. And to top it all off, the dial looks a little fuzzy thanks to its embossed radial pattern.
Sure, you might read the measurements and think, “Isn’t that a little big?” Well, yes, at 43 mm across and 14.6 mm thick, it’s a pretty chunky watch for something this adorable. But they’re called Giant Pandas for a reason. While the internet argues over the measurements, panda lovers in Australia will be getting first dibs. Arriving in November for AUD $875 each, they’ll be available through Seiko’s boutiques in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as the Seiko Boutique Online store.
1/10Seiko Power Design Project Collection 2 – Key Specs
- Models: HHK001P / HHK002P
- Movement: Seiko Calibre 8T61 quartz chronograph
- Case: Stainless steel
- Diameter: 43.0 mm
- Thickness: 14.6 mm
- Lug-to-lug: 44.1 mm
- Crystal: Hardlex
- Strap: Leather with suede-like sections
- Water resistance: 3 bar
- Price: AUD $875 each
- Limited editions: 3,000 pieces (HHK001P) / 2,000 pieces (HHK002P)
Seiko Goes Full Panda Mode
The design came together in 2024 as part of Seiko’s Incredibly Specialized Watch Exhibition, after designer Kiyotaka Sakai showed his panda-loving son a conventional “panda” chronograph. He wasn’t buying it, pointing out that it was still just a watch. So Sakai went back to the drawing board and made something a panda lover could recognise from across the room. The original concept even had the perfect name, with “PANDAGRAPH” sitting at six o’clock. However, these production versions swapped it out for a panda’s smile.
It’s smiling for a very good reason, though: the hour and minute hands are shaped like bamboo leaves. I’d be pretty happy, too. Then again, pandas can spend up to 16 hours a day eating and chew through as much as 45 kg of bamboo, so if you need another snack, the tachymeter has been renamed the “SASAMETER”, referencing sasa, the Japanese word for bamboo. As for those of us who actually use the chronograph, here’s another fact for you: Seiko says that if a panda ran flat-out for two minutes, the scale would indicate 30 km/h. Fat chance, though. I’ve only ever seen them sleeping and eating at the zoo.
But if you want to see a little more from the panda enclosure, flip the watch over for a caseback check, and you’ll find a design inspired by a panda’s back, complete with “LIMITED EDITION” sitting just above the tail.
Then, if that still wasn’t cute enough for panda lovers, there’s the HHK002P. Instead of the familiar white-and-black treatment found on the HHK001P, it gets a pale pink dial and matching leather strap inspired by a newborn panda. Kawaii!
And while Seiko’s Power Design Project: Incredibly Specialized Watch Exhibition 2 has now departed Australia’s shores, at least panda lovers have something they can actually buy. The HHK001P and HHK002P arrive in November for AUD $875 each through Seiko Boutiques in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as the Seiko Boutique Online store, with pre-orders open now.
It’s the latest reminder that Seiko’s power design project shines when designers are allowed to take a silly idea far too seriously. This time, they took one of watchmaking’s most familiar nicknames and gave it ears.
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