King Seiko 45KS 4502-8000
Woven light
The 4502-8000 brings stark black accents to a cream linen dial within a broad steel shield. The contrast can make the fine weave difficult to capture in a photograph; in hand, the texture is more pronounced. It is a watch that makes its presence felt from across the room and still rewards a much closer view.
The brushed border along the case slopes down from the centre towards the lug tips, following the curve of the wrist. That makes this expansive shape sit more naturally than its frontal outline might suggest. Its size is part of the composition, rather than a burden the wrist has to accommodate.
A pleasure to use
My January 1969 example has repeatedly reminded me why I enjoy the 45 family. After servicing and careful regulation, I recorded just one second gained over two and a half days. That is an observation about this watch, but it captures the satisfaction of finding so much precision inside such an expressive case.
The narrow, angular buckle, with its fine horizontal stripes, is a rare detail in its own right. Its sharply drawn outline feels particularly at home beside the case.
From the examples I have encountered on the market, this angular form seems to belong to the earliest watches, before the familiar rounded KS buckle became the norm. I know two versions of that classic rounded buckle, but their differences are so slight—apparently little more than the size of the KS logo—that I read them as variations of the same design. Finding the scarce, slender striped form adds another small pleasure to putting the watch on.
The watch
| Reference | 4502-8000 |
|---|---|
| My example | January 1969 |
| Manufacture | Daini Seikosha |
| Movement | 4502A · manual wind |
| Beat rate | 36,000 vibrations/hour · 5 Hz |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, central seconds, date |
| Case | Stainless steel · broad shield case |
| Dial | Light cream linen with black-accented markers and hands |
| Case width, without crown | 38.4 mm |
| Thickness, including crystal | 9.1 mm |
Dimensions measured on this example.
The grey-dial brother
Reuniting this watch with the grey, time-only 45-8000 made the breadth of the design particularly clear. The expansive steel outline remains immediately recognisable, while the cream linen and straight black accents give it a very different atmosphere from the grey sunburst and box-like markers. The change reaches well beyond the addition of a date.
