No matter if you’re a seasoned collector, a dabbling hobbyist, or new to the world of horology, if you’ve ever had your watch-yearning eye on Seiko you’ve most likely come across the SARB line but you may have never heard of the Seiko SCVS001. The now discontinued and sought-after SARB collection of dressy watches are almost synonymous with the entry-level stage of the brand’s mechanical offerings. While this line was still in production, it packed a helluva punch for a price tag that gave the company’s Swiss competition something to seriously ponder. One could argue that even the inflated aftermarket price for these watches is a better bargain than what most of the competition offers.

Needless to say, in the early days of my Seikoholism, I had my dilated pupils shakingly fixed on the mighty SARB. The 035 in particular, feeling drawn to that unique case with the brushed surface lying a step higher than the polished main piece, the dauphine hands, the needle-eye seconds hand, the minutes and seconds track running around that milk-white dial, the applied logo, and… okay, not the biggest fan of the indices, but hey, it can’t be perfect, right? With its 100 meters water resistance, signed crown, sapphire crystal, and display caseback showing the reliable 6R15 movement, there’s not a lot to fuss about.

Until a lazy day of browsing through the infinite black hole that is the World Wide Web when my attention was brought to something that forced me to sit up straight. I slowly put my cold and untouched coffee down and leaned in closer. The Seiko SCVS001. Now what was this? What I saw in the images before me had the same case as the SARB035 (with the perfect dimensions of 38x45mm and a 20mm lug width), the same specifications, movement, signed crown, hands, display caseback, but… with some very alluring differences.

The dial: a sunburst buttery cream that almost begs one to bake it into a pastry and sprinkle it with sugar. The indices: simple and classy with lume at the tips; melting into the dial. The gold of the hands, indices, date window, and applied logo that gives it an extra dash of dressiness. The text at 6 o’clock: a no-nonsense informative font that downplays the golden fanciness into a perfect harmony of casual and formal. The minutes and seconds track is printed on the dial, contrary to the SARB035’s plastic ring. And last but far from least: the bracelet. Polished beads of rice running through brushed pieces, meeting at a signed clasp that would fit this beauty around its powerful proprietor like a mythological medallion forged by master sorcerers to rule the lands once and for all.

SARB035 move aside, The Seiko SCVS001 had entered my universe and I knew I would never reach true happiness unless it was in my possession.

Launched before the SARB, also in the Japan-only Spirit line of watches, I found it being in the same price range as the aforementioned collection and couldn’t help but think: “Why aren’t people raving about the Seiko SCVS001 as much as they do about the SARBs ?” There’s also the black dial SCVS003 as an alternative to the SARB033. Is it because they were made during a shorter period? Because they’re certainly much harder to find than the SARB.

Well, it’s all subjective, I guess. Maybe there’s some SARB peer pressure involved? (Search within you to find the truth…) All I know is that after I finally found my Seiko SCVS001 on a Japanese auction site, my Seiko Spirit needs are satisfied. At least for now. We all know how it goes.