Seiko Day-Date Style Vanilla Roman

Vanilla is the quiet end of yellow: the smooth dial of the DAY MOD - VANILLA ROMAN shows a light, warm vanilla yellow on which gold-coloured Roman numerals and gold-coloured batons stand almost tone on tone. Against that warmth the watch sets cool steel, namely the fluting of the bezel, 40 mm of 316L stainless steel for the case and five rows of links for the bracelet. The weekday and the date both advance, with the weekdays shown in English. Dark hands with a pale fill make sure you find the time at once despite the gentle contrast.

The colour sits in the gap between a cold silver dial and a full yellow one: warm enough to be noticed, light enough for a shirt or a knit without becoming the centre of attention. We see it with beige, brown, cream and olive, with linen in summer and tweed in autumn.

Gold-coloured numerals on vanilla yellow

Gold-coloured throughout, the hour markers alternate: Roman numerals for 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, narrow batons for 1, 5, 7, 9 and 11. The contrast turns out softer than on white or silver: the serifs do not cut hard into the surface, they sink into the warm dial almost like engraving. That is why this colour flatters Roman numerals; it takes the formality out of them without swallowing them. The batons keep the layout in order, so the time can still be read at arm's length, and Super-LumiNova on the indices keeps it legible after nightfall. The counterweight comes from the dark baton hands with their pale fill and from a seconds hand as dark and thin as a pencil line; a magnifier at 3 o'clock lifts the date towards you.

Cool steel around warm yellow

The case is stainless steel and measures 40 mm, a size that lies flat and glides under a cuff instead of catching on it; on slim and broad wrists alike it stays in proportion. On top sits a sapphire crystal that shrugs off the scuffs which dull softer glass. The bezel is fluted. It ships on a steel Jubilee bracelet, which gives it a soft drape. Its links run in five rows, the middle ones polished. The crown screws down.

Inside

The vanilla dial is driven by an NH35, an automatic that keeps the date as well. The motion of the wrist is what winds it, and it can be topped up by hand at the crown; while you set it, the seconds hand stops. The exhibition case back lets you watch the mechanism doing its work.

• Dial: light vanilla yellow, smooth, numerals and batons gold-coloured
• After dark: Super-LumiNova glows on the gold-coloured indices
• Under the vanilla dial: the NH35, self-winding, date included
• Steel parts: 316L case of 40 mm, fluted bezel, crown that screws down; sapphire in front, glass back behind
• Bracelet: steel, Jubilee, five rows
• Water resistance: 5 ATM

Related dials, a different mood

Two Roman versions stand closest to this one, and both are darker. The blue-grey one carries pale, steel-coloured numerals, the berry-red one dark anthracite ones; gold-coloured numerals on a light ground exist, among the three, only here. Vanilla is one of a good number of dial colours that can be switched with the swatches on this page, and it is already set as the starting colour.

Hand-assembled by MedoMods and tested before shipping. Free worldwide shipping with tracking.

Similar models: Day Mod - Sand Beige Roman, Day Mod - White Roman, Day Mod - Basalt Roman, and Yacht Mod - Grey.

In the same style: Roman Numeral Seiko Mod.

From our guides: NH36 Movement Explained: Day-Date, Specs & Mod Compatibility.