Introducing The New Seiko 5 Sports Watches. Click here.
Seiko has always created watches around specific sets of clearly defined principles. The delineation of the product line offers clarity to buyers – for every purpose, there's a watch. Often times the nomenclature of the watch would hint at its intended use. In 1963, the Seiko 5 line was introduced. The watches were geared towards younger buyers who wanted value and style – and Seiko 5 caught on in a big way. There were 5 traits every Seiko 5 had: an automatic movement, a day/date window, significant water resistance for sporting activities, a crown at 4 o'clock, and durable case and bracelet(or strap). Many of these standards almost seem obvious (except maybe the crown at 4), but that's because watches like the Seiko 5 have contributed to these ideals becoming benchmarks. Seiko managed to produce a watch that met all the above criteria for a price that was agreeable to younger folks. The Seiko 5 watches were designed with purpose and accessibility in mind; the communication materials and strategy appealed directly to an audience that needed a watch like the Seiko 5: the youth of the '60s.
The first Seiko 5 Sports model, from 1968.
Today the legendary Seiko 5 Sports line returns, positioned in very much the same fashion as it was when it was first introduced. The line has traditionally been more closely associated with emerging markets like Southeast Asia rather than the US, but with the recent rebrand and relaunch, that's changing. And that's great news for our market, because historically the Seiko 5 models have riffed off Seiko's core designs, but the watches have been manufactured in a way that made them affordable to a wider audience.
That remains true with the relaunch line-up, as well. The Seiko 5 moniker represents affordability and youthfulness. It isn't a single watch, but an entire line of watches. There’s the SNKL23, a watch that Jack Forster proved looks far more elegant than its price would suggest. Then there are the SNK800 series watches; that’s what most people think of when they think of modern(ish) Seiko 5. The sub-brand has been around since 1963, so of course there are countless references.
But this new line-up is being launched off the back of one model executed many ways. Twenty-seven, to be exact.
SRPD77 and SRPD76, from the Sense and Specialist families.
Take the new SRPD55K1 for example, the most conservative design of the bunch. If it looks familiar, it's because it shares a common design language with the often lauded gateway watch, the SKX007. The self-referential design even goes a step further. The "automatic" text looks like it's borrowed from another fan favorite, the pre-Prospex era Seiko "Sumo." You're getting all the hallmarks of the greatest Seiko dive watches at a price point that will slot in significantly lower than the models the Seiko 5 line references.
The downside? Only 100m of water resistance. It's not a "Professional" dive watch. But that’s what the Prospex family is for. The new Seiko 5 line has a respectable 100m water resistance rating. The perennial debate over whether or not 100m is enough to go diving with will play out in the comment section I’m sure, but I can say with certainty that 100m is enough to stand up to the sort of aquatic environment the majority of new Seiko 5 customers will encounter. They do not offer a screw down crown.
Back to the delineation of the product line I mentioned earlier. The new Seiko 5 line-up is broken down into 5 categories: Sports, Suits, Specialist, Street, and Sense. Each category represents a different thematic approach to the Singular Seiko 5 model. The Sports line will be quite familiar to longtime fans of the brand. Each model can be traced back to another popular watch from Seiko’s history. It’s a neat game to play. The SRPD57K1 features the same gilt and black motif that recently came back in style with the SRP775, and even that is a hat tip to the 6215, Seiko’s 300m diver from 1968. The 6215 was reincarnated as the Marine Master, nicknamed the "MM300" (SBDX017). The Marine Master was produced in a limited edition that featured a forest green dial, the SLA019J1, and that same shade of green can now be found on the Seiko 5 SRPD63K1. It’s fun to connect all the dots. Spend some time on the line-up page and you’ll get deja-vu. And that’s because you have seen most of these designs already if you've been following Seiko divers since the mid-2000s. A lot of those models have gone out of production or have been folded up into the slightly-more-upscale Prospex line, so this is a great way to reconnect with all the popular divers that can't be bought new anymore.
SRPD79, from the Street family, on matching NATO.
The other end of the new Seiko 5 spectrum isn't quite as familiar. But it does still follow one guiding principle of the Seiko 5 mantra: It’s clearly designed for a youthful audience. At first glance, the Sense collection seems atypical for Seiko. There’s a rock-like texture present on the dial that feels totally foreign, but there may be some form of design reasoning behind it. After all, the SBGK005’s dial is designed after Mt. Iwate, but it only clicks after you hear the backstory. I'm waiting on the thinking behind the Sense sub-collection.
SRPD76, from the Sports family.
The Street Style collection features blacked-out models that might be suspected of suffering from decreased luminosity, but something tells me the Seiko’s LumiBrite is practically immune to that. The watches come on a black NATO with matching hardware, clearly a sign that Seiko's been paying attention to the sort of strap that enthusiasts are swapping out OEM bands for.
Dropping 27 new watches at one time is an incredibly significant move for Seiko, and the revival of the Seiko 5 moniker also touches on something else that’s worthy of note. Seiko has gradually been moving upmarket in recent years, with incremental price ratcheting and changes in the production schedule of flagship watches. It seems like once Grand Seiko launched in America, it started to creep upwards, and like the rest of a rope team following a lead climber up the side of a mountain, the remaining segments of the Seiko product range inched up as well. Finally there’s a watch – 27 of them – to fill the void.
The new Seiko 5 Sports models: cases in stainless steel, or stainless steel with rose PVD or black hard-coating. Silcone rubber or calfskin straps, or steel bracelets. Case dimensions, 42.5 x 13.4mm, with Hardlex crystal and display back. Water resistance 10 bar/100 meters. Movement, Seiko in-house caliber 4R36, beating at 21,600 vph; 41 hour power reserve. Official US pricing not yet available; approximate retail prices in Europe, €280-340. Dedicated Seiko 5 Sports Collection launch site is right here, and you can see all 27 variations in all 5 families, right here.
21 COMMENTS
The lack of a screw down crown is a bit of a road block for me. Several of the references are absolutely possibilities, at that price point I could see owning black on black and stainless black dial mesh bracelet. But what could it have possibly cost to add a screw down crown?
I was going to bemoan the death of the SKX007/009 and the like in favour of an expanded Seiko 5 line (visions of tiny plated watches scrolling across Jomashop dancing in my head...), then I visited the page. I could do without the '5' branding, but holy cow there are a few that would fit well in my collection without breaking the bank.
I hope that this shift continues-I'd love to see new versions of their field and pilot-style watches.
Actually let me amend that - they're more than fine, and they're more than nice - they are REALLY good-looking, at least in these pictures.
1 Like
These are fine - in fact they're nice.
But I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling incredibly sentimental about the Seiko 5 range so I hope Seiko doesn't drop the whole incredibly varied and wonderful palette of Seiko 5 watches that are available around the world, and in particular I hope that the classic Seiko 5 logo isn't being dropped other than for this one particular line.
One of my first mechanical watches was a Seiko 5 and I loved it, and I have enormous respect and appreciation for Seiko just for the whole approach and set of values that the Seiko 5 brand represents.
And these watches here - well, to be honest, in a way I think they are Seiko 5 in name only - because they just don't LOOK like Seiko 5. Again, they're nice watches, but why not create a new sub-brand for them.
And to all the inevitable armchair watch critic babies asking for sapphire - in the real world my Turtle is worn with reckless abandon and has not one scratch on the hardlex crystal. If your scratching these things you’re just a slob.
No 🧀e “5” on the dial. Which I like. And 42mm in a diver I also like. The black version caught my eye. Two 👍👍 up. Good everyday watch
Hmm. It’s like a turtle cased in a normal case (thank god for that, and I do own a srp779). Not sure how I feel about these in relation to a select few current 5 models but it makes sense and cleans up the logic of Seiko’s product lines, which they desperately need to do.
My first watch was my grandfather's old Seiko 5 Sportsmatic 6619-8060 - so I'm all about this.
I didn't know the crown at 4 was a necessity - but I did think that they had to have Diaflex (unbreakable mainspring) technology, learn something new every day
I just hope the chapter rings are aligned... Awesome attempt by Seiko to bring interest to mechanical watches again to an audience which may be younger that may be on the fence spending a lot on watches.
I was expecting this official release. I really love the different series in the collections (Sports, suits, street...). But I really regret the 100 water resistance and the 42 mm size. I understand they needed to cover the 200 m with the Prospex collection, but honestly Seiko... Let's hope there is going to
be a move on 38 mm like they did with the SKX013 coming from the larger 007.
I personally love the textured dial version.
1 Like
Awesome to see seiko’s efforts to reach younger audience . Refreshing, i would have supported their movement (pun intended) if they were sub39mm in size though :(
For all the non-water sporting SKX007 mod fans out there...now you can save the effort! Except maybe a sapphire crystal addition...
