Seiko 5 Sports Sense Style with NATO Strap SRPD85K1 - A Fresh Injection of Style, A Review (plus Video)

Seiko was the brand that brought good mechanical watches designed from the ground up for the masses. The launch of the Seiko 5 sub-brand 1963 was the key turning point that made Seiko a major world player in wristwatches. Despite kick-starting the quartz watch tsunami of the 1970s with the launched the world’s first quartz watch in 1969, Seiko mechanical watch division was able to comfortably weather the storm and strive. Established brands did not react at all or in time and within 15 years later, almost two-thirds of all Swiss watchmakers closed shop.

The name Seiko 5 actually signifies the the number of key attributes which Seiko adheres to; self-winding automatic movement, resistance to water, a day-date in a single window, a recessed crown, and a durable case. All this ns a package and manufacturing quality that defies the price point of a Seiko 5 which very few manufacturers can match. As such the Seiko 5 brand has won respect, affection and loyalty of people from all around the world.

Seiko 5 Sports is a branch of the Seiko 5 dedicated to more sporty and tool-like designs.


In early 2019, the was a lot of buzz from Seikonistas (fans of Seiko) when Seiko announced the ending of it iconic SKX series of affordable tool watches. As a replacement, new models under the Seiko 5 Sports will be launched. The replacement, launched in the middle of 2019, got mix reviews as the rationale behind the corporate move was not fully understood. There is no consistency in the specification between the old SKX and the replacement. The two biggest conflicts are the water rating (SKX, 200 meters; new replacement, 100 meters) and the screw-down crown (SKX, screw-down crown; new replacement, push-in/pull-out crown).

To see it for myself what the issue all about, I decided to get one of the new Seiko 5 Sports and see whether the comments and complaints from a number of Seikonistas were justified in anyway. Seiko dropped 27 models clustered in five categories (please refer to the special section at the end of this review). I decided to go for the SRPD85K1 under the Sense Style category.


The Watch

The Seiko 5 Sports “Sense Style” Maroon Brown with nylon NATO strap SRPD85K1 is an automatic watch featuring a display case-back and powered by Seiko's current workhorse, the 4R36. Made out of stainless steel, the case measures 42.5 mm wide with a lug-to-lug length of 46.0 mm. The height is about 13.4 mm. The casing has a short lug design with a lug width of 22.0 mm. The mixture of satin brush and Seiko high polishing on the sides can be seen on the whole watch. As built, it has a 100 meter water resistant rating and it weighs in at 96 gm.



It is a typical analogue display watch with three-hands as well as day and date complications.

The bezel is aluminum and has large printed markings on it. It rotates uni-directionally in 120 click increments for a full rotation. The dial window and the case-back display window are made out of Hardlex crystal. 

The SRPD85K1 versus the SKX007

Before I go further into the review, let us compare the specification of this new timepiece against the discontinued icon, the SKX007.

Specifications	SRPD85K1	SKX007
Dimensions -Width -Length -Height -Lugs	Dimensions - 42.5 mm - 46.0 mm - 13.4 mm - 22.0 mm	Dimensions - 42.5 mm - 46.0 mm - 13.3 mm - 22.0 mm
Water Rating	100 meters	200 meters
Crown System	Push-in/pull-out	Screw-down
Case-back	Screw-down with display window	Screw-down and solid cap
Movement	4R36 - 24 jewels - hacking - manual winding - 41 hours	7S26 - 21 jewels - non-hacking - non-manual winding - 41 hours
Bezel	- Uni-directional - 120 clicks - aluminum insert	- Uni-directional - 120 clicks - aluminum insert
Capability	Sports watch capable for swimming	Certified for air-diving (Scuba)

The grouses that a number of fans have highlighted stems from the 'downgrade' of the replacement's specification when it comes to its underwater capabilities. The lack of a screw-down crown, the reduction of the water rating by half as well as the lack of diving certification are a letdown to the outgoing classic.

However, I believe there is another reason behind the changes. Seiko has been around for more than 100 years and the ability to read market sentiments is still strong with the corporation. They must be aware to the fact that the market will jump to this conclusion. However, Seiko is not worries because true friends of the brand will come to realise the real reason of the change sooner or later.

The first ever Seiko 5 watch, Seiko Sportmatic 5, was born in 1963. It was Seiko’s and Japan’s first ever automatic day-date watch. ‘’5’’ represented the promise that every Seiko 5 watch would have five key attributes. The attributes are; Automatic movement; Day-date display at the three o’clock position; Water resistance; Recessed crown at the four o’clock position, and; Case and bracelet built for durability

In the last few years, Seiko has been embarking on a branding cleanup. Over the years, there were a number of designs that are crossovers between the various sub-brands. It is becoming rather confusing. For example, the SKX007 does not have a Seiko 5 Sports branding, but market has implied that it is. The Seiko re-craft series such as the SRPC13K1, SNKP27K1 and the SNKM97K1, also does not have the Seiko 5 or Seiko 5 Sports branding. Now, Seiko has decided that tool watches would be under the Prospex line while other affordable sporty watches will be under Seiko 5 Sports line. This product realignment makes sense and reduces confusion in the market. In fact, Seiko has started to list the newer Seiko 5 Sports offerings in a special page on their website. Prior to this, Seiko did not even have a Seiko 5 page on its website (there used to to be a page for Seiko 5 Sports line of watches years ago but it was never updated).

One question that is still left to be answered is why just promote Seiko 5 Sports and not Seiko 5? The lack of a webpage for just Seiko 5 is interesting. I suspect another round of realignment is coming that would focus on the generic Seiko 5. Currently, there are some genre in Seiko 5 (like the dress watches etc) that are also covered under the Presage line. If anyone knows the story, do let me know in the comment section below.


The Dial

The SRPD85K1 has a dial texture concept typically seen in limited edition or special edition timepieces by Seiko (for example the PADI collaboration or the Save-The-Ocean special edition models). With a base colour of maroon brown, the texture is akin to water drops.



There is a slopping maroon brown chapter ring with white line minute markers. On the dial surface itself, applied hour markers in the form of circles, pills with short tails and a superman-triangle covered profusely with LumiBrite paint makes up the bulk of the surface area. I do have to say that Seiko's paint job on the hour markers is pinpoint leaving a thin line between the marker frame and the paint itself. This style of painting has never been seen before (generally, the LumiBrite paint would just fill the space between the frame). It would appear that Seiko must have invested in a new robotic paint system that is more precise. 

The 3 o'clock marker has been replaced with a large non-frame aperture to show both the Day and Date wheels. The language on the Day wheel is either Roman numerals or English.

On the top quadrant of the watch, the new Seiko 5 Sports logo has been added. The brand name is applied while the slopping "5" (which can also be read as "S" for Sports) is painted directly on the dial in white. On the bottom quadrant, the words "AUTOMATIC" in cursive font as well as some manufacturing coding in very small font can be found. These are also painted directly on to the dial with white paint.



Visually, it would seem that the texts are all applied as you cannot see any bumps and dimples due to the texturing of the dial affecting the texts and logo. On close inspection with a magnifying glass, I was able to discerned that the surface where the texts and logo were printed on is actually flat. This implies that Seiko's computer aided manufacturing machines was able to precisely placed where texturing is require and where it is not. Impressive indeed.

There is a hybrid of design elements for the hands. The arrow-like minute hands, the gladiator-sword-like hour hands and the thin pendulum-like seconds hand are practical for referencing. Both the hours and minutes hands are painted with LumiBrite. As for the seconds hand, it is painted green which blends well for the maroon brown core colour of the watch while the pendulum ball is painted with LumiBrite.



The dial is protected by a flat piece of Hardlex crystal. The crystal is beveled at the edge but does not have any AR coating to help to keep production cost down. It is also set a fraction of a millimeter below the edge of the bezel to give the crystal some protection from side impact.

The bezel has a gear-tooth edge with a trench running through its center. Similar to the security edge on old coins. The bezel is uni-directional and turns completely after 120 clicks. The mechanism felt mushy as if it uses a ratcheting system with friction to stabilize the movement. This is one part of the watch that Seiko should consider for re-designing. Meanwhile, the inserts is aluminum. The hybrid markers are painted in silver over a maroon brown background. Although there is a triangle marker as 12 o'clock (similar to a dive watch), it is not painted with LumiBrite.



The unsigned crown is located at 4 o'clock. Protected by metal shoulders, the crown is well protected from side impact when placed in the close position. The push-in & push-out crown is easy to manipulate.

The lug width on the watch is 22 mm. The lugs does not have a drilled through lug holes for easier disengagement of the spring-bars. Paired with a maroon brown long nylon strap with metal strap guides and signed buckle, the whole package feels balanced. I only have two grouses about the strap. The first is the length of the strap. On wearing, I need to double the ends of the strap over itself to keep it tidy and neat. I suggest Seiko re-package the watch with a standard length NATO strap from now on as the watch is not intended to be a diver anyway The second is the way the strap's buckle-holes are protected against fraying. A quick heat treatment around each hole was employed. This method only works in the short term. Eventually, the constant in-and-out of the buckle pin against the surface of the heat treatment will start to fray it. A more elegant manner is either putting a metal ring around each hole or a strip of leather over the holes to provide additional strength.    



The watch has a display case-back. The display case-back is a screw-down type and has a flat Hardlex crystal for the display window. Through the window, you can see the 4R36 movement. The 4R36 operates at 21,600 BPH (3 Hertz) with hacking and hand winding capabilities. It has 24 jewels with a power reserve of 40 hours. This is a major upgrade from the previous 7S26 non-hacking and non-manual winding caliber used on the old SKX007J1.



I was able to test the accuracy of the movement based on the Toolwatch app that is available for free via iOS and Android. I tested the accuracy of the caliber straight out of the box. The simple test recorded -1.6 seconds per day error which is quite impressive.  


I also tested the luminosity of the dial. As expected, it shines bright and very defined.


The Wearing Experience

I must say that the watch wears well. It is comfortable and the size is just nice for my wrist. As a gneral watch that can be used for all occassions, the SRPD85K1 checked all the correct boxes. Below is a video of the watch on my wrist.



If you undertand the product realingment exercise by Seiko, it is hard to find fault with this watch. Some of the comments thrown against the brand were made by people that have not truly understand the brand and its history. Since this series is the first under the new product development philosophy, it is good to get one in the collection for the historical signifance.

The Series

The latest Seiko 5 Sports series is unique. For the first time, Seiko has dedicated a page on the website to highlight the various models under this new set of Seiko 5 Sports. For 2019, Seiko launched 27 difference models under this series separated in five sub-categories.

Category 1: Sense Style

SRPD77K1

SRPD85K1

Category 2: Street Style

SRPD79K1	SRPD81K1
SRPD83K1

Category 3: Specialist Style

SRPD55K2	SRPD65K3
SRPD76K1

Category 4: Suits Style

SRPD65K2	SRPD67K1
SRPD69K1	SRPD71K1
SRPD71K2	SRPD73K1
SRPD73K2	SRPD75K1

Category 5: Sports Style

SRPD51K1	SRPD51K2
SRPD57K1	SRPD59K1
SRPD61K1	SRPD63K1
SRPD65K1	SRPD65K4
SRPD53K1	SRPD55K1
SRPD55K3

Specifications

Reference: SRPD85K1
Dial: Textured maroon brown
Case Material: Stainless steel, extra hard coating
Case Dimensions: Width 42.5 mm, lugs 22 mm, height 13.4 mm, length 46.0 mm
Weight: 96 gm
Crystal: Hardlex
Case Back: Screw-down stainless steel with Hardlex window
Movement: Seiko 4R36 automatic, hand winding, hacking, quick-set Day and Date functions
Jewels: 24
Power Reserve: Approximately 41 hours
Water Resistance: 100 Meters
Strap: Maroon brown nylon NATO
Functions: Analogue with 3-hands, unidirectional dive bezel, day & date
MSRP: RM1,275
Availability: September 2019
Purchase Date: 4 October 2019
Purchase Price: RM890


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