My Eastern Watch Collection: Seiko Sportura Kinetic Direct Drive SRG021P1 Black PVD (similar to SRG017 & SRG019) - A General Purpose Watch, A Review (plus Video)

I have two Kinetic watches, the Seiko SKA475P1 and the Seiko Prospex GMT SUN019P1. Both uses the first generation Kinetic technology whereby the internal battery or capacitor is charged only by the movement of the internal flywheel rotor.

The Direct Drive is a second generation Kinetic technology introduced by Seiko back in 2007 where the wearer can not only charge the internal battery or capacitor by wearing the watch but also by turning (or winding) the crown.

Over the years, I have always kept my eyes out for a worthy specimen to join the collection but truth be told, I wasn't that committed to get one, until now.

While browsing at a Seiko Boutique store in Mid Valley Megamall, I happened to noticed this Black IP-coated Sportura. It was going for cheap as it has been in the store for years. I immediately snapped up the SRG021P1.

This purchase tick two boxes for me: the first Sportura and the first Direct Drive Kinetic in the collection.

I suppose you can also say that this is a NOS (new old stock) model. Based on the serial number, this particular watch was made in 2014. Nevertheless, the dealer assured me that everything is still in perfect working order. The standard warranty is still given. Even the leather strap has been replaced by the dealership beforehand.

The Series

In 2014, Seiko launched a 3-piece Sportura Kinetic Direct Drive watch collection. On hindsight, these were very desirable watches. For the price it was set at, the series uses sapphire crystal as standard with a glass covering over the fixed bezel to create a seamless mirror-like watch face.

SRG017

SRG019

SRG021

SRG017 & SRG019:

Comes with bracelet
Has polished and brush surfaces
Weighing in at 172 gm

SRG021

Black IP-coated surfaces
Comes with black leather strap
Weighing in at 101 gm

Two of the models came with bracelet with polished and brushed surfaces while the third was a IP-coated and came with a leather strap.

If given the option, my favorite would be the SRG017 blue dial with bracelet model. Unfortunately, only the SRG021 was available.

The Watch

The SRG021 is an elegant looking watch. Made out of stainless steel, the watch is IP-coated in black to give that dark mysterious appearance. With a width of 44.5 mm, its curved lugs just pushed the overall length (lug-to-lug) to 51.0 mm. Size wise, it is generally a wearable watch for most adult wrists.

The SRG021 has a straight wall chapter ring painted black. The dial surface is also painted black with a diamond-like pattern that appears to have texture.

At the peripheral of the dial is a railway track minute scale painted in white. Adjacent to the inner part of the minute scale track are twelve rectangular lumed markers with the Seiko's famed LumiBrite luminous paint. Due to the presence of the power reserve/drive indicator and the date aperture, the lumed hour markers are the only set of markers apart from the railway track minute scale, that did not suffer any truncation. The next set of hour markers is a combination of applied Arabic numerals and applied rectangular polished plates. Unfortunately, the 8:00, 9:00 and 10:00 markers had to be eliminated to fit in the power reserve/drive indicator while the 3:00 marker had to be shortened to make way for the date aperture.

At 3:00, a faceted polished metal frame surrounds the date aperture. Seiko utilizes a negative print date wheel so as to minimise the visual disruption to the black dial surface.

At 9:00 is the power reserve/drive indicator. You may be wondering why I added the "/drive" to describe the indicator. Practically all watches with power reserve indicator use this particular complication to show how much energy left in the main spring. Seiko took one step further by incorporating the functionality to show how much power is being saved by the action of either the rotor or by manual winding in real time. It is like combining a fuel gauge with the RPM indicator (from a car) into one measuring device.

As you can see from the photo above, the power reserve/drive indicator is substantial and takes up a lot of dial space. The space is sunken about 1.0 mm below the dial surface and has a polished black surface. The reference scale has an exponential progression that measures from hours to months which are categorized accordingly in the wordings. The scale can be broken up into four clusters. The first timing cluster measures the hours to a maximum of 12 hours. The next cluster measures the days to a maximum of 7 days. The third cluster measures the week to a maximum of 4 weeks and the final cluster measures the months to a maximum of 1 month or so. Only the first cluster is painted with beige green to indicate low power in the capacitor.

The skeleton orange painted hand for the power reserve/drive indicator was well designed as it is not too overwhelming. The pivot point for the hand is another nice visual feature. Having a small polished dial is a subtle cue to the importance of the indicator.

There are five lines of texts on the watch. The brand is an applied piece placed at the upper quadrant while the rest are printed in white paint and located at the lower quadrant. The words "Sportura", "KINETIC" and "DIRECT DRIVE" are clear to see but the fifth line of text is rather small at the bottom edge of the dial. Nevertheless, the word 'JAPAN' is important as it denotes that this watch was made in a factory in Japan and not one of the many Seiko factories in other parts of the world. There is a perception that quality is better when made in Japan although in reality all Seiko factories follow the same strict quality control and manufacturing methodology (including the machinery).

The partially skeleton hands (hours and minutes) are rather fat and have parts painted with LumiBrite. The thin needle seconds hand is fully painted orange.

Protecting the dial is a flat sapphire crystal.

Contrary to popular believe, the bezel, with the prominent gear tooth edge is actually fixed in place. A telltale feature is the alignment of the number '30'. If the bezel can be turned, all the numbers on the bezel should be aligned to the center of the watch. A number of well-known watch bloggers and online watch websites wrote that the bezel can be turned. Someone must have made an error and the rest must have referred to the erroneous assertion as true and continued to propagate the mistake.

What I like about the bezel is that it is also protected by a sheet of crystal. I cannot find any description of the type of crystal used. Based on visual inspection, it could be Hardlex crystal. Whatever the material, the whole top surface of the watch has that consistent glass-like texture that is very pleasing.

The unsigned crown is located at 3:00. It uses a simple push-in/pull-out system with three positions. The first position (fully set into the casing) allows one to manually charge the capacitor by turning the crown. The effect of turning the crown can be directly seen in the movement of the power reserve/drive indicator. The second position (one position away from the casing) allows one to adjust the date. The third position allows one to adjust the time. Do note the typical shoulder guards found on most modern Seiko sports watches can also be found on the SRG021.

The screw-down case-back is solid with the brand and watch line printed on the center. Around the peripheral of the case-back are key information about the watch. Underneath the cover is the 5D22 Direct Drive Kinetic movement.

The 5D22 Direct Drive Kinetic movement has a rotor like an automatic movement and a battery-like capacitor which stores the energy. This movement is from the long line of specialty movement that is a hybrid between quartz and mechanical. The genesis or original autoquartz movement was first introduced by Seiko to the masses in the 1986 Basel Fair. Launched under the trial name of 'AGM', it was the first watch in the world to convert kinetic movement into electrical energy. The Direct Drive is a second generation Kinetic technology introduced by Seiko back in 2007 where the wearer can not only charge the internal battery or capacitor by wearing the watch but also by turning (or winding) the crown.

The 5D22 is a 3-hand movement (hour/minute/seconds) watch with a date complication and a power reserve/drive indicator. This movement has a diameter of 30.0 mm and an overall movement height of 8.1 mm. This is a 12 jewel movement and uses a capacitor with a power reserve of approximately one month. The capacitor can be charged either from the moving the watch or manually winding using the crown.

The power reserve/drive indicator of this movement is rather unique as it not only shows the state of the charge in the capacitor but also the power generation status and the amount of power generated.

As there is an integrated circuit chip in the movement, there is a possibility for the watch to 'hang' (similar to a computer). As such, there is a flushed button at 10:00 (see below) that one needs to depress for a few seconds to 'reset' the movement.

The watch is paired with a black racing style leather strap with yellow stitching at the corners. The strap is form-fitted against the watch casing similar to the bracelet design. The lugs are 21.0 mm wide but does not have pass-through spring-bar lug holes. The buckle are signed and IP-coated in black.

Seiko LumiBrite paint is famous for its brightness in the dark. Below is an image I took of the watch in the dark. Not as impressive as I expected but then again, this watch is already close to 9 years old when I got it.

The SRG021 is water rated at 100 meters. This is more than sufficient for a general sports watch.

The Wearing Experience

I must say that I am rather in love with this watch. Although I have a penchant for mechanical watches, the SRG021 has a lot of similarities even though it is definitely a quartz based watch. I have been wearing the watch for a few weeks now and I have yet gotten the urge to change it to something else.

I highlighted earlier that my first choice would have been the bracelet version with blue dial. Nevertheless, the IP-coated and leather strap version has a few good things going for it.

It does look stealthy. Coupled with the orange stitched black leather strap, it has that handsome and sophisticated vibe. Moreover, it weighs much less than the bracelet equivalent; 101 gm versus 172 gm respectively. The glass covered bezel is so classy.

Overall, the watch is a universal timepiece that tick a lot of boxes. For those that love some form of mechanical yet having the accuracy of a quartz watch, this watch is it.

Specifications

Case Material: Hard black IP-coated stainless steel

Crystal: Flat AR-coated sapphire

Band: Black calfskin leather strap in a racing style with signed buckle

Dial: Black

Illumination: Hour markers and hands coated with luminous compound LumiBrite

Case Diameter: 44.5 mm

Overall Length: 51.0 mm

Height: 12.5 mm
Lug Width: 21.0 mm

Weight: 101 grams

Water Resistant: 100 meters
Movement: Seiko Caliber 5D22

Technology: Kinetic - automatic quartz - Direct Drive