BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
We had a fair few interesting comments on our recent Top 5 Summer Watches article and some people with great suggestions. One that seemed to be popular was the Seiko 5. With me not thinking about a Seiko 5 ever, I didn’t think to include it on the list. However, if you thought it should have been in our Top 5, you may consider this article’s subject as an “honourary member” of the list. Today we’re looking at the newly introduced Seiko Sports GMT, which looks suspiciously like a Rolex in some manners, so no doubt people will go on about why anyone would buy a Rolex when they could have this. Look at that. I’m digressing already.
One thing that puts this watch into favour with people is its retail price which is €470. For that price, you get a mechanical GMT watch with a two-tone bezel, rounded markers on the dial, a date magnifier and a Jubilee bracelet. Sound like a familiar set-up? It’s a good way of showing what money can buy you if you’re prepared to sacrifice some quality and some brand recognition, and I’m not even going to bring up the grey market prices either.
The watch comes with a 42.5mm stainless steel case that appears robust and ready for action and has a 24-hour graduated two-tone bezel to aid in telling the time across the world. Each bezel is colour matched to each dial, and the choices are blue, black or orange. When combined with the fixed 24-hour graduated inner bezel, the red-tipped GMT hand and the rotating outer one allow you to calculate the time in three timezones simultaneously. To find out more on how that work, read my review of the Rolex GMT Master II 126710BLNR. Water-resistance on this one is 100m.
Inside these watches is the calibre 4R34, which is brand new for the watch, and it comes with a 3Hz beat rate and 40-hour power reserve. There is no mention of accuracy yet, but accuracy isn’t necessarily the Seiko 5’s strongest suit from memory. Still, it’s automatic with a date and a GMT, showing what can be had at this price point. These will be available from July and are a great way to find out if a GMT watch is for you.
Visit Seiko here.
