BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
If you love lookalike watches, and a lot of people do, then these might be something worth checking out. It’s quite easy to get lost in the Rolex dealer’s window, especially as they’re finally putting out the more desirable sports models (although they are ‘for display purposes only’, which sucks.
The new Seiko 5 Sports watches are professional diving tools but they’ve been given a touch of flair which indicates that these aren’t likely to be seen at the bottom of the sea. No, it’s not the coloured dials although those are a nice touch. The four new watches all come with a 42.5mm x 13.6mm stainless steel case but have different levels of gold treatment to make them look, well, gold. To be clear, these watches are not gold, and they’re not gold-plated either. They’ve received a chemical treatment which makes them look like gold.
There are four different references on offer. SRPK22 uses a two-tone case and multi-link bracelet with a gold and black bezel. Meanwhile, SRPK24 has the same setup, but with a gold-coloured bezel. The dial of this watch is also brown, while the SRPK22 has a charcoal-coloured dial.
The other two watches, SRPK18 and SRPK20 have gold-coloured cases and bracelets, no two-tone here. SRPK18 also has a matte black dial with a gold bracelet, while SRPK20 gets a brushed blue dial with a gold and black bezel.
All watches are powered by a Seiko 4R36 movement which is a self-winding movement made in-house by Seiko. It features a 3Hz beat rate and a power reserve of 41 hours which is quite average for these days. The movement is visible through the sapphire crystal caseback, which is good.
These four watches are on sale in the USA only; they’re special editions. They remind me of those white New Balance trainers lots of folks seem to wear over there, and I doubt they’ll ever go out of style. The price is $395 apiece.
