BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Seiko is a watchmaker with a plethora of interesting and unusual designs in its back catalogue. While newer watchmakers have to work extra hard to create new themes (not that there’s anything wrong with that, per se), Seiko can look through its historical models to find something worth bringing to people’s wrists once more. With re-editions of historical watches being commonplace and popular these days, it’s perhaps not surprising these new Seiko 5 Sports Kosuke Kawamura SRPJ41 & SRPJ43 exist.
Born in Hiroshima, Kosuke Kawamura is a graphic designer who’s collaborated with Adidas, Uniqlo and G-Shock, to name just a few. While Kawamura is known for his collage work, it’s Seiko’s Time-Sonar model from the 1970s that seems to have captured his attention. Walking on the wild side, the Time-Sonar was a one-minute flyback chronograph with a day and date feature.
The new SRPJ41 and SRPJ43 lose the chronograph function and use a 42.5mm stainless steel case, a 4 O’clock crown and a Hardlex crystal to provide a chunky and sporty appearance. This is coupled with a thick diving-style bezel for a masculine and tool-like look, it’s one we like. The case is water-resistant to 100m.
Undoubtedly the most striking parts of the watches are their dials. As I mentioned, the chronograph has disappeared, but it’s left behind the whacky acid-trip details such as the opaque dials with colours added, the orange centre hand and the day-date feature. Even with the added lume on the hands, it’s hard to tell from press photos how legible these are, but we’d imagine they’re quite readable. For reference, the orange and green version is SRPJ41, while the grey and green is the SRPJ43.
The calibre 4R36, a 3Hz automatically-wound movement is powering both of these watches. It’s a solid and reliable workhorse that’s been used in a multitude of Seiko 5 watches and shows Seiko playing to its strengths here.
Both models come with a stainless steel bracelet and a fabric strap. The SRPJ41 is limited to 3000 examples priced at €450 each, while the SRPJ43 is limited to 500 watches for €500 a piece.
Visit Seiko here.
