Seiko 5 SRPC55K1 Review & Complete Guide
Seiko makes some great affordable dive watches. In fact, Seiko is considered one of the best manufacturers of affordable automatic dive watches in the world.
They are robust, durable, and offer exceptional quality for the price. With a price of less than 200 USD, the Seiko 5 SRPC55K1 definitely offers great value for money. And it becomes particularly obvious when you look at the watch in detail.
Seiko’s 5 sports collection is Seiko’s entry-level collection for sports watches. Whilst affordable, they are built to have at least a decent water resistance, a durable case, and a robust automatic movement. Seeing that this watch is a dive watch, Seiko has gone above and beyond in making sure it has performance and a durable design to back it up.
Seiko 5 SRPC55K1 Review
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The Seiko 5 SRPC55K1 is a watch that has a sporty presence already from first glance. But considering its price, Seiko is not able to build it according to the most serious dive watch specifications. But with that said, it still has more than good enough performance for most people, and the fact is that the vast majority of people who buy this watch won’t go deep diving hundreds of meters down anyways.
What makes this watch stand out in the crowd is its bright orange dial which is hard to miss. Having said that, it is not a watch for everyone, but one that is perfect for people who are looking for something fun, different, and bold.
In addition, a sporty dive watch needs a sporty design, and this watch certainly doesn’t lack this. The watch has a large and bold case design with a unique and the bezel equally so.
In this article, we are reviewing and looking closer at the Seiko 5 SRPC55K1.
Seiko 5 SRPC55K1 case
The watch has a stainless steel case with a diameter of 44.5mm, a lug-to-lug measurement of 50mm, and a thickness of 13mm. With that said, there’s no coming around the fact that this is a large watch. As it should, of course. After all, this watch is for people who want something large, sporty, and bold, and that is exactly what it offers.
The watch has great heft and bulky feel on the wrist, and therefore, it is ideal if you have large wrists and enjoy wearing large watches.
It’s nice to see that Seiko has paid great attention to the finishing of the case despite its affordable price. The top of the lugs are satin finished, but they have large polished bevels which provide a nice contrast. As an additional contrast, the sides of the case are satin-finished as well.
As a sports watch should the lugs are broad and bulky. The crown positioned at 3 o’clock is slightly recessed but does not have any crown guards. Since the case is already big as it is, it would have been unreasonably large with crown guards on top of that.
Sitting on top of the watch is a unidirectional rotating bezel with 12 knurls around it for better grip. The bezel has a black painted aluminum insert, on which the first 15 minutes are silver colored. The insert has 60-minute graduations, with each 10-minute printed out. The minute markings are made in a broad font with an industrialized look. An interesting touch of the bezel is that it is angled toward the dial. This provides depth and keeps it from being flat and boring.
The watch has a water resistance of 100m/330 feet. This can partly be attributed to the fact that it does not have a screw-down crown. For a dive watch, this is not the most impressive water resistance, but Seiko has primarily made this watch an everyday sporty and fun watch for people who enjoy dive watch designs. The water resistance is enough for swimming and snorkeling, but just not deep diving, and that is as far as most owners will go with any watch anyways. But if you need a watch with even better water resistance, Seiko has a ton of other dive watches (at higher prices) to choose from.
To finish it off, Seiko uses its proprietary Hardlex crystal. This is not as scratch-resistant as sapphire crystal, but at this price point, we can’t expect Seiko to use sapphire.
Seiko 5 SRPC55K1 dial
The dial is definitely the highlight of this watch. Specifically, the bright orange dial that really pops. The dial is slightly matte and has a metallic finish. Around the outer edge of the dial, Seiko has decided to print the seconds markers in black. The watch has applied hour markers which are triangle-shaped with a ” cut-off” tip. The markers have a polished metal frame around them, and most importantly, the markers have a generous amount of Lumibrite applied to them. This provides optimal legibility and also ensures that the watch glows long and bright. Positioned at 3 o’clock, we have the Seiko 5 standard day and date window with a black background and the day and date printed in white. The black background provides good legibility but also blends into the dial much better than if the background would have been white.
The watch has aggressively-shaped large hands. The hour hand is painted in a matte black color and is shaped like an arrow. The minute hand is sword-shaped. The seconds hand is arrow-tipped and painted in white. The fact that these are matte painted and not polished metal prevents glare and improves legibility.
The hands of course have a generous amount of Lumibrite applied to them.
All in all, the dial offers exactly what you expect – great legibility and strong lume, and to finish it off, a bright and bold orange dial.
Seiko 5 SRPC55K1 movement
The watch is equipped with the Seiko Automatic mechanical caliber 4R36.
This movement is known as a workhorse as it has proven that it will continue to tick for years without needing a service. The movement is robust and durable and can handle shocks and harsh conditions. It is equipped with 24 jewels and beats with a frequency of 21600 BPH.
This movement is an upgrade from Seiko’s 7S36 movement which is and has been widely used in Seiko’s more affordable Seiko 5 watches. The fact that Seiko decided to use the caliber 4R36 is therefore a huge value proposition. This movement has two important functions that the predecessor lacked, which are manual winding function and hacking seconds.
If you turn the watch around, it will reveal the movement through the see-through case back. The movement is not finished or decorated, but it’s important to highlight that this is not the purpose of this movement. Instead, this movement is built as an industrialized tool, and it also goes very well with the ethos of this watch.
Seiko 5 SRPC55K1 bracelet
The watch is presented with a sporty and robust stainless-steel three-link bracelet. The bracelet has a push-button deployment clasp to keep it locked and secure on the wrist.
The issue with affordable watches is often that the part they compromise with the most is the bracelet, and we can’t say the bracelet of the SRPC55K1 is the best either. It does rattle somewhat and doesn’t feel 100% robust, but it does the job.
The good news is that the bracelet looks great with the design of the watch and follows through on the sportiness it is looking to achieve.
Specifications
- Water resistance: 100m/330 feet/10ATM
- Jewels: 24
- Diameter: 44.5mm
- Lug-to-lug: 50mm
- Thickness: 13mm
- Movement: 4R36
- Frequency: 21600BPH
Conclusion
To conclude this article, the Seiko 5 SRPC55K1 is a sporty and big automatic watch with a dive-watch-inspired design.
It has sufficient water resistance for swimming and snorkeling and is equipped with durable and reliable automatic movement. At this price, it is difficult to find better watches than the Seiko 5s, and with its bold orange dial, it is different and unique. It is definitely great value for money.
The Seiko 5 SRPC55K1 is available to order on Amazon.
