Seiko Presage Cocktail ”Espresso Martini” SSA345 Review & Complete Guide
The Seiko Presage collection, in Seiko’s own words, ”combines a Japanese aesthetic sense with traditional craftsmanship and Seiko’s watchmaking skills in an original collection that offers Japanese beauty, quality, and long-lasting performance.”
Furthermore, the ”Cocktail time” watches within the Presage collection are made in partnership with Shinobu Ishigaki who is one of the most highly regarded mixologists. The Cocktail time watches are, as the name suggests, inspired by cocktails. Which cocktail is the inspiration for the SSA345 is evident in its name – the Espresso Martini.
The Presage Cocktail time Espresso martini reference SSA345 is one of the watches in the cocktail time collection, and just like all of them, it is elegant, classy, and is extremely well finished.
Just like all of the Presage watches, the SSA345 has striking attention to detail and is refined just like a watch of this style should be. But at the same time, it is not just plain and boring like dress watches tend to be. Instead, the dial – which also has also been what has given its nickname – makes it stand out from the crowd and ensures you will never get bored of it.
Without further ado, let’s look closer at what this watch has to offer.
Seiko SSA345 review
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The Seiko SSA345 is primarily meant as a dress watch for more formal occasions, but it has also proven to be capable of being worn as an everyday watch.
The watch has a simple and clean case design, but as is the case for all Seiko Cocktail time watches, it is all about the dials. And this one really stands out from the crowd.
In this article, we are reviewing the Seiko SSA345.
Seiko Presage ”Espresso Martini” SSA345 case
The watch has a stainless steel case with a diameter of 40.5mm and a thickness of 14.5mm. This is a nice size that will work for a wide span of wrist sizes. It’s not tiny, which makes it slightly sportier and more suitable for everyday wear, but it is also not huge which allows it to be more wearable.
To give it a classy and elegant look, it is fully polished. The majority of the property is taken up by the dial, and because of this, it has a thin polished bezel. The lugs have a rectangular shape and are slightly curved. A nice design feature is that this watch features a large oversized crown at 3 the 3 o’clock side. The crown gives the watch character and a distinct look. It also gives the benefit of making it easy to set the time.
Sitting on top of the case, we have Seiko’s proprietary Hardlex crystal.
It has a water-resistance of 50 meters, which essentially just means it is resistant to water splashes, but seeing that this is a dress watch with a leather strap, it’s not really crucial to have good water-resistant properties.
Seiko ”Espresso Martini” dial
As mentioned, the dial is really the star of this watch. The watch is fitted with a brown/black radiant dial which has beautiful attention to detail and great depth. It really radiates depending on how the sunlight hits it and can shift from light grey to light espresso brown – hence its name.
This is a type of dial that simply never stops to amaze due to its many appearances and personalities. The radiant dial is executed by making small ”stripes” from the center of the dial similar to sunburst, but with a much greater depth.
Around the outer edge of the dial, it has seconds markers printed in white. For the hour markers, it has applied polished metal markers with bevelings which look really elegant and go very well together with the overall design of the watch. They also reflect the light beautifully.
The hands are made in a similar style as the hour markers and are leaf-shaped. Above the 6 o’clock, we find a date indicator which can be a handy function to have for everyday wear for keeping track of the date. It also makes the dial slightly more interesting as it is not plain time-only (although, regardless, this dial is anything but plain).
Furthermore, from 12 o’clock to about 20 past, you can find that it has a power reserve indicator. This is indicated via the additional short 4th hand which has an arrow tip. This allows you to keep track of how much energy is left in the movement before it needs to be wound up again. In an automatic watch, it is not a crucial feature, but it’s just a nice addition.
Seiko Presage SSA345 movement
The watch is powered by the Seiko in-house automatic caliber 4R57. This movement has both self-winding function and hacking functions. These are two functions that are not found in Seiko’s most affordable automatic watches.
The movement has 29 jewels and beats with a frequency of 21600 BPH.
This is a reliable and durable workhorse movement that will continue to tick for years. To give it more of an elegant appearance, Seiko has equipped it with a gold rotor. Speaking of which, the movement can be seen through the watch’s see-through case back which you will find if you turn it around.
It’s not the most beautiful movement out there and is not decorated, but this is not something we can expect from a watch in this price range. But it’s still nice to have the gold rotor but also just to be able to appreciate the mechanical piece of craftsmanship that is beating inside.
Strap
The watch is fitted on a black embossed leather strap which has a push-button fold-over clasp. The strap looks elegant and is perfect for a watch like the SSA345. The lug width is 20mm.
Specifications
- Crystal: Hardlex
- Diameter: 40,5 mm
- Thickness: 14,5 mm
- Water-resistance: 50m
- Case back: See-through
- Movement: Seiko in-house automatic caliber 4R57
- Jewels: 29
- Frequency: 21600 BPH
- Strap: black embossed leather with push-button folding clasp
- Lug width: 20mm
Conclusion
There is a lot to say about the Seiko Presage Cocktail ”Espresso Martini” SSA345. It’s an elegant dress watch that is different from most dress watches out there. Of course, as is the purpose with the Presage Cocktail time watches from Seiko, the dial is what makes it stand out, with its radiant dial which has an incredible finish that reflects the light beautifully and shifts in appearance depending on how the light hits it.
But the concluding words about this watch is that you really cannot go wrong with it. Yes, it’s a bit more expensive than Seiko’s most affordable automatic watches, but for this, you’re getting a whole lot. The finishing is impressive, and so is the build quality.
If you want a nice and classy dress watch, but also want something that stands out from the crowd and that you won’t get bored of, this is definitely a watch worth buying.
The Seiko Presage Cocktail ”Espresso Martini” SSA345 is available to order from Amazon
Main photo by malaysia-watches.com.
