Seiko Prospex PADI SRPA83 Review & Complete Guide
Dive watches have grown in popularity immensely over the decades. And Seiko has always been at the forefront, or at the very least paid a lot of attention to dive watches.
With that said, the collection of Seiko divers has grown to include a lot of different types of dive watches for all tastes and preferences. But it has also lead the brand to continuously improving and refining its dive watches in order to make them more reliable and more qualitative.
There are certainly also differences between dive watches and dive watches, and the Seiko Prospex PADI SRPA83 is definitely not your ordinary dive watch. In fact, this watch is built to last, has a design that stands out from the ordinary, but also reveals that it means serious business.
It has a whole lot going on and may be a bit difficult to grasp, so that is why we are looking closer at this timepiece in this article.
Seiko Prospex PADI SRPA83 Review
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The name of this watch is rather long: Seiko Prospex Tuna PADI Special edition SRPA83. But all of these things obviously mean something. It’s not just gimmicks.
Firstly, the Prospex name stands for ”Professional specifications” and tells us this is a watch that is built according to the needs of professional divers. In other words, if it can handle the hardships that professionals subject it to, it should be good enough for regular people too.
Furthermore, the Tuna name derives from its case design, which has become a distinct and recognized design from Seiko. The tune name is used due to the round case’s resemblance to a tuna can. In particular, it is the shroud around the watch that gives it its distinct look and appearance.
And lastly, the PADI name comes from the fact that this watch is a special edition timepiece made in collaboration between Seiko and PADI. If you’re not familiar with PADI, it stands for “Professional Association of Diving Instructors”. And what better collaboration for Seiko with a professional dive watch than with a professional diving group?
Seiko has done a number of different collaborations with PADI over the years, and the thing that they all have in common is the fact that all special edition timepieces use the colors blue and red, for the PADI logo.
Already at first glance, it is evident that this is not your ordinary dive watch. It stands out from the crowd, is big, bulky, and has a very non-classic dive watch design.
In this article, we are reviewing the Seiko Prospex PADI SRPA83.
Seiko Prospex PADI SRPA83 case
Starting off with the case, as already mentioned, this is a tuna timepiece with a ”tuna can” case design. What this means is that it has a round case with a shroud around it. The lugs of the case are virtually non-existent and only extend from the actual case, but they are not longer than the case, which is quite unique. There’s a practical benefit of this, however, which is that it wears much smaller than what its dimensions may suggest. The most common reason that a watch wears too large is that the lugs point out on each side of the wrist, but this won’t really be an issue with this watch. Because if the lugs point out on each side of the wrist, it means that the whole case does so too.
Speaking of dimensions, the case has a diameter of 50mm. This does sound huge, but as mentioned, the lack of lugs really has a great impact on how it wears, so you shouldn’t be too quick to ignore it. In fact, this watch actually wears quite comfortably on the wrist. Another thing that helps with this is that the middle part of the case has a concave curvature of the middle part of the case.
Since this is built as a professional dive watch, it also needs professional water resistance. The SRPA83 offers a water resistance of 200m/660 feet, and to enable this, it has a screw-down crown. This is positioned at 4 o’clock and is finished in stainless steel. The crown sits slightly recessed and thus protected into the case, although it does not have any crown guards. It’s a good thing that this does not have crown guards as the case is already bulky as it is. Furthermore, the crown positioning at 4 o’clock enhances comfort.
The Tuna case construction consists of two pairs. Firstly a stainless steel case, and secondly, a shroud which is used to keep the inner case protected and make it more durable. As a dive watch should have, it is equipped with a unidirectional rotating bezel with 60-minute graduation markers. The bezel is rather big and takes up a lot of space on the property of this watch.
It also adds to the sporty nature of this timepiece. As a nice accent, the bezel is blued. The first 15 minutes on the bezel are painted red and the rest in white. Despite sitting protected by a shroud, the bezel is quite easy to operate. Furthermore, the bezel is coated with titanium carbide in order to make it more durable and resistant to scratches.
The dark blue shroud is what you see the most, but underneath it, and on the sides, you can see parts of the stainless steel case.
To make it even more robust, the case back is opaque and screw-down.
Lastly, sitting on top of the case is Seiko’s proprietary Hardlex crystal.
Seiko Prospex PADI SRPA83 dial
The watch is presented with a beautiful dial with blue as the main theme. Interestingly enough, the dial is actually very small in relation to the rest of the watch. As mentioned, the bezel and the case take up most of the property.
But as a dive watch should, it has put emphasis on legibility. It has an angled black chapter ring on which the seconds markers are printed. Inside this, we have the actual dial which is blue and has a stunning sunburst finish that allows it to reflect the light beautifully and give it different appearances depending on how the light hits it.
For excellent legibility, the dial has large applied hour markers starting from the edge of the chapter ring. These are known as ”shark indices”. Since the hour markers are large, they also have a generous amount of Lumibrite applied to them which ensures good legibility even in low-lit conditions.
At 3 o’clock on the dial, Seiko has decided to add a day and date window. This window has a red painted frame around it and white background. The days/dates are printed in black. If you consider the fact that most people will not wear this watch at hundreds of feet below water, the day and date window is a function that can come in handy and be practical in everyday life.
To ensure legibility, the hands are made large too. The minutes hand is sword-shaped and painted red, whereas the hour hand has an arrow tip and a regular polished metal frame around it.
All in all, with the blue color, contrasted by the red accents, the dial is really appealing and beautiful. You can’t complain about the legibility either.
Seiko Tuna SRPA83 movement
Inside this watch is the in-house Seiko caliber 4R36. This movement is equipped with a bidirectional rotor. Being a tool watch, this movement is built with performance and durability in mind, and that is exactly what it offers. The automatic movement is durable, long-lasting, and extremely robust. It is a workhorse movement that will continue to tick for years and years without needing much or any service or maintenance.
This movement offers a power reserve of 41 hours and has 24 jewels. It operates with a frequency of 21600 BPH (beats per hour).
Seiko Tuna SRPA83 strap
The watch is presented on a dark blue silicone strap. This is not your ordinary rubber/silicone strap as it features clever innovation. The silicone strap is made to expand and contract in order to conform to your wrist to ensure a perfect fit and optimum comfort. The strap is made very long, and this is so that it can be worn outside on a wetsuit.
Specifications
- Diameter: 50mm
- Jewels: 24
- Movement: In-house Seiko caliber 4R36
- Frequency: 21,600 vibrations/beats per hour
- Power reserve: Approximately 41 hours
- Water resistance: 200m/660 feet. Meets ISO standards (Suitable for scuba diving).
- Strap: Silicone
Conclusion
This watch is built as a true tool, although it works great as a fun accessory and simply a stylish timepiece. However, keep in mind that this is a really hefty timepiece that stands out from the ordinary, and with that said, it is not for everyone.
One thing is for sure, and that is that the SRPA83 likely will attract a lot of eyeballs and lead to many questions.
In addition, if you do decide to take it out for some serious tests such as diving or other demanding conditions, it is built to last and handle just that.
The combination of blue and red for the PADI collaboration is a really interesting one which makes it vibrant and fun, rather than with a monochrome black and white look like most other dive watches out there.
For the price, it’s evident that the Seiko Tuna SRPA83 offers exceptional value for the money. This is not just a timepiece with a dive-watch-inspired design. This is a watch that also has the performance and durability to back it up. This one is built to last and perform under harsh conditions. But with that said, the color accents and the overall visual design of this watch show that Seiko hasn’t only paid attention to performance either.
And lastly, the automatic movement beating inside is robust, durable, and made to last for years.
