The Seiko 5 Sports collection first appeared in the late 1960s and, since then, the Japanese-made watches have earned a reputation as being reliable, stylish workhorses with a nearly unbeatable price point. Because of that, they’re also a bit of a gateway drug into watch collecting. Now, Seiko fans have one more reason to love these hardworking timepieces: the Seiko 5 Sports GMT collection, a series of 5 Sports watches equipped with GMT functionality for telling time in two time zones at once. Whether you love to travel or just like the novelty of tracking time in multiple places, it’ll be hard to find a better deal.
The watches (three new models in total) represent the first time a GMT watch has appeared under the 5 Sports umbrella. The watches feature 42.5mm stainless steel cases with an overall design drawn from the Seiko SKX, another beloved series from the brand. There are three dial colors on offer: black (the SSK001), dark blue (SSK003), and pumpkin orange (SSK005). All three feature a separate GMT hand for indicating the secondary time, and the bezels feature a subtle two-tone design to help you differentiate between daylight and nighttime hours.
On the black and blue dial versions, the GMT hands are dressed in bright red, and on the orange version, the GMT hand is in black; both colors help it stand out against the dial background. In addition, the GMT hands—along with the indices and the hour and minute hands—are coated in Lumibrite for better legibility in the dark. All the dials come with a date window at 3 o’clock, and there’s a magnifying lens in the crystal to help you read it more easily.
Finally, these watches are paired with a handsome five-row stainless steel bracelet (a design also derived from the SKX), and they feature polished middle links for a contrasting look that adds extra style points.
Flip one of these watches over, and the see-through caseback provides a glimpse at Seiko’s innovative caliber 4R34 movement, which was designed specifically for these models. Amazingly, it allows for a case design that’s just 0.1mm thicker than existing 5 Sports models. It offers a 41-hour power reserve along with automatic winding for ideal day-to-day accuracy and reliability. Better yet, the 5 Sports GMTs are water-resistant to 100 meters, so splashes and even the occasional swim won’t pose a problem.
Quality, style, excellent functionality, and a budget-friendly price point, the new 5 Sports GMTs prove that for Seiko, “affordable” does not mean “cheap.”
[$475; seikousa.com]
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