Seiko 5 Sports SRPG47K1 140th Anniversary Limited Edition Watch On The Wrist

Do any of you remember the concept of a party? It’s when a group of people comes together to celebrate something. A birthday for instance or a wedding anniversary. Corona put an end to parties. But anniversaries don’t, so when Seiko wanted to celebrate its 140th anniversary the company came up with a clever idea; a watch to replace the cake. The SRPG47K1 is the birthday cake and to share it with a large group of worldwide friends, it is cut in no less than 11,000 “slices”. We put the Seiko 5 Sports 140th Anniversary Limited Edition watch on the wrist. Here’s how it “tasted”.

Let’s dig into the cake that is the Seiko 5 Sports 140th Anniversary Limited Edition. First, we look at the size – if you’re crazy about cake size matters. It’s a 42.5×13.4mm steel watch with a length of 46mm. It’s dressed in the Seiko anniversary colors blue and white you probably already saw in previous celebratory models like the Prospex and the Astron GPS Solar. The white dial of this Seiko 5 Sports has a nicely textured waffle design – I’m not going to call it the icing on the cake, that would be too obvious, but it brings a lot of life to the pale color. The blue bezel combines nicely with the white dial. But it’s actually the crown at 4 o’clock that’s responsible for the character of this watch. And that’s because it traces back to the origins of the Seiko 5 Sports collection.

It all started with the Seiko 7548

The modern Seiko 5 Sports watches are descendants of the Seiko 7548 that debuted in 1978. Okay, that was a quartz watch, but the case shape with the crown at four defines its recognizable appearance. The 7548 was taken out of production in 1985 and its successor, the Seiko 7002 that was made between 1988 and 1996 had the same case shape as modern-day Seiko 5 Sports watches.

Up-to-date specifications

Although not a proper diver’s watch, the Seiko 5 Sports 140th Anniversary Limited Edition is still an accomplished all-around sports watch. It can handle 10 bar of pressure underwater, there’s a Hardlex crystal, a unidirectional rotating bezel, and a robust steel case with a screwed case back. The light green glow of the Lumibrite on the hands and indexes provides ample readability in the dark.

A 3Hz heartbeat

And then there’s the 24 jewels, automatic, 3Hz caliber 4R36. It shows hours, minutes, seconds, and date and it’s basically Seiko’s workhorse movement with 41 hours of power reserve. The accuracy is about -35/+45 seconds per day. If you have a fetish for precision this might be a deal-breaker, but it’s nice to be able to wind and hack. Please also keep in mind this is a sub-300 euro watch. And for that price, the combination of watch and movement is very competitive.

Although not the best-looking movement in the world – it’s finished to a utilitarian level — the open case back allows a look at caliber 4R36. And that’s a good idea because it functions as a means of propaganda for mechanical watches. This watch is a stepping stone to grander things.

Seiko 5 Sports 140th Anniversary Limited Edition Watch On The Wrist: a practical conclusion

The specs are good and so is a very generous serving of 11,000 pieces with a weight of 167-gram per watch. And a price of €299 is also not a “party pooper”. Every Seiko 5 Sports is an easy-on-the-eye and easy-to-wear watch and this 140th Anniversary Limited Edition is no exception. If you can find one of the 11,000 limited editions and you like the looks, the decision is easy too.

More information is available on Seiko’s website.

Please find and follow me at Lex Stolk • Instagram