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Seiko 5 Compressor

February 1, 2018 12:01 AM

This time round, I had the opportunity to handle the Seiko 5 Compressor. I have seen pictures of this watch popping up here and there on the Internet but I never saw it at the shops that I frequent. Recently, parallel imports arrived and I finally saw them In the flesh. Black dial variant in this post is SRPB27J and blue dial variant is SRPB25J.

This watch got its nickname because of its Super Compressor style design. It is not a real Super Compressor case. in fact, it has a display back. These days, diving/sports watches with two crowns and an inner rotating diver style bezel are loosely called “Super Compressor”.

Quick observations:

1. The crown at 3 o’clock is used for setting the day, date and time.
2. The crown at 2 o’clock rotates the inner rotating bezel
3. Both crowns do not screw in.
4. The bezel rotates in both directions.

The inner rotating bezel is one of the main features of this watch. Here, they got it right by making it relatively large and legible. The markings are clear with adequate font type and size. It even has the first 20 seconds in a different background colour which is pretty cool.

The dial has the standard layout of a Seiko 5 Sports dial. It has baton hour markers to match the markings on the inner bezel. The day and date wheels have black background which again is pretty cool.

Being a Compressor style watch, the set of crowns is another feature of the watch. However, they are located at the 2 and 3 o’clock positions which is quite odd. Ideally, they should be located at 2 and 4 o’clock for a more balanced look. I believe this can easily be done with the 4R movement since many 4R based watches have crown at 4. Fortunately, the shape of the case is quite classic and despite the crown positions, the black dialed variant reminds me of the Longines Legend Diver.

Diameter: 42mm excluding crown
Thickness: 11.5mm
Lug width: 22mm
Lug to lug: 48mm
Water resistance: 100m
Movement: 4R36

Final thoughts:
Overall, the Seiko 5 Compressor is a nice watch and I like the look of it. If this 100m watch is released to test the water before making a 200m version, I think it is quite successfully and they should seriously consider making a 200m version with screw-in crowns located at the 2 and 4 o’clock positions.

Seiko 5 Compressor featured in this post is provided by K2 Watch Co.


845 Geylang Road, Tanjong Katong Complex, #03-K1.
Singapore 400845.
Tel: 6746 0270

Photos and text by Yeoman.
Thanks for viewing.

Posted by Yeoman

Categories: Watch Review - Seiko

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2 Responses to “Seiko 5 Compressor”

  1. Great look!

    Like

    By Sam hackney on February 1, 2018 at 5:33 AM

  2. Wow…didn’t see this one coming. First I discover the “Unicorn” Seiko 5 Spacewalk a few years back (also by way of your site), and now this. Will keep an eye out for one, although I just got hold of a new Alpinist. 😉

    Like

    By amateriat on February 17, 2018 at 1:00 AM

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