What occurs in case you take the overall form of a Seiko Turtle, shrink it down in measurement a hair, and swap the dive bezel with a compass? You’d get one thing like the brand new Seiko Land Tortoise, which I bought from a Japanese on-line retailer a couple of month in the past. It arrived at my house earlier this week and I’ve some ideas. Do I prefer it? Do I dislike it? Aren’t all tortoises land tortoises, or does Seiko imply land turtle? And is it definitely worth the roughly $500 I spent on it? Let’s discover out!
To be clear, I bought this JDM mannequin (SBDY103) on April 16 from Sakura Watches with my very own cash instantly after seeing Anthony Kable, a distinguished Seiko Instagrammer, publish just a few pictures of it alongside two different related fashions, the SBDY101 and SBDY099. The worldwide mannequin numbers are the SRPG13K1 (beige dial), SRPG15K1 (blue dial), SRPG17K1 (gilt black dial). There’s additionally the SRPG18K1 (gold case, brown dial), which you’ll be able to see right here.
As listeners of The HourTime Show are little doubt conscious, I’m an enormous fan of the Turtle-style case however, alas, I’ve an annoyingly small wrist at 6.5 inches. Reading the specs of this factor (42.4mm extensive and 45.2mm lug to lug) I figured it was nearly good for me: barely larger than a Baby Turtle (42.3mm extensive and 43mm lug to lug), barely smaller than the Willard reissues (42.7mm extensive and 46.6mm lug to lug), and fairly a bit smaller than the Turtle itself. I like my JDM King Turtle (pictured within the above gallery), however at 45mm extensive and 47.7mm lug to lug it has all the time felt a smidge too large.
Anyway, all of that’s to say that the Land Tortoise is simply in regards to the good measurement for me. So in case you’re somebody who has all the time wished one thing Turtle-y however have been postpone by the scale earlier than, this must be your mannequin.
The Land Tortoise is powered by the 4R35, which has a roughly 41 hour energy reserve and is rated at +45 / -35 seconds per day. The date is on the 4:30, which is consistent with different new Seikos we’ve seen this 12 months and is a change I’m totally on board with.
The dial, a minimum of for my mannequin, is taking some getting used to. I really feel just like the gilt colorway is form of like a sports activities jacket: not strictly formal however you possibly can put on it on the workplace after which at dinner afterward and never really feel like a idiot. But the Turtle form is so playful and sooooo the alternative of formal that it form of clashes with the colorway and the black leather-based strap. In retrospect, I want I had gone with the beige dial mannequin, which merely appears to be like like it will be a terrific, enjoyable summer time watch.
The again of the case additionally screams playful, which once more, in my thoughts, clashes with the extra subtle gilt colorway. There’s all these little sayings on there that resemble one thing you’d discover with a magic 8 ball or one thing: “not understood,” “sure,” “no,” “all nicely,” “point out course to proceed,” and so forth. Is this a compass factor? I genuinely do not know, so please be happy to depart a remark beneath if that is one thing I’m simply lacking.
I don’t need to finish this on a down word as a result of, general, I’m pleased with my buy; it’s a better-fitting Turtle, and that’s all I wished. It’s additionally solely $500, which I really feel is truthful for a watch with 200m water resistance and will doubtless survive being knocked round a bit. I’m unsure gilt is a superb colorway right here (and I’d say the identical in regards to the SRP775) so I might advise you to maybe choose one of many different ones, however fashion is subjective, and as I all the time say on The HourTime Show: in case you’re into one thing than who cares what anybody else thinks?
The specs from Seiko
Case:
42.4mm diameter x 11.7mm peak – 45.2mm lug-to-lug – chrome steel, brushed and polished – rotating bezel with aluminium insert, compass scale – screw-down crown and screwed caseback – sapphire crystal – 200m water resistant
Dial:
Dial obtainable in beige, blue, black or brown, utilized indexes and palms with Lumibrite – Bezel insert in the identical hues because the dial
Movement:
Seiko calibre 4R35, in-house – computerized – 23 jewels – 21,600 vibrations/hour – 41h energy reserve – hours, minutes, seconds (hacking), date
Strap:
Textile or leather-based strap, with metal pin buckle
Availability: May 2021
For extra data go to SeikoUSA.com
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