Review of Seiko SRPG37: one year of ownership

I would like to share my experience with this entry-level field watch that I've owned for exactly one year.

Deciding to buy a mechanical wristwatch took me almost a year, -- I, as many normal people-- could not rationalise spending THAT much money on an essentially useless item. So yeah, after spending an embarrasing amount of time with this topic I took the absolutely ridiculous plunge with a 200€ purchase from Chrono24.

Here is one of the first photos I took:

The watch came with this basic (but usable) NATO strap, a cardbox/paper box, some manual and that's it. I actually like the small box it came in, it does not waste too much space in my drawer.

The watch case is completely bead blasted, there is a domed mineral crystal with no AR coating, the crown is push-pull, there is a see-through screw-down caseback, the dial is not completely black, but has a subtle asphalt-like texture. The arabic numeral indices are interesting, they are made out of vertically brushed steel. The seconds hand has a nice red tip, which adds a bit of colour to the monochrome design. Interestingly, the steel on all three hands seems to be bead blasted too, which is consistent with the case. The watch is about 40mm across (39,7?), my wrist is 18cm. The case with the domed crystal is a bit thick at around 13,5mm.

The 4R36 movement started off out of the box running at about -3spd, which was surprising, really. However, in a month or two, it settled down to about -17, -20spd, which was more in line with what other people report about this movement. I somehow managed to regulate it, it went almost +-0spd for a week or two and then settled to about -10spd, which I consider a win and did not touch since. I kept wearing the watch every day, all day and enjoyed it very much. Now that I think about it, the watch was off my wrist for only two weeks in the entire year of 2023.

I experimented (with various success) with a lot of cheaper watch straps (aliexpress, CNS). I also tried two straps from Haveston (which were a bit disappointing), the watch is very accomodating in this respect and really works with anything. The drilled lugs and 20mm lug width help a lot too.

My field of work is not very physically demanding, so I did not tax the watch in this manner, but I work with a lot of electric equipment, LV substations, switchgears, etc., and I observed zero issues. I also like to hike a lot.

Overall, the watch is very good, I enjoyed it thoroughly and it made a fantastic stepping stone, being my first mechanical watch. It is nothing spectacular, no one is going to go "OH WOW" when seeing this watch, but it has its own undeniable timeless design charm and nice details, which are not very common in this price range (indices, dial, hands). The most annoying downside for me is the domed mineral glass, which caught some scratches and is quite reflective. The bead blasted case is quite robust in this regard and can shrug off even harder hits with minimal visual impact. The movement was surprisingly accurate and did it's job very well. I sold the watch at the beginning of 2024 and I hope it brings as much joy to the new owner as it did for me.