Is that it?

I don't know if anyone else remembers but last year Seiko did a lot of publicity relating to the customiser option on their website, due to the 55th anniversary of Seiko 5 watches.

The idea was that the highest voted 'custom' creation from their website in each region would then be produced for people to buy.

I remember looking at the website and you could make the most crazy, wacky, out-there Seiko 5 combinations, with bezels and faces and handsets all being available to mix and match. However it was also equally possible to make something nice and actually quite smart but still very different to the normal designs.

Well, the results are in, and this is the highest voted configuration for the Europe region...

Behold... The SRPK07K1 in all its awe inspiring glory...

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More than 610,000 people voted for this as their favourite.... It's a nice enough watch don't get me wrong, but I have to ask,

Is this it?

What are your thoughts?

Cheers!

Reply
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Let me be the first to congratulate 610,000 people for having no taste.

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Porthole

Let me be the first to congratulate 610,000 people for having no taste.

It's like going to a boutique gelato shop with these wonderful ice cream flavours and being told you can have whatever you want and then still picking vanilla...

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ToolWatchTom

It's like going to a boutique gelato shop with these wonderful ice cream flavours and being told you can have whatever you want and then still picking vanilla...

All the colours visible to the naked eye, and they just picked “grey”. Not a sexy shade of grey either, it’s missionary…

Orange dialled Seiko? 1997 called, can I interest you in this pamphlet about the Millennium Bug?

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Looks like 610,000 people are completely boring. I built some wacky things in that configuration that were exponentially more interesting than than…

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WolfgangGullich

Looks like 610,000 people are completely boring. I built some wacky things in that configuration that were exponentially more interesting than than…

I mean Seiko recently did that Street Fighter series with all the themed watches and they were so totally crazy that I think they only sold about 4 of them 😂

It shows they're willing to have fun and make crazy watches but even when their customers are given the keys to the toy box they come up with the most beige boring model that doesn't even look that dissimilar to existing models!

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Interesting. What were the other options?

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robbits

Interesting. What were the other options?

I don't know, there were hundreds of entries and they're only selected based on your region, this is Europe's choice so I just hope that the other regions like Asia or North America have come up with something more interesting!

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Image

I just went through my photos and found my entry. I called it the KingSalmon. It’s also pretty terrible, but you play the hand you are dealt with. I thought the bezel kind of made it look like scales, it was the silveriest option with a pattern.

Anyway - this is why I don’t design watches.

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Porthole
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I just went through my photos and found my entry. I called it the KingSalmon. It’s also pretty terrible, but you play the hand you are dealt with. I thought the bezel kind of made it look like scales, it was the silveriest option with a pattern.

Anyway - this is why I don’t design watches.

Regardless of whether you think it looks good or not, the principle is yours is more what I expected, it's different and totally not something they'd have made normally

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ToolWatchTom

I mean Seiko recently did that Street Fighter series with all the themed watches and they were so totally crazy that I think they only sold about 4 of them 😂

It shows they're willing to have fun and make crazy watches but even when their customers are given the keys to the toy box they come up with the most beige boring model that doesn't even look that dissimilar to existing models!

Those SF watches are taking a long time to sell... today I still see a few of them in an AD...

Unfortunately, what people say they like from what they see on a digital screen may turn out to be something unlikeable in the real world when it actually materializes. Like politicians... 😂

But the selection does look... not as interesting as I hoped it would be.

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wywy_s

Those SF watches are taking a long time to sell... today I still see a few of them in an AD...

Unfortunately, what people say they like from what they see on a digital screen may turn out to be something unlikeable in the real world when it actually materializes. Like politicians... 😂

But the selection does look... not as interesting as I hoped it would be.

Yeah as I said it's not awful, it'll probably be as popular as those SF watches, found in the 50% off bargain bin on most AD websites, I was just expecting 600k people to seize the initiative and make something great or at the very least just... interesting?

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I just can't look beyond the orange dial with red accents 🤮

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chronoslice

I just can't look beyond the orange dial with red accents 🤮

This watch is its own trigger-warning. Beware… SEIKO!

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I already mentioned this in another post: they are basically charging an extra 20% for a watch DIY modders can make with an extra $10 and a single tool. Maybe a few more tools if you care about the red seconds hand which is almost invisible on that dial...

I forget who, but someone said: "The best argument against democracy is a conversation with the average voter."

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I was hoping for a Boaty McBoatface scenario, with something totally wacky and Seiko rolling their eyes and awkwardly making it anyway, not something as subdued as this...

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not that one, but this one im sure (which is mine😂😂) shame on those people

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ToolWatchTom

Sounds like you've got the beginnings of another micro brand on your hands, fish related watches, very niche...

Yes… just what the market needs, yet another microbrand with a sub-£500 dive watch.

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I have no problem with fun colors. I think it looks fine. Wouldn't have chosen the red on the bezel, but otherwise...I'm down with it.

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Porthole

Yes… just what the market needs, yet another microbrand with a sub-£500 dive watch.

Quick, get Seiko on the phone and get those NH35's ordered 😂

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Kind of “Done That” Already ? 😜

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Its like the ship naming thing and the winning (Boaty McBoat Face) got rejected. Cool but not what corporate was thinking.

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OldSnafu

Its like the ship naming thing and the winning (Boaty McBoat Face) got rejected. Cool but not what corporate was thinking.

Technically one of the explorer pods on the ship was named Boaty McBoatface, probably done to keep people happy and stop a riot

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Porthole

Yes… give me your money. I insist.

Do you take crypto, he he, he

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robbits

Interesting. What were the other options?

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😉

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tonmed

I already mentioned this in another post: they are basically charging an extra 20% for a watch DIY modders can make with an extra $10 and a single tool. Maybe a few more tools if you care about the red seconds hand which is almost invisible on that dial...

I forget who, but someone said: "The best argument against democracy is a conversation with the average voter."

Reminds of Samuel Clements saying “ If your vote was actually worth anything they wouldn’t let you do it “ or something like this …. Seiko probably already had the watch made and then put out a poll … call me a cynical old man I know I am .

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I started a thread about half a day before this one, on the FOUR winners.

https://www.watchcrunch.com/complication/posts/seiko-5-sports-55th-anniversary-models-26517

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robbits

Interesting. What were the other options?

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Not only is it a "is that it?" moment, but it actually made it look worse. That's pretty impressive.

Porthole

Let me be the first to congratulate 610,000 people for having no taste.

More like the 61000 bot votes bought by a very cocky Italian Seiko forum. They've been bragging for a few days now about how their design 'won' in Europe and Japan in every comments section, forum, and IG page that posts the winning designs. They did this last year too.

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bulovas_and_bolt_actions

More like the 61000 bot votes bought by a very cocky Italian Seiko forum. They've been bragging for a few days now about how their design 'won' in Europe and Japan in every comments section, forum, and IG page that posts the winning designs. They did this last year too.

Regardless… this is the sound of me not buying one:

RIP KingSalmon(TM)