Seiko SRPE55 Review

I'm going to start off this "review" of a Seiko 5 by talking about what is pretty much the antithesis of the Seiko 5 line; the SLA line. I've owned the Seiko SLA057 for about 7 months now and in that time, it's hardly been off my wrist. Seriously, the power reserve has yet to die. It has essentially become my "one watch." That being said, I have always loved the idea of having something like a black dial Tudor BB36 or Rolex Explorer to throw on an OD green nato and take hiking in the forest. As much as I love my SLA057, whenever I'm in the woods, it looks so out of place with its Everbrilliant Steel and zaratsu polishing. As much as I'd love to buy something like the Tudor Ranger, BB36 or Rolex Explorer to go along with the SLA, that ain't happening. Even saving up to add another "luxury" watch to the collection would simply mean I have too much money tied up in watches for my financial situation. 

Enter the SRPE55! THIS is exactly what I'm wanting. A watch I can throw on an OD green nato and take out into the woods. It's more subdued, has a 4 o'clock crown (which I love), relatively slim case and gives me the "Explorer" or "Tudor BB36" vibe I want. I was even a bit worried about the 40mm case size being a little too big since it's all dial, but the short 44mm lug to lug paired with the overall case design means that it wears a bit smaller than 40mm would suggest, and by that metric perfect on my 6.5 inch wrist. I really fell in love with this the second I took it out of the box. It was exactly what I was wanting! 

Oh, the best part is, I was able to find it used for only $80! $80 for a watch I love the looks of, fulfills EXACTLY the role I was wanting and I don't have to worry about knocking it around in the woods. Homerun for me!

So far, the 4R36 has been running quite slow. The first 48 hours it was giving me about -12spd. Since then, it's spent some time on my desk while the SLA057 is on the wrist, but I've been intermittently wearing the SRPE55 and it's currently performing more around the -25spd, which would be concerning for me if this was my daily watch, but it's not. This won't be worn for more than 1, MAYBE 2 days at a time with my SLA057 being my daily driver. For that use case, setting the watch 15 seconds fast or so would mean that accuracy throughout the time wearing it would be perfectly fine while it's on my wrist. 

The case design, shape and proportions are all perfect for me. I love it. Also, I don't think there's a single thing I would change about the dial. I love the indices, the hands, the Seiko 5 logo and the "Automatic" in cursive above the 6. The Day/Date wheel being white is perfect as well given that it matches the rest of the indices. It's a push/pull crown, but the watch is rated to 100m. For what will be used as a field watch, that is perfect. 

Overall, I couldn't be happier with this "Dress KX." Even though I bought it with a very specific design and use case in mind (living on an OD green nato), it looks spectacular on leather as well, living up to its nickname.