Seiko 5 SRPD59 - my first automatic 🍊

Well, right off the bat, I should admit that this title is inaccurate - my actual first automatic was a big, square, sub-$100 Stührling skeleton that I picked out at Winners (🍁) when I was 13. (Thank God there was no Instagram back then or I would likely have wanted something much worse.)

So the SRPD59 is just my first automatic purchased as an adult. I hope this post is mildly amusing to anyone with a longer collecting history - and informative to anyone who wants a budget orange dial (which, I'll be honest, was my biggest motivation here).

My journey started when I was able to try the newer SSK005 (with GMT) at my nearest AD. It's gorgeous - the two-tone finish on the bezel is especially stunning in person, and I actually like the cyclops. But if I'm paying more for a GMT complication (with the conceit that it would become my one-and-only travel watch), I'd prefer the higher accuracy and more versatile look of a GS quartz. With that decision made, I was able to free my mind and unashamedly look online for the cheapest (reputable) orange diver in existence.

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Value: got it for C$260 (that's USD$190) + free domestic shipping from an eBay seller. Still one left in stock, which I would say is a great deal for any Canadian buyer (unless you're sick of English/French day-dates... or you want an actual warranty).

This watch represents so many milestones for me - it was my first time resizing a bracelet myself! Let me be really honest... I was too impatient to wait for a real toolkit to arrive, so I used thumbtacks and a claw hammer. It worked, but after finding out that a real watch repair kit only runs $20 on Amazon, I would not recommend this approach to anyone else.

I have a small wrist for a man, so I'm very happy with the fit that I was able to achieve. The end links are hollow and don't have a perfect fit, so the unit does not stay quiet when shaken, but given the price point it feels appropriate. The Seiko-branded clasp is sturdy and satisfying.

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This photo does a decent job of showing what the dial finish looks like - it has a very subtle radial grain to it and catches the light in an interesting way. I personally love the effect, since I'm wearing an orange watch for attention (uhh... um... I mean, because I'm a professional scuba diver and orange has the best contrast underwater, right).

Another note on the dial: I'm a bit of a typography nerd, and I hate Eurostile (look it up - or don't, because you'll start seeing it everywhere). So, after comparing the last few iterations of orange Seiko divers, I think this one, which has the most minimal look, is definitely my favourite. The cursive "Automatic" is gorgeous, original, and makes me feel like I'm wearing a refrigerator from the 1950s.

The unidirectional dive bezel is sturdy and has really grown on me... I love all fidget toys, and this is a very premium one. Of course, now I'm looking for any excuse to time things around the house (more confirmation that it was a good idea to skip the GMT model at this stage in my life as a collector). Overall, as someone who has never owned a diver before, the entire design has really grown on me - the dial has a real "deep dish" shape (wow, I have no idea what the proper word for this is) which I find really striking and good for legibility.

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Reviews always say that Seiko has good lume - yup, no complaints here. The glowing counterbalance on the second hand did confuse me the first time I tried to read it while half-asleep, but a lot of things confuse me when I'm half-asleep.

This is a casual watch that I've enjoyed pairing with casual outfits - it does not slide elegantly under a cuff, but the cheerful orange is just awesome and it looks perfect with a loud t-shirt. I've already worn it every day for 2 weeks, but I'm going to enjoy it even more once the snow melts... which, in Canada, happens sometime in June. (If I didn't collect fun dial colours, I would go insane.)

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I'll end this post with the only negative thing I have to say about this piece. Let me preface this with my report on accuracy: it's only been losing about 4 seconds a day, which is way better than I thought. (Are those published specs just really conservative? Did I get lucky? Or will it inevitably degrade over time?)

So it's keeping time quite well, but there's a freakin' hair trapped under the display back!!! Like all novice collectors I love having a display back... so this really sucks!! Since it spins along with the rotor, at first I thought it was just a scratch, but you can see it's an actual object stuck under the glass. My AD said it probably wasn't worth removing, and I'm concerned about permanently killing the water resistance (or worse) through my own efforts. Sucks to have to include this footnote - without this very obvious blemish, I would be completely over the moon at this price point.

Beyond that, though... what can I say, it's orange, it's accurate, it hacks, and it reminds me that the world outside isn't always white, brown, and lifeless. Thanks for reading 🍊

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Thank you, this is an enjoyable and entertaining review. I have this exact same watch and got it for the same reason you did - I wanted a really great looking orange dial watch I could afford. You would think there would be more orange quartz offerings. But I was glad to get an automatic for $180. It's also the most expensive watch in my collection.

PS. I have an old school Seiko 5 (one of the little ones with a 7s26) that has a tiny white fiber inside the dial around 9 o'clock.