Seiko saves the ocean with a new royal turtle and samurai
A new year means new watches in Seiko's Save the Ocean series: A royal turtle and a samurai. The watches also come on a completely new rubber. Eqotime's Ola Jacobsen has taken a closer look.
Text and photo: Ola Jacobsen
A new year means new watches in Seiko's Save the Ocean series: A royal turtle and a samurai. The watches also come on an entirely new rubber. Eqotime's Ola Jacobsen has taken a closer look.
Save the Ocean is part of Seiko's charity work around marine environment research. It is still a bit unclear which part of the ocean is being saved by these watches. But part of the proceeds from the earlier models went to Fabien Cousteau's white shark project.
The new watches are, just as before, based on the popular diver's watches King Turtle and King Samurai. The difference from the standard models lies in the new dial and the rubber strap.
Swimming mantas
The extremely detailed wave-patterned dial with silhouettes of swimming mantas marks a new level for diver's watches from Seiko. The light plays in the texture of the dark dial, which works nicely with the ceramic bezel.
In other respects the watches have the same specifications and properties as the standard models: sapphire crystal, ceramic bezel, 200 metres water resistance. At 45 and 43,8 millimetres in diameter respectively the watches are large. But the King Turtle's case shape in particular, with its relatively short length, means it wears considerably smaller.
The strap is a modern version of Seiko's classic flat-vent. The design is discreetly toned down. The folds that made the original so good to use over a wetsuit are now only marked as shallow indentations, a nod to the original. That makes the strap both handsome and easy to wear and a good choice if you consider that most people don't buy the watch to dive with in the first place anyway.
Even if we didn't get a long while with the watch, I dare say the strap doesn't seem to be the same dust magnet as certain other modern silicone straps from Seiko. I really hope the strap comes to more watches in the future.
Quick facts SRPF77K1 & SRPF79K1
Manufacturer: Seiko
Series: Prospex
Model name: King Turtle – Save The Ocean ”Dark” Manta Ray Edition
Reference: SRPF77K1
Movement: Seiko 4R36, automatic with 41 hours power reserve.
Case: Stainless steel, 45 mm in diameter.
Thickness: 13,2 mm.
Weight: 128 grams.
Crystal: Sapphire crystal with magnifying glass over day and date. The crystal is anti-reflective treated on the inside.
Dial: Dark blue with wave pattern and manta silhouettes.
Indices and hands: Applied.
Luminous material: Seiko's own Lumibrite (glows green, strong and long) on hands, indices and at 12 o'clock on the bezel.
Bezel: Ceramic, counter-clockwise rotating with a 60-minute scale.
Strap: Entirely new strap in blue silicone.
Water resistance: 200 metres.
Price: 6 998 kronor.
Manufacturer: Seiko
Series: Prospex
Model name: King Samurai – Save The Ocean ”Dark” Manta Ray Edition
Reference: SRPF79K1
Movement: Seiko 4R35, automatic with 41 hours power reserve.
Case: Stainless steel, 43,8 mm in diameter.
Thickness: 12,8 mm.
Weight: 127 grams.
Crystal: Sapphire crystal with magnifying glass over the date. The crystal is anti-reflective treated on the inside.
Dial: Dark blue with wave pattern and manta silhouettes.
Indices and hands: Applied.
Luminous material: Seiko's own Lumibrite (glows green, strong and long) on hands, indices and at 12 o'clock on the bezel.
Bezel: Ceramic, counter-clockwise rotating with a 60-minute scale.
Strap: Entirely new strap in blue silicone.
Water resistance: 200 metres.
Price: 7 498 kronor.
