I have in my possession a Seiko 5 that was handed down to me. With a mesmerizing brown, round face encapsulated in a square stainless steel case and the enduring “5” shield fixed at the six o’clock position, this contraption has been an object of endless distraction for me the last ten or so years I’ve owned it.
It’s an old timepiece, but I’ve never babied it. I’ve never strapped the clean but rugged silver clasp around my wrist and allowed it to change my behavior. That would have felt ungenuine with the Seiko 5 ethos.
It’s been on my wrist as I’ve shaken hundreds of hands on work trips. It’s been nicked on bar counters and doors on expeditions through night spots in foreign cities. And it’s borne hours of sweat under the heat of the sun in fishing villages whose populations numbered in the low thousands. It’s been situated in comfortable, sterile settings and muddied under more arduous conditions—but it’s remained a trusty, ticking companion in any case.
It’s a pretty thing, but unlike many other pretty things, this piece of equipment doesn’t hinder its wearer from doing exactly what they need to do.
It’s not a watch for any one task. And that’s the soul under the hood of every new Seiko 5 Sports as well:
Be disruptive.
Against the roaring tide of a world trying to hand you definitions
We live in a world with companies selling us ways of life—with products that so happen to close the gap between ourselves and that way of living. Ideas of success are sold to us. Lifestyles are neatened up into caricatures of reality rather than reality itself.
Reality is not a neat thing. It’s a confusing soup of conflicting longings punctuated by occasional breaths of clarity—some sense of understanding. And I have found, through my little life path, that I agree with the existentialists when they thunder “existence precedes essence”.
You’re in constant motion, driving at the often disparate desires that bubble up inside you. Your goals are ever changing, your sense of self exhibits traits of plasticity. Amid the nearly endless series of stressors that seek to conquer modern life, you can look at yourself in the mirror and decide to be different. Your very own individual, with your own outlook, and your own map for navigating existence.
The objects that capture your attention shouldn’t impede this creative nature. They shouldn’t be creating you, but should be contorting themselves to the vision you have for yourself. In fact they should be unlocking the creative spirit within you, allowing it to interact with your surroundings.
Even an ideal as rigid as the “Seiko of Quality” image sifts through the sands of time and bends to shifting market demands.
While the commitments to durability and accessibility remain infinitely wrapped around Seiko 5 Sports, the latest series is re-energized by modern bezels, new patterns, and an approach to watchmaking that seeks to give wearers a deeply personal timepiece. These are not items that dictate how you’re meant to look and feel; they’re opportunities for self expression. Opportunities to show your style.
Marrying unhindered self-expression with heritage
During the decades of the 40’s and 50’s which were marred by war, more was being demanded of watches—the pocket watches of the 1700’s were ornamental and beautiful, but neither hardy nor easy to use under difficult conditions.
Watchmakers turned toward creating watches which diligently kept time under even difficult conditions and the market found itself lined by watches which found function in the lives of everyday people—returning to what would become a sense of normalcy: jobs, families, chores.
The birth of the Seiko 5 with the creation of the Seiko Sportsmatic 5 in 1963 marked the birth of Japan’s first automatic day-date watch—a feature which remains on the faces of even the latest iterations of the series. Ever committed to its heritage, the latest models have kept the same five attributes promised at the sub-brand’s genesis:
An automatic movement
A neat day-date display at the three o’clock position
Water resistance
A recessed crown at the four o’clock position, which is a beautiful departure from the usual 3 o’clock
And a case and bracelet constructed to be durable
This might seem like plain vanilla stuff in this fast-moving world, but situate this offering in the 60’s and you have something novel.
This Seiko 5 offering marked one of the earliest occasions that a durable timepiece created with the latest manufacturing technology was intended for use in the daily lives of everyone. It was a post-war watch that was ready for the tasks of daily life.
The same soul in five permutations
The latest Seiko 5 Sports, introduces a renewed palette of bezel designs which never strays from legibility, and a diverse use of material for the watch face. The new series breathes new life into a historically significant line of watches whose components were originally designed for mass production, by introducing five new design segments: sports, suits, specialist, street, and sense.
The same commitment of the Seiko 5 Sports–of it being reliable, of it being beautiful in a utilitarian way–is broadcast to a wider audience which deeply resonates with the will to choose. An audience that seeks ever granular self expression.
While the five key elements remain, the new styles introduce channels which allow wearers’ creative visions to smoothly flow. Whether that means going beyond the norm in a sports timepiece or channeling a dressed up look through a suits model, dressing down in the casual, streetwear appropriate designs of the specialist or street series, or stepping into something unique and funky by strapping a sense model on your wrist.
The Seiko 5 Sports offering introduces rich colors and bold markings to denote the time across an array of styles which aim to accent the user’s own intentions. With a wide-reaching spectrum of design sensibilities available, from gorgeous steel chain bracelets, to collaborations with brands and artists, black-on-black detailings, and limited edition pieces, this series creates opportunities for self-expression without compromising on the trustworthy nature Seiko 5 has managed to build over the years.
Alignment with the Seiko 5 Sports commitment
Balancing a deep respect for the brand’s origins with a constant forward leading cadence, Seiko steps into the radars of new markets and asks their inhabitants to be nothing but their uninhibited selves.
Dive in. Slam the table. Cast the net. Fleck the paint. Shred the fabric.
Create it in the image your mind is building together.
Whether it is a physical project, a manner of communication, or an exertion of force.
As I fidget with the lugs on my own Seiko 5, my little piece of before-I-was-born history that tethers me to loved ones who’ve come before me, I feel emboldened to charge forward, not worried about the hands on my wrist gadgetry giving up. They’re ‘gonna keep ticking. Moments are going to keep coming, lapping over me, and charging me with the responsibility of making decisions.
And I’ll need to make them, unworried about fitting into some lifestyle concept handed over to me—well, most of the time anyway.
The new Seiko 5 Sports series creates a bridge for your creative expansion into the world around you, building on the reliability and durability the line is known for with room for you to be your disruptive self.
CREDITS
WRITER Jaymes Shrimski
PRODUCER Marvin Conanan
DESIGNER Bea Pangandian
PHOTOGRAPHER Colin Dancel
MODEL JB Estrada
IN COLLABORATION WITH Seiko Philippines
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