King Sumo: gargantuan, goofy, and the finishing beats Rolex and Omega at a fraction of the price
A creature of gargantuan proportions
Welcome back, bros. This is the Seiko Prospex King Sumo, SPB321J1, courtesy of Seiko Steve. Blue graduation diver. List price was £1,120, and I checked: you can get one new today for £650. What a deal that is.
This has always been one of my favorite Seiko case designs, and I feel he's always been overlooked, probably because he's so big. Picture him sitting in total darkness in the watch box, unloved, saying 'why am I so massive?' He's a big freak of a behemoth, and we do love him. 45 mm case, 13.2 mm thick, tiny little 20 mm lugs, 52.6 lug to lug. You need decent flat-top real estate to nosh on one of these without overhang. 183 g with a couple of links out.
The Japanese do this better than anyone
The case is where this shines. Absolutely proper. Anyone. Nobody does it better. Count them: one, two, three, four, five, six, and there's a seventh one somewhere. Seven different dimensions to this case. It blows my mind, bros. The polishing and brushing are way beyond anything you will find from Rolex, Omega and all those other lot, at multiples of the price.
And the sloping, wrist-hugging banana lugs just wrap around the wrist. The comfortability matrix is beyond thunderdome despite its length and heft. Ceramic bezel, shrouded, actionable from the top, and it turns nicely. Seiko Steve, big up yourself.
What they took away
The domed crystal, which was rad, is now a flat sapphire. The slight internal chamfer has gone. The crown is unsigned: we lose the Seiko S, which was very lovely. And the ridiculous big boy font of his predecessor has gone. That was what made the Sumo so unique. It's massive, looks quite stupid, and I love it. Why are you trying to change it? It's been dumbed down for the masses. Still good, but I do miss it.
Dial's discreet: horizontal wave, smaller date box, slimmer hands, minute hand into the rehaut. But the indices have less loom, and the pip is smaller. Do we like it? I don't. In the round-up I said they all have some great loom, and in the Sumo showdown I moaned about the sliver at three. On its own, you can see the difference, though in the loom show it was quite similar overall.
Bracelet and a bit of lug maths
Brushed oyster-style bracelet, polished flanks, milled swing arm. Compare it with the 6R15 clasp, which was a tin foil stamped clamp. Get rid of him immediately. It's male end links now, and I wish it had female ones. Lug to lug: 52.6 mm in the review, but in the Sumo showdown I said it's now 55, up from 50, with the male end links. I'd had a few both times.
Verdict
Not based on a heritage Seiko, so no tuna, 62MAS or turtle, and people say the 20 mm lug spacing is too small. I disagree. I love his buck-toothed lugs. The whole twerp is a goofball. Imagine an SLA Sumo with an 8L45 and some Zaratsu polishing. Wouldn't that be something?
But even as it is, it's top of the line and one of my favorites. Only for wrists of 7 inches or above, never intended for 6.5 inch spaghetti. Top quality value proposition. Unreal scenario. Never give up.
