The £284 accident: manta-ray ocean dial, night-and-day bezel, and that bloody Cyclops
The wrong watch, bros
Surprisingly sober tonight, and this one really is a bit special. A Seiko Prospex Save the Ocean special edition, lent in by my good friend Mr Jun. And there's a story. Mr Jun wanted a black SRP777, the original 2015 Turtle re-release, and found one for 284 pounds. A steal. He opened the box and they'd sent him the wrong watch: a 550-pound Save the Ocean King Turtle SRPE39K, the manta ray. Unbelievable. Buy a cheap watch from them and they'll probably send you something much more expensive.
Massive, but it wears small
4R36, day-date, 21,600 vph, hacking and hand winding, 24 jewels, 41 hours. Seiko says plus 45 to minus 35 a day. This one's doing plus 14 on average, according to Mr Jun. Within spec, but quite disappointing. For 284 pounds, he's done pretty well. 45 mm, about 44.8, 13.2 mm thick, but only 47.7 lug to lug. Everybody knows the Turtle's massive, but it's short, so it fits even my pathetic Skeletor wrist. If you can wear an SKX, you can wear this. No one else I know of can make such a large case wear so small. Only Seiko.
And the case is very tactile. You just want to touch it. No sharp angles anywhere, polish into concentric brushing, scalloped sides, drilled lugs, countersunk screw-down crown, and Seiko's sublime finishing expertise. Such a nice watch to wear.
It really looks like water
Polarising. At first I thought it wasn't for me: incredibly vivid, a bit desperate for attention. But in hand, look at that dial. Rich blueness fading to black at the edges, a texture like the ripples of a calm ocean. It really looks like water. You'll be tilting it back and forth looking for the four manta rays floating in this marine void. Outside you won't even notice them. They just pop in and out. Very compelling.
The King upgrades: a thicker bezel, better knurling, a ceramic insert, and an action that's very smooth. Next to my 2015 Turtle? Night and day. Mine's absolutely crap. Sapphire with internal AR replaces the lesser Turtle's Hardlex, and it's far better at deflecting light.
The spectre of misalignment
Now the bad. That awful Cyclops: not even straight, far too big for the aperture, a horrible gap top and bottom. You don't need it. What are you, blind? You can't read the date? It spoils the watch completely. And the spectre of misalignment has left its ugly mark again on this otherwise exceptionally executed dial. On a 550-pound watch. 550 quid, I'd be pretty pissed off. It beggars belief, and we still buy them. At least we know it's not fake. The fakes are probably better aligned.
The bracelet? Crap. A terrible bracelet that doesn't match the watch at all. So bad I'm not even showing it. It's on a lovely Crafter Blue strap instead, and that's where it belongs. Lume? I'd say my old 2015 one looks a bit better. What do you think?
Verdict
I love the watch. It's very, very pretty, just not on the bracelet. Not really for me, but I can totally appreciate its appeal. Stay freaky, bros, and never give up.
