Gene Kranz Seiko 5: the best Seiko 5 going, and you can't even buy it. Unreal scenario
Why I'm back
Welcome back, spring bar freaks, and never give up. A long-form video for the first time in a very long time. I've known Secondhand Steve for 33 years. He wanted to get into mechanical tick tocks, so he gave me £1,000 of his own money to buy him two watches of my choice to film. He can keep or sell them. Unreal scenario. Hats off, full salute.
I bought a mint Seiko 5, and it's no ordinary Seiko 5. Fake GS rice paper, a foam cushion, and a box that's apparently a replica of the original. Seiko boxes are notoriously bad. This one is very, very decent.
The specs
The SRPL93K1 Gene Kranz Heritage Design Recreation. Limited to 9,999 pieces per dial colour, which for Seiko is very limited. Mine is number 2526 of 9,999. Gene Kranz is still alive, 93 at the time of recording, was NASA's chief flight director on Apollo 13, and was played by Ed Harris in 1995. He wore the white dial. This is the black.
12.3 mm thick, 38.2 mm across, 44.7 lug to lug, 20 mm lugs. 4R36, 24 jewels, hacking and hand-winding, day-date, 100 metres. 137 g on all links, 129 g sized for my 19 cm wrist. Double-domed box Hardlex, no AR, because it's still constrained by the Seiko 5 entry level.
Comfortability matrix: beyond thunderdome
A cushion case with a very short lug to lug, wearable for large and small beef stones. Concentric brushing on top is absolutely stunning, with a high-polished flank and drilled lugs. The friction-fit count-up bezel is tight and silent, smooth as silk, and won't move by touch. Some of Steve's GMTs are very loose. This one is not. The crown is tiny and recessed, one of the things I don't particularly like. I've just cut my nails.
For a Seiko 5, one hell of a bracelet
It looks like a five-link but it's one piece, with the tiny nibblers integrated into the link. Brushed, polished flanks, tiny links so sizing was no problem. Then the clasp. Stamped piece of rubbish. Get rid of it immediately. Non-milled swing arm. Two micros. No diver's extension, but it's not a diver. And actually, it's very serviceable and rather nice, with polished bevels. It could do with another micro.
The dial
The very best feature of this twerp. Jet black. The much-missed Seiko 5 shield logo is back, and everything is applied. Polished, bevelled baton hands, lume-filled, and a paddle seconds hand with a loom pip in the end. Reams of text. Some people won't like it. I don't mind. The legibility matrix is ridiculous, and the framed date window at three is sick. Blue for Saturday, red for Sunday. The loom? He's no Marinemaster, but he's got loom for days.
Verdict
That's a 400-quid watch versus a 2,800 watch. Would a noob tell the difference? I don't think they would. I really love this watch, guys. Not as much as my favourite, but it's a different level. No case design is ever better than a top-tier Hattori. Is it Hattori's magnum opus? Not even once. But it's getting there.
I think, personally, this is the best of all Seiko 5s currently available, although it's not available, because they're all sold out. Never give up.
