The All New Seiko 5 Field Street Style GMT

I had been looking forward to the new Seiko 5 Field style GMT watches. The blurb by Seiko states that

“The Seiko 5 Sports Field collection was created with an ‘in the field’ military design – taking inspiration from a style originally called ‘trench watch,’ created to be robust and reliable in tough conditions.”
Seiko

Since my collection lacks a field style watch with a military flair, I was very keen to check out these new Seiko 5 GMT timepieces. The JDM-only white dial would have been my pick, but out of the two that were available in Australia (SSK023K and SSK025K), I opted for the stealthy Seiko 5 Sports ‘Deception’ field style (reference: SSK025K) – which ticks both my field style and military flair boxes.

The SSK025K takes the design to the next level, with blacked out seconds and GMT hand, as well as a blacked out bezel and case – making it look quite stealthy, and yes, deceptive. I would have preferred a matching black metal bracelet, but the calf leather NATO strap actually suits the watch and is in keeping with the ‘field’ style – but I still don’t like it (C’mon Seiko, you can do better!).

As you would have guessed by the model name, both watches feature a GMT function that allows you to track a second time zone, and much like the other Seiko 5 GMTs, the GMT hand itself is directly adjustable (making it an office-GMT instead of a Traveller-GMT).

The base design and size remain the same as the original field watches, ensuring that the design style is timeless whilst the automatic movement, the venerable 4R34 caliber, evolves.

The case is a great size at 39.4mm, and coupled with a thickness of 13.6mm, means that it wears well on wrists between 6.5″ to 7.25″ – for the record, I have a 7″ wrist. Seiko being Seiko, there is no sapphire crystal (darn you Seiko!), instead you get their curved Hardlex glass on these watches. Water resistance is rated to 10 bar, but you don’t get a screw-down crown.

Right now I remain unsure if the SSK025K will remain in my collection. It is quite difficult to have an objective point of view this early in the ownership of this watch, but my instincts tell me that this may not be a keeper – sorry Seiko!