Seiko 5 Sports “SKX Series” Automatic Gilt Ref. SBSA261

Seiko made its first watch in 1913, and 50 years later, Seiko 5 was born in 1963. In its long history, Seiko 5 has won respect, affection, and loyalty of young people from all around the world. Seiko 5 Sports offers a new opportunity to feel the spirit of the active and innovative design of that time. Seiko set out to build a watch with five attributes, from which the watch gets its name: a self-winding automatic movement, resistance to water, a day-date in a single window, a recessed crown, and a durable case.
 
Seiko has long offered their extremely reliable yet affordable Seiko 5 sports collection, especially the SKX diver line for us watch enthusiasts who want to get our hands-on with true mechanical horology at a pocket-friendly price, and boy do they caught on since 1963. However, Seiko's decided its time to end the long-running SKX sports models recently, and that caused serious commotion among us and its daunting. Until recently...

Today, the Seiko 5 Sports legacy has return, and their back with some major upgrades while staying true to their design roots. Seiko has relaunched their line-up with the same affordability and even tougher built.
 
Before we get into the new Seiko 5 Sports line-up, we are excited to informed you Seiko enthusiasts that this whole new collection are available as JDM (Japan Domestic models)! These whole JDM collection is denoted bt the "MADE IN JAPAN" at 6 on the dial. And good news are that we at Gnomon provides these JDMs Seiko 5 Sports for all of you.
 
The Seiko 5 Sports SKX Series Gilt – Ref. SBSA261 is one of the most iconic SKX's re-issue design language watch among the rest. Staying through to its undisputed "starter" watch for every budding mechanical watch collector. And that's what make is so desirable even for seasoned watch collectors. Well known for its robust built and classic design.

Seiko's satin brush and high polished finishing

The Seiko 5 Sports SKX Series Gilt – Ref. SBSA261 for the first time since its Skx days, features an open back and now powered by Seiko's automatic caliber, 4R36, operating at 21,600 BPH (3 Hertz) with hacking and hand winding capabilities. It has 24 jewels with a power reserve of 40 hours. This is a major upgrade from the previous 7S26 non-hacking and winding caliber that used for the old SKX007J1. You know what, since this JDM model features the day/date display, one can self-select the day display to Japanese kanji characters, or in English.
 
The Seiko 5 Sports still holds a 100m water resistant stainless steel case measuring at 42.6mm wide without the crown, a lug to lug length of only 46mm, and a height of about 14.2mm. The whole dimension and case design are true to its predecessor, thus moreover the short lugs to lugs length mean this watch wraps around the wrist on all(small or big) wrist sizes like a glove making it extremely comfortable.
 
The bezel has large gilt printed markings on it. It rotates buttery smooth into 120 positions has little to no free play in a clockwise direction. Sitting atop of the bezel is Seiko's Hardlex. The mixture of satin brush and Seiko high polishing on the sides can be seen on the whole watch.

The black dial derives from its predecessor, but now with some aesthetic tweaks. Like for instant, the new Seiko 5 logo has the "5" tilted 45 degrees anti-clockwise. The Logo is then balanced off symmetrically with the bottom Seiko's Sumo "Automatic" font style instead of the old "diver's 200m" text. The large and SKX's heirloom indices stays home and made reading easy as it always done so, so are the classic Seiko hour and minutes hands. The hour markers are now surrounded with metal trims, and hands are both generously coated with Seiko's LumiBrite allowing it to glow brightly in the dark for hours.
 
The Seiko 5 comes with a stainless steel bracelet with three-fold clasp with secure lock and push-button release.
 
Seiko's revival of the Seiko 5 Sports has repetitively filled the void of affordable and reliable mechanical timepiece in the market successfully. The new generation of heritage designed Seiko 5 Sports SKX Series Gilt – Ref. SBSA261 is still probably one of the most iconic dive watches in the history of dive watches. Given its cult status and price, it's re-born status definitely good news and is once again available for all of us with the intention is to own a piece of dive watch history or to have a "go-anywhere, do-anything" watch that packs extraordinary value.

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