With a chic vintage style, retro sporty looks, and a design blueprint pulled from 1968, The Seiko 5 Sports 1968 Heritage ticks a lot of boxes!
What We Love:
- The silver brushed dial with touches of colour on the seconds hand and writing
- The vintage racer strap gives off those retro vibes
- The size will suit most wrists
What We Don’t:
- The bracelet design doesn’t look as good as the strap
- Bi-directional beel is smooth rotating, with nothing to lock it in place at a reference point
- The case style may not be to everyone’s liking
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
- Value for Money: 8.5/10
- Wearability: 9/10
- Design: 8/10
- Build Quality: 8.5/10
Vintage has been the theme this year for Seiko, and while it may seem we’ve reviewed this piece already, fear not, as this is another vintage re-creation that Seiko has pulled from their archives from 1968. During the middle of the year, Seiko released the Seiko 5 Sports 1968 Heritage Design Re-creation, a piece that has been done as a faithful tribute to the 1968 Seiko 5 Sports, and in their words, done as close to the original as possible.
“Reproduced in a size and shape as close as possible to the original, the reissued design is powered by the tried-and-trusted Calibre 4R36 automatic movement. The new creation strikes a perfect balance between the nostalgic design of the original and the modern watchmaking technology of today.”
Seiko
RELATED READING: REVIEW: Hands On With The Seiko Prospex Marinemaster 1968 Heritage Diver
So when it came to reviewing these pieces, like all vintage-inspired or re-creations, it was great to see that Seiko has stuck to the design codes pretty closely, albeit with some subtle modern differences and of course, materials and manufacturing processes. As you can see from the image below, and compared to the originals from 1968, they seem pretty spot on!
Initial Thoughts
For me, modern watches that are vintage-styled can be a little bit of a hit-and-miss scenario. Some brands take a small amount of style and design cues from vintage pieces and infuse them into a modern watch, which can look good, and other times it just looks a little off. Others will go the completely opposite direction and take the original design of the watch, and effectively re-make it with very little change other than the movement, materials and specs – like water resistance, power reserve etc. And some are in between. So it is nice to see a brand like Seiko that could quite have easily done a vintage-styled reference come out with a piece that has been made to represent the original as close to it as possible.
While there is a trend currently for many brands to do a modern re-creation of a piece, which we’ve seen lately with the Omega Speedmaster FOIS, or the Zenith Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar based on the A386 case, these are pieces at a much, much higher price point and I would expect this from them. Seiko however, with this piece in particular, has done a great job of re-creating the 1968 Seiko 5 Sports, and at a price under A$1000, in fact, just A$725. And this was my first reaction, it’s great value for money and one you could add to the collection without thinking too much about the hip pocket.
The Design
As alluded to previously, Seiko has re-created the Seiko 5 Sports 1968 Heritage as close as possible to the original watch from 56 years ago, with some subtle differences of course. Seiko has kept the case size down, measuring 38.5mm in diameter it sits squarely in that vintage-sized realm, and the case design has stayed true to the original, with the oval-shaped curve and rounded-off lugs.
You can see at a glance all the 1968 style cues, which Seiko has replicated on the watch with near-perfect accuracy. On the bezel you have the large lume pip at 12 o’clock, graduated minutes track down to 3 o’clock and block style markers at 3, 6, and 9. The dial has been given the same brushed sunray finish on both the black and silver models and on the dial, Seiko has even given these the vintage “5” logo under the Seiko logo at 12 o’clock, and written “Sports” in the same blue colour at 6 o’clock.
The dials on both the black and silver variants are clean and easy to read, with the applied indexes filled with LumiBrite, and the large day/date window has been kept in the same design code, visible at 3 o’clock. Some purists may say this creates an imbalance in the dial design, but I would say that it adds to the functionality of the piece, plus it was present on the version from 1968 and as a result, is present here. What’s notable is Seiko has done the day/date window in the same style – with the window that is angled, sloping into the day/date wheel. The red seconds hand also pays tribute to the 1968 model and provides another added pop of colour against the silver-grey sun-brushed dial. Something I feel works well on this piece.
One aspect of the Seiko 5 Sports 1968 Heritage that I’m personally not in love with, and this isn’t specific to this watch in particular either, is the crown at 4 o’clock, or almost 4 o’clock as it isn’t quite in line and sits about 18 minutes past the hour if the minute hand was pointing to it. This misalignment may annoy some people, but the other element to this is how much of the crown sits into the case. The crown is a pull-out crown, not screwed in, so this does act as a security measure, but in day-to-day operation, should you need to use it to set the time, or manually wind the watch, it is a little hard to access. Just a small point to note should this type of thing worry you.
Overall, the watch seems well constructed, with vintage-style drilled lugs (purely aesthetic) and the addition of the racing-style leather strap that offsets the dial and case nicely. The watch comes standard on a steel bracelet as well as the inclusion of the leather strap, however, I personally felt that it looked better on the leather strap, adding to the sporty vintage look of the piece. If you want to change the bracelet or strap, you will need a springbar tool however to do so, there are no quick change mechanisms on the watch, so just keep that in mind.
The bi-directional bezel has a great feel when turning it. Rather than being a click bezel, it is fully smooth, a little like what you would find on a watch with a slide rule. However, one minor criticism of this is: Why a smooth bi-directional bezel? Unlike a Breitling Navitimer, this doesn’t have a slide rule, so you’re not needing to set the bezel exactly to a very small number on the bezel to do running calculations. Being bi-directional, it is less useful as a dive watch with it easily being turned both ways and not accurate to a selected minute, and with a lack of numbers, it’s not suitable as a GMT of any kind. I feel that at the very least, this could have been a 60 or 120-click uni-directional bezel that could be used in several real-life scenarios. Seiko still could have kept the design and look the same to not take away from the aesthetics of the heritage styling. Again, not a major issue, and definitely not a cause to disregard the watch in any way. More a constructive criticism of sorts.
How It Wears
The Seiko 5 Sports Heritage is sized pretty well, and done in a way that it should suit most wrist shapes and sizes – up to a point as with all watches. On paper, the dimensions are 38.5mm in diameter, 44.8mm lug-to-lug and a thickness of 12.4mm. This would normally translate to a watch that wears fairly true to size, being not too thick and having a small lug-to-lug. Now depending on your wrist size, and personal tastes, you may find this perfect, or you may not love it.
As I mentioned in the image above, the thicker lugs and the oval-shaped case means this piece wears slightly larger than the 38.5mm case size would suggest. I would say it is probably closer to 40mm than 38mm, but either way, unless you have small wrists, under 16cm, or you have a lot larger wrists greater than 18.5cm, this piece will look fine and not too big or small.
On the wrist, the wearing experience is good, and I would suggest better than you would think at the A$725 price point. The leather strap isn’t too hard, in fact, it is quite soft compared to a lot of leather straps when new, and the racer style adds to the look and feel of the watch on the wrist. It’s bolstered too, so it isn’t thin or flimsy and feels secure on the wrist. The case design means that the watch does sit slightly higher on the wrist due to the main case sitting up a little and the caseback not being fully flush with the main case. This means the lugs don’t sit against the wrist, and will make the 12.4mm thickness appear a little bigger (see my point about the size appearance above). That being said, you won’t find too much of an issue getting this under a jacket sleave, or a looser fitting shirt cuff – again, it’s just over 12mm thick.
Style wise, this is a pure sports watch through and through. I mean it’s right there in the name – “Sports”! All joking aside, this is not a dress piece, even with the steel bracelet, it looks and feels every bit a sports watch. You could get away with wearing this piece with a smart casual, or business casual outfit, but anything more than this, I feel this piece will find itself out of it’s depth. This all comes back to picking a watch for what it’s designed for, and on it’s merits, and for me, the Seiko 5 Sports 1968 Heritage is perfect for weekends, those with an active lifestyle or people who are not in business attire all day.
The Movment
The Seiko 5 Sports 1968 Heritage has the Seiko 4R36 automatic movement powering it. This is a movement that has been around since 2011, and similar to the 4R35 found in the Prospex Shog-Urai among others. The major difference is this calibre has the day and date functionality, where as the 4R35 has just the date only. For the price, it’s a respectable movement, but if you are looking for a high accuracy, then Seiko suggests this runs to an accuracy of +45 / -35 seconds per day. I’ve found that like most Seikos, it will be better than the stated specs, but again for the sub A$1000 price point, then you really can’t complain too much.
The movement beats at 3Hz or 21,600 VpH, and has a 41 hour power reserve. Based on the beat rate, I feel this power reserve could be improved substantially, as other movements at similar price points are now much more. The Powermatic 80 in your entry level Tissots at around A$1,000 is one example here with twice the power.
The movement does however feel solid, and is easy to use. The crown can manually wind the watch when pushed in and turned clockwise, getting it going after being left for a little while, and if you pull the crown out into the first position, you can set the day and the date by turning it either clockwise (Day), or anti-clockwise (Date). The final position allows you to set the time and this does have hacking seconds, so setting it accurately is no dramas.
Final Thoughts
Having spent a good amount of time with the Seiko 5 Sports 1968 Heritage, I can say that it has proven to be a good wearing everyday watch. It will fly under the radar for the most part, which depending on your personality can be a good thing (or not), and it is at a price point that won’t in most cases break the bank when compared to the watch world in general. I can think of several other watches out there that will set you back easily 10x this and won’t give you as much joy!
Seiko has done a great job in re-creating the original model from 1968, almost to the letter (almost!) and this is where I feel this piece shines and ultimately is what it stands for. It’s a journey back into Seiko’s history, and takes the design from 1968 and places it squarely on the wrist in 2024 with a modern movement and materials. It’s also now 100m water resistant, 30m more than it’s ancestor, and with curved Hardlex crystal, so it retains that vintage Hesalite look, but with the durability of a modern material. If you love a good vintage piece, and you’re after a watch that embodies the late 60s and early 70s vibe, and you are not wanting to spend a fortune, then the Seiko 5 Sport 1968 Heritage may just be right up your alley!
References: SRPL03K (Silver) & SRPL05K (Black)
Specifications:
- Case Dimensions: 38.5mm, 44.8mm lug-to-lug and 12.4mm thick
- Case Material: Brushed and polished stainless steel
- Dial: Sunbrushed Silver or Black dial with day/date function at 3 o’clock
- Movement: Automatic winding Calibre 4R36. Beating at 21,600 Vph / 3Hz and pivoting on 24 jewels
- Power Reserve: Approx. 41 hours
- Water Resistance: 100m (10 bar)
- Case back: Steel screwed case back
- Crystal: Curved Hardlex crystal
- Bracelet/Strap: Black leather racer-styled strap with pin buckle and steel bracelet with folding clasp (both included)
