When I was lucky enough to see the Seiko 5 Sports SRPD Diver on a local shop’s flash buy email for 60% off retail last Friday week, I just had to buy it. Sure I have a few watches in my collection, but I was wanting one for riding my bike to work and not being worried about scraping my watch on the gate and lock every day. Something that I seem to be doing an awful lot of these days.

This was a really opportune time to get a watch that so many people get excited about, to use as a daily wearer and so far it has not disappointed me. It is water resistant to 10 bar in spite of no screw down crown. It features good lume and a decent Hardlex crystal, plus a stop seconds hand function. It comes in at a 42.5mm size that sits nicely on my wrist. The 4r36 movement offers a power reserve of an ample 41 hours.

My only gripe with this watch was the weird strap that came fitted on it. It is rather ugly and has some kind of faux ‘gator skin stitched over the rubber silicon. Luckily for the watch community, Uncle Seiko does a nice curved custom waffle strap (that some of the money I saved went towards) and I think it is a great fit and looks good. The Seiko 5 SRPD is not a particularly heavy watch and is 46mm lug to lug. You could say that it is hefty yet compact.

In summary, the Seiko 5 Sports SRPD Diver is a cheap as chips watch that is good looking and has a decent plus reliable movement. It would suit most people as a great watch for a rugged holiday. Or just used as a work and cycling watch.