Other folks have a wide variety of causes for embarking at the adventure of watch gathering. Some are on the lookout for type watches to pair with their highest suits. Others wish to spend money on items that may recognize in each worth and status. And a few, frankly, simply wish to flex at the ’gram. Without reference to the place a budding collector could be headed, the primary query all of them have is identical: The place do I get started?
My solution is the Seiko 5 Sports activities line. Those watches take a look at all of the containers: They’re reasonably priced, unique, and, in spite of costing a fragment of what maximum mechanical sports activities watches do, are constructed to final. The famed Jap watchmaker introduced the 5 Sports activities line in 1968, and remodeled it in 2019 when it launched watches throughout 5 functionally pushed “types”—from Fits and Side road to Sports activities—at costs that appear to be lacking a nil, dipping beneath $300 for some fashions. For the aspiring collector who hasn’t ever owned an eye, the horny worth level of a 5 Sports activities could also be all of the convincing one wishes. And for the burgeoning horologist who already owns a timepiece or two, those watches include the historical past, the standard, the delicate design, and the capability that cause them to each bit as crucial as any Swiss emblem to a well-rounded sequence.
Historical past is at all times one of the vital essential components when taking into account a collection-worthy watch, and the Seiko 5 Sports activities sequence has tales to inform. The Sportsmatic used to be allegedly utilized by special-ops groups within the Vietnam Warfare, and the Speedtimer, now a part of a distinct Seiko sequence, used to be one of the crucial first automated chronographs to hit the marketplace—a landmark innovation that put it in festival with the Swiss watch trade within the Sixties. Creditors have since bestowed nicknames (the UFO, the Sushi Roll) on one of the vital funky designs from the early years watches that as of late are as distinctive and recognizable as the rest at the public sale block.
However what feels most enjoyable in regards to the Seiko 5 Sports activities line this present day is that it’s no longer content material to easily lean on its previous. The lineup of new collaborations speaks to the way in which those watches are pushing into the long run and attractive with new and rising cadres of watch fans. The ones companions come with prep purveyor Rowing Blazers, the streetwear emblem Huf, or even Queen guitarist Brian Might. In 2021, Seiko launched a gold-faced fashion designed through lovers, selected from greater than 48,000 submissions—useful evidence of the sizable group of devotees.
That membership of Seiko 5 Sports activities homeowners is loaded with athletes and entertainers too, a lot of whom are famous aficionados of prime horology—guys like comic Ronny Chieng, former NBA participant J.J. Redick, and actor Daniel Dae Kim. “You don’t should be a millionaire to revel in watch gathering,” says Dae Kim. “My dad had a Seiko Speedtimer 5 Sports activities, and because then they’ve at all times had a different position in my middle.”
Ronny Chieng issues out that that is the watch worn through each Bruce Lee and James Bond—a indisputable fact that underscores how Seiko 5s have parallels with the tale of Asians in The usa to this point. “[They’re] elegantly made with superlative efficiency, sturdiness, and an underappreciated heritage,” Chieng says. “That is what I bring to mind after I put on my Seiko 5s.” The Seiko 5 Sports activities line could be highest referred to as an reasonably priced choice, however creditors aren’t sacrificing high quality, sturdiness, historical past, and even superstar cosigns in purchasing one. Sure, those are nice watches initially, however the Seiko 5 line is so deep with fascinating watches you must—and plenty of do—spend a life-time gathering them.
Cam Wolf is a senior taste author at GQ.
A model of this tale at first seemed within the February 2023 factor of GQ with the name “The Handiest First Watch You’ll Ever Want”
