Seiko’s Crazy New Root Beer GMT Is the Best It’s Ever Made

Seiko’s bread and butter is affordable watches. The brand owns the market below $1,000, but as soon as a Seiko watch creeps into four-digit territory, many collectors become weary.

But really, there should be no reason to doubt Seiko’s ability to produce high-end watches. Let’s not forget that Grand Seiko and Credor fall under the Seiko umbrella, meaning Seiko has the personnel, the equipment and the know-how to make extremely high-end watches.

Case in point is the brand’s latest GMT sports watch, which is perhaps the most impressive travel watch ever released under the Seiko brand name — with an eye-popping price tag to match.

Root beer GOAT?

Seiko’s latest GMT is a special, U.S.-only edition of the Prospex LX GMT — which currently ranks as Seiko’s most expensive line. This model is the priciest yet at a whopping $6,600, and it now ranks as the most expensive single watch in Seiko’s current catalog. What’s more, this watch actually costs more than seven of the 25 GMTs in Grand Seiko’s current catalog.

Seiko

So, why is this watch so expensive?

Like most watches, it comes down to three factors: Materials, movement and finishing.

Starting with the materials, the case and bracelet are made of titanium that’s been treated with a super-hard coating to improve scratch resistance. The bezel insert is sapphire, along with the crystal protecting the dial. The former is fully lumed, while the latter boasts super-clear anti-reflective coating for enhanced legibility.

As far as finishing is concerned, much of this watch is closer to what you’ll find on Grand Seikos than other Seikos. The case features plenty of GS’s famous Zaratsu polishing, which gives the lugs and case sides a hand-applied, distortion-free mirror finish. The bracelet is fully brushed and features a toolless microadjustment system — a feature missing from literally every Grand Seiko GMT.

The dial also comes across as Grand Seiko-esque with its complex texture, and it’s topped off with a gradient effect that changes from black at the top of the dial to brown at the bottom. This creates quite a cool effect, as it essentially extends the black-and-brown “root beer” bezel across the entire dial. The indices are applied and boast multiple finishes, and they — along with all four hands — are filled with LumiBrite.

Seiko

Then there’s the movement, which is literally pulled straight out of Grand Seiko’s catalog. It’s a Spring Drive movement, the hybrid quartz-mechanical movement that’s mostly exclusive to Grand Seiko watches, outside of a handful of high-end Seikos like this.

In this watch, Seiko calls the movement the Calibre 5R66, but it’s actually the same as the Calibre 9R66 movement used in Grand Seiko’s Spring Drive GMT models, just with a different finish. All of those Grand Seiko Spring Drive GMTs are also priced higher than this watch, for what it’s worth.

The movement features an individually adjustable local hour hand, a date window at 3:00 and a three-day power reserve, which can be tracked via the indicator at 8:00 on the dial. Most notably, the movement’s accuracy is +/- 15 seconds per month, which beats out any mechanical watch in existence (and some quartz watches).

Technically, this watch’s combination of materials, movement and finishing likely makes it the best GMT Seiko has ever made. That’s why it costs $6,600. But that doesn’t mean it’s without its flaws.

For one, while the rose gold bezel, crown and GMT hand look spectacular with the root beer colorway, Seiko refers to them as “gold-tone.” I would’ve loved to see real rose gold at this price, or at least a gold cap or even PVD. Rose gold-tone is, frankly, inexcusable at this price.

Seiko

Next is the size. This thing is a monster, with the case measuring 44.8mm across and 50.9mm lug-to-lug. It’s also quite thick at 14.7mm tall, a common side effect of Spring Drive movements. Still, diver-style Seikos like this — the case is modeled after Seiko’s high-beat diver from 1968 — generally wear smaller than their dimensions indicate. Plus, the watch was crafted with a low center of gravity to improve wearability.

Then there’s the bezel. It’s bidirectional, sapphire, fully lumed and looks beautiful with its root beer colorway. Sounds perfect, until you realize that it’s friction-fit. Seiko could have included some clicks here, methinks.

Quibbles aside, this watch looks dynamite. The rose gold (tone) accents perfectly complement the root beer colorway, something Rolex has known for decades, and the gradient, textured dial — inspired by the North American Nebula — is a real showstopper.

Pricing and availability

Well, you already know the price of the Prospex LX GMT U.S. Special Edition (AKA ref. SNR058): It’s $6,600.

It’s expensive, there’s no way around that. And while the watch is exclusive to the U.S. market, it does not appear to be a limited edition. Honestly, at this price, there’s probably no need to limit production.

Seiko

Seiko Prospex LX GMT U.S. Special Edition

Specs

Case Size	44.8mm
Movement	Seiko Cal. 5R66 Spring Drive GMT
Water Resistance	100m

• $6,600 at Seiko

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