In centuries of watchmaking history, most years are the equivalent of the B side of a record. They contain sleeper hits the true fans know about, but it’s not often you hear about 1675’s invention of the dead beat seconds complication. Instead, the watch community focuses our collective attention on the handful of years that produced something the masses could get behind. One of these years was 1969. Normal people around the world remember July 1969 as the anniversary of the first moon landing. But watch enthusiasts, the peculiar bunch we are, commemorate it by celebrating when an Omega Speedmaster became the first watch worn on the moon. Decades later, our shared enthusiasm hasn’t slowed, and we continue to purchase the iconic watch.
2022 was another year that found itself with chart-topping horological hits capable of withstanding the test of time. March of 2022 saw the release of the Moonswatch, a watch that (love it or hate it) ushered in a new generation of collectors and energized the industry. At peak hype when these plastic collaborations were still as hard to come by at retail as a Rolex Daytona, Seiko dropped a bombshell that continues to be felt: the 4R34 powered dive style Seiko 5 GMT.
Too Much of a Good Thing
The watch, and more importantly the movement inside it, suddenly put automatic GMTs within the reach of even the most frugal collectors such as myself. Mere weeks later, Miyota joined the party with the 9075, a high beat “true” GMT. With two new movements available to 3rd parties, watch enthusiasts quickly threw their collective support behind Seiko’s NH34. Frankly, this was easily predictable. The microbrand community has long embraced the Seiko NH series movements, which have a well-deserved reputation for being low-budget workhorses. It only made sense the same would happen with the NH34.
While the Miyota 9075 has found itself inside some great watches, its embrace has been less ubiquitous. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Miyota 9075 and the idea of a true GMT, meaning the local time can be set with a jumping hour hand—a feature not found on the “office” variant of the complication such as the NH34. But true GMTs come at a premium. When the Miyota 9075 powered Jack Mason Strat-o-timer retails for $999, compared to the $269 Seiko NH34 powered Islander Melville, one starts to wonder how much of a premium they are willing to pay for an hour hand with a cool party trick. If you’re like me and more likely to daydream about jet-setting than actually do it, the ease associated with a true GMT is about as useful as an expired passport. On the flip side, an office GMT can fuel my daydreaming just fine while leaving enough money in my bank account to entertain splurging on a plane ticket with the money saved.
But, just two years after making history, Seiko has a problem of their own making: the hype is gone. The market is now flooded with GMTs, and hype is spread thin. With too many new four-handed travel watches to keep track of, I only stumbled on the field style Seiko SSK025 because I got a bit sloppy with keywords when searching for the Seiko Alpinist GMT. With heavy Rolex Explorer II vibes (thanks to a fixed 24-hour bezel), the field style SSK025 was a slow burn for me. Wary of adding another homage to my collection, I fought off the urge to hit the buy button for a few weeks. But eventually, the utilitarian dial won over my heart and wallet. Let’s take a closer look to see why.
The Good, the Bad and the Stealthy
The Seiko SSK025 has one primary thing that sets it apart from the crowd: every element of its dial is optimized for practicality. With full Arabic numerals, a healthy amount of lume, a date, and a brilliantly legible orange GMT hand, it’s a tool-watch lover’s dream. And, this field watch pulling double duty as a travel watch packs all this practicality in without sacrificing aesthetics. The numerals pop against a slightly textured (with a subtle sandy appearance) dial, the GMT hand is color matched to the accents on the second hand and the dial text, and the black date wheel is color matched with easy to read white numerals. Without looking too busy, the Seiko SSK025 shares a lot of information and looks good doing it.
With a dial that prioritizes practicality, I’d have loved to see Seiko apply that same focus to the case. Instead, at 13.6mm thick with a mid-size case diameter of only 39.4mm, the SSK025 wears like a rock. On the provided single-pass leather strap, I only managed to avoid the resulting top-heavy and floppy experience by making the strap uncomfortably tight, an experience I had on various 3rd party nylon straps. Fortunately, I learned this watch really sings on a rubber strap. Without having the added bulk of a strap sitting under the already tall case, the grippiness of rubber was also able to prevent any slipping, allowing a much more enjoyable experience than leather and nylon were able to.
As a full-numeral GMT with 100 meters of water resistance, on paper, the Seiko SSK025 is a watch made for exploring. In reality, the case dimensions lend to a disappointing wearing experience that has made it far from my first choice when adventure-seeking. I recently sold my Seiko Land Tortoise, a watch that hugged my wrist and was a comfortable hiking companion. I’ve learned the Seiko SSK025 isn’t going to fill that gap in my collection, and that this office GMT (despite its field dial) is best suited for the office. This lack of field-ready wearability isn’t helped by a push-pull crown (instead of the more trusted screw-down) and lack of sapphire (instead featuring Seiko’s proprietary Hardlex). In my Seiko fantasy world (we all have one of these, right?), Seiko ditches the exhibition case back and the crystal that sits proud of the bezel in an effort to slim out the profile and improve the wearing experience. And while I’m daydreaming, splurging for a sapphire crystal and a screw-down crown would really round out this corner-cutting case.
The saving grace of SSK025’s case is its stealthy IP coating. With sub-par wearability and specs, the black coating brings a refreshingly redeemable quality to a case that falls short in other aspects. While completely subjective, I don’t personally find the regular ol’ stainless steel version of this watch (the SSK023) to be capable of overcoming these case-related shortcomings.
Final Thoughts
In a market flooded with GMTs, any resemblance of a hive mind organized enough to throw its enthusiasm being a single watch disappeared sometime in 2023. Consumers are no longer hyping new GMT releases collectively, instead searching through a sea of travel watches looking for ones that excite them as individual collectors. As someone trying to follow the watch market, the change is exhausting and, frankly, impossible to keep up with. But as a consumer, the change is positive. After all, it’s never a bad thing to be spoiled for choice. For me, after two years of reading about all the GMTs suddenly within my financial reach, the Seiko SSK025 was the one that managed to hype me.
Is the Seiko SSK025 a perfect watch? No, Seiko focused on the dial and seemingly only went through the motions with the case. Heck, it doesn’t even represent the best value compared to its Seiko NH34 powered microbrand counterparts. But despite its flaws, I can’t help but enjoy having this information-packed, stealthy hunk of steel on my wrist. With the most practical dial I have ever owned, an abundance of functionality, and a stealthy black case not often found on GMTs, the Seiko SSK025 stands out even when GMT hype is spread thin.
Additional Resources
- For a detailed look at the Seiko 5 SSK025, visit the official Seiko website
- For more comparisons and user reviews, check out Watchuseek’s Seiko Forum
- To purchase the Seiko 5 SSK025, consider these retailers: Amazon, Jomashop
Comparable Watches
- Islander Melville: At $269, it offers a similar NH34 movement with a focus on affordability
- Jack Mason Strat-o-timer: Powered by the Miyota 9075, it provides a true GMT experience at a higher price point of $999
Nathan Schultz is a New Hampshire based writer with a passion for affordable timepieces. He became obsessed with automatic watches in 2019 after learning not all watches have batteries, and quickly fell in love with the joys of collecting and modifying watches and meeting fellow enthusiasts. When not poring over new releases from big brands and microbrands, he can be found putting his tool watches to the test on local hiking trails.