REVIEW: Seiko SPB047

[Zakalwe]

I am an aspiring WIS. I own a number of watches and have had an interest in horology for half my life, going on for 20 years. However it’s not until relatively recently that I took a dive down the rabbit hole as it were. As such I’m still learning about this hobby and I have a long way to go before I graduate to full WISdom.

Before I got a clue, like a lot of folks I associated Seiko with cheap and cheerful quartz beaters and thought of it as a brand of little value horologically. Of course you don’t need to tell me now how ignorant that view was. I’ve admired many of their watches for a while now and after seeing a photo of the SPB047 online recently (can’t remember where) I kind of knew immediately it’d be my first proper Seiko. I then found out only last week that there’s a Seiko Boutique in London, which somehow passed me by despite my living here most of my life. I actually don’t know of anywhere else in London that showcases a decent number of mid-higher tier Seiko and Grand Seiko watches. As an aside, the Boutique is a nice little place, parked just between Harrods and Harvey Nicks - well heeled part of town, apparently.

So I went down there this morning, tried the watch on for size, allayed a couple of fears I had about it and pulled the trigger.

Whilst doing my research I was disappointed not to be able to find very many personal reviews at all (as opposed to online magazine press-release type “review”). So I thought I’d post my first impressions on here and elsewhere. This is my first watch review and as I said I’m only aspiring to WISdom so if some of the terms or facts are wrong I’m happy to be corrected below. Bear in mind that whilst I’ve tried to be objective, I liked this watch enough to buy it, so quite frankly, I’m biased.

Also, the pics are a bit crap. I’m a terrible photographer.

Oh, and I’ve always struggled with conciseness. The TL;DR version is: THIS IS A GREAT WATCH!

Onwards...

Introduction

The Seiko SPB047 is the basic three hander in the Presage Enamel Collection, watches that debuted at Basel in 2017 and are inspired by Seiko’s very earliest watches and showcasing traditional Japanese enamelling, hence this watch has a hand crafted, enamel dial.



Case, caseback, crystal and crown

The headline news here is that this case is big for what can only be described as a dress watch. At 40.5 it’s quite a bit bigger than is traditional. It’s also thick at 12.4mm yet somehow on the wrist it feels even thicker than that and sits high even on my pretty flat wrist. Though this might be a deal-breaker for some I don’t think it ruins the watch for a few reasons: firstly, 40.5mm is a size that will look absolutely fine on all but the smallest of wrists (mine’s not large at 6.5in) if you ignore ‘tradition’; secondly the lugs, despite not being short do not protrude too far past the case because of their curvature; thirdly, because the watch fits fine under a cuff.





The surfaces are all nicely polished aside from the part of the lugs facing the wearer, which are brushed. The lugs are faceted and curve down gently following the contour of the wrist, though they don’t hug it due to the rather thick caseback. The polished bezel looks at a glance to be curved and convex but looking at it in profile reveals that it is actually composed of three flat surfaces which helps it to catch the light in different ways. I own two other dress watches: a Longines Master which is 50% pricier and an Omega De Ville with an MSRP over 250% more expensive. I have to say that strictly in terms of the finishing of the case, if you removed the branding from all three then I contend you wouldn’t be able to tell which was the Seiko. Having said that, the case geometry is relatively plain, in keeping with the overall style of the watch. This isn’t a budget Grand Seiko by any stretch and nor should one expect it to be.



The caseback itself is a bit thick as mentioned above and it provides a view of the movement via a sapphire crystal. It’s screwed on and stamped with information and branding. It’s solid and entirely unspectacular.



The crown is cupcake shaped, with a finely gritty action that feels quite pleasing to turn. As you’d expect the Seiko ‘S’ logo is engraved onto it.



The crystal is a dual curved sapphire with AR coating. The edges protrude perhaps half a millimetre proud of the bezel. It does what it says on the tin.

Dial and hands

Ok, so if you’re thinking about piling in on this watch then this is the money section because the USP of the SPB047 is the enamel dial and probably the reason you’re interested. Is it worth it? In a word, yes. It really must be seen to be appreciated and not only is it hard to describe how it looks, it’s rather difficult to capture it’s essence in photos (at least with the camera in this amateur’s hands). I will still try. The dial is on the whitish side of milky and if you look close enough at an angle with light reflecting off it you can see a granular texture. Imagine a white, lacquered eggshell and you might be close. This gives a very different appearance close up to most other watch faces, though from a distance and without the appropriate lighting it looks like a nice albeit relatively unremarkable view. It’s not just the enamel that gives this dial character though - the whole thing is not flat at all. The date window is somewhat recessed (see below for details). The centre of the dial is concave and at certain angles and illuminations forms a circle centred on and around the hand stack. It also appears that the edge of the dial is curved downward where the minute track is painted. I can’t find confirmation of this so please correct me if I’m wrong and just seeing an optical illusion due to the curvature of the crystal. Furthermore, the whole dial is non-uniform: if you look close enough you can see that the surface is randomly uneven both in texture and in the topography. These various undulations help give it a real depth that would otherwise be quite difficult to achieve with white as well as the character that comes from being hand crafted and individually unique. This dial really does grab the headlines as far as the SPB047 is concerned.





Moving on from the dial the leaf minute and hour hands are elongated and the minute hand curves down at the lengthy tip, following the contour of the sapphire (and possibly the dial, see above). The second hand is also curved towards the dial and sports a crescent shape at the end of the counterbalance. I love this little detail - it’s one that is replicated on the Credor Eichi II which happens to be my grail watch. The hands are an electric, metallic blue in colour - another homage to the Eichi - though this is only apparent in certain conditions. Before seeing the watch I was afraid they would give the dial of what is a solidly retro-looking dress watch a slightly incongruous feel. That concern was misplaced because in all but strong, direct light (i.e. in most normal lighting situations) the hands appear as black as the numerals.



The numerals are large, black, painted Romans. They help to give the watch the aforementioned retro look. The minute markers are long dashes with numerals replacing them at each Roman. The minute markers are themselves subdivided into 6. I can’t really fathom a legitimate function for this (some clever WIS may chime in below) but the effect is a minute track that is pleasing on the eye.



The date window is sited at 3 o’clock and ovoid in shape. The edges curve down, presumably a function of the manufacturing process of the dial. The window is bordered by a painted box. This may divide opinion but to my eyes, the way this is implemented, in conjunction with the shrunken ‘III’ marker does a good job of preserving the symmetry of the dial. One could argue the dial might look better and certainly cleaner without the date but the way Seiko have made this means that the date looks as good as it can within the constraints imposed by the manufacture of the dial.

As far as legibility goes, by day the SPB047 is unsurpassed - white dial, large and dark indices and distinct, dark hands. At night - it’s got no lume and no applied or reflective surfaces on the dial, so have a guess!


Movement

The SPB047 is powered by Seiko’s 6R15 automatic movement which is hacking and incorporates hand winding. The power reserve is 50 hours. It’s used in a number of popular mid-tier Seikos and has a reputation for accuracy and reliability. That’s as much as I’ll say on the technical side of things as there are dozens on here who could slay me with their knowledge of this caliber.

As far as the looks go, very little effort has been made to decorate it, despite it being on display. This does seem to somewhat negate the point of a display case-back, rather like filling up a Rolex display case with smashed up Invictas but it doesn’t bother me, though it might irk some.

One of the few reviews of the watch I’ve read (that weren’t of the generic press release variety) was from a guy on reddit who really, really dislikes this movement and whose primary complaint was of the rotor noise. He actually wrote that he could hear the rotor whilst driving over the sound of his radio, the engine and the road. Now it’s highly unlikely that that guy will read this, but if he is, I am calling complete bullshit! Either that or the guy is descended from owls so has superhuman hearing. Maybe he got a Friday afternoon watch (if the Japanese suffer from that). Or he drives a Rolls Royce with a broken radio. The rotor noise in this watch is unremarkable and actually a lot quieter than my Omega.

Strap and deployant

The croc strap is black and supple. It feels very nice to the touch. By comparison the leather on my Omega, whilst high quality is quite stiff, meaning this watch actually sits more comfortably on the wrist than the Swiss watch. I do though wonder about it’s durability by comparison. The other thing to mention about the strap is that it’s on the wrong way round! I guess this is a Seiko thing but from this arises, perhaps surprisingly, my biggest and only major bugbear with the SPB047. The tail of the strap would normally not be visible to the eye of the wearer but it is on the Seiko as it’s facing you. To me this is distracting when admiring the watch on the wrist. It may not sound like a big deal and many might switch out the strap anyway but to me it’s a little bit annoying.



The clasp is made of brushed stainless steel, folds and has a dual push-button release. Some lateral play in the deployant at the hinge betrays a hint of cost-cutting which isn’t entirely unexpected here, though it’s slightly disappointing nevertheless. Whilst the brushed finishing of the part of the clasp you can see when fastened on the wrist, complete with stamped Seiko branding is good, the finishing on the rest of the deployant is merely adequate at best.



Conclusion and price

I’ve seen it written about this watch that it’s all about the dial and in a way, that’s right. The dial is beautiful, even mesmerising in certain conditions and at this price point (and to my admittedly not comprehensive knowledge) you will struggle to find a competitor with a comparable enamel front-end. However, I would argue that this Seiko is compelling as a whole package. The case, whilst fairly basic in terms of its geometry nevertheless compares well in terms of finish to watches at double the price. The movement, whilst nothing special either statistically or to look at is reputedly robust - this is a Japanese-made product after all - and in house (for those for whom such things matter) and I think that’s good enough considering that it is in many respects a unique proposition at this price. Speaking of which, I keep referencing the price - MSRP is £849. Given everything that’s gone above you won’t be surprised to read that I think this represents phenomenal value. Stick a Swiss manufacture’s logo on that beautiful dial, give it a bit of an advertising push, maybe decorate the movement a bit and upgrade the deployant and you could conceivably double or even treble the sticker price and few would bat an eyelid. That may though say more about the inflated prices of Swiss watches than anything else but that’s another thread entirely.

As for the drawbacks, if you’re looking for a classically proportioned dress watch then this is not for you. It’s too wide, too thick and it sits high on the wrist; look elsewhere. The quality of the deployant is merely adequate. Some people will take issue with the Romans, which to some may project an old-fashioned vibe, which is of course entirely a matter of personal taste. Others may find the case geometry and overall look somewhat plain. Again this is a matter of personal taste and in fact I would agree that it could in some respects and at first glance be considered plain or as I prefer to think of it, unobtrusive. Personally that is another aspect of this Seiko that I find utterly charming.

If you’re thinking about pulling the trigger on this watch, then I’d urge you to go and see one in person. If you get to that stage, having done your research, I guarantee you’ll want to buy it.

Specifications (courtesy of seikowatches.com)

Movement
* Caliber 6R15
* 21600 VPH
* Power reserve: 50 hours
Case diameter
* 40.5mm
Case thickness
* 12.4mm
Water resistance
* 10 bar
Magnetic resistance
* 4800 A/m

Thanks for reading. If you got this far without falling asleep, have yourself a biscuit as a reward.




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[Old Expat Beast]

Great review, thanks for posting. I'm sure a lot of people will be encouraged by this

[henrylee]

Thanks for sharing.

[Livermoron]

Nice timepiece, amazingly thorough review. I like the presage line

[hdrazor251]

Zakalwe: I don't know how you make your living, but it should be doing product reviews. Great job.

[Zakalwe]

Thanks for the kind words.

[yannis]

Great review and a great SEIKO.

[Txkill]

Great review...the blue dial is a stunner too.

[Txkill]

Just picked up my blue enamel today!


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[Zakalwe]

Originally Posted by Txkill

Just picked up my blue enamel today!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice pick up mate, stunning watch. I’d love to see one in person. The Blue Moon is a rare bird, limited to 1500 pieces? Congrats

Feel free when you get the chance to post some more pics. I’d love to see a few more dial shots in different lighting.

[Frogman]

Great review mate, lovely watch.

[Txkill]

Originally Posted by Zakalwe

Nice pick up mate, stunning watch. I’d love to see one in person. The Blue Moon is a rare bird, limited to 1500 pieces? Congrats

Feel free when you get the chance to post some more pics. I’d love to see a few more dial shots in different lighting.

Man it’s tough to get good shots on a phone, but here’s a couple for you.



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