A Look at the Seiko 5 Sports Kosuke Kawamura Limited Edition Watches

New to the 5 Sports range by Seiko are two limited edition Kosuke Kawamura watches, designed in collaboration with the creative artist and inspired by his shredded magazine artwork. The models echo the design of the brand’s earlier 1970s Time Sonar watches, with partially translucent dials that reveal the details of the day and date wheel underneath.

The Seiko 5 Sports watch collection is home to a versatile selection of affordable sports watches that vary from pilot’s watches to diving watches, to skeletonised models. Each 5 Sports watch is powered by one of the Japanese brand’s in-house-made movements, making them great value-for-money options. As well as their impressive water-resistant capabilities, these wristwatches are also known for their shock-resistant qualities and their robust cases. Meant for everyday wear, each Seiko watch from this range signifies the brand’s dedicative approach to developing reliable wristwatches for land, sea and air. You can use the rotatable bezel on a 5 Sports watch from Seiko for measuring elapsed time whilst swimming, or make use of the many day-date models within the collection, which are perfect for wearing to work.

Seiko has spent a good many years revisiting some of its most iconic timepieces. Recently we have seen reinterpretations of some of Seiko’s popular vintage dive watches from the 1960s and 1970s, as well as an Alpinist watch echoing the style of the brand’s first design from 1959. We covered this Seiko Prospex Alpinist ‘Rock Face’ Limited Edition watch here. As well as these models, we also covered the recent blue and red coloured Speedtimer Chronograph, based on the original 1969 design - the company’s first automatic chronograph watch. But if you’re knowledgeable on Seiko’s in-depth history, you may be partial to the lesser-known models, particularly those that went under the radar whilst Seiko was releasing some big runners during the 1960s. One specific example of this would be the Seiko Time Sonar Chronograph, which brings us to the release of the company’s latest Seiko 5 Sports Kosuke Kawamura SRPJ41 & SRPJ43 limited edition watches.

These new releases sit alongside two 5 Sports SKX Skeleton non-limited edition versions, which take inspiration from the unusual look and style of the original Time Sonar watch. These non-limited edition models feature blue and orange transparent dials that expose the details of the day and date feature behind them, characterised by Japanese and English lettering. Inspired in the same way by this vintage Seiko watch, the two limited edition models come in a choice of a grey and green dial (SRPJ43) or an orange and green dial (SRPJ41).

The Seiko 7015-6010 Time Sonar Chronograph

The Seiko 7015-6010 Time Sonar Chronograph watch was undeniably eye-catching for its time and still makes for a great conversation topic today. Its busy-looking greenish dial adorned with lots of faint writing looks totally Japanese. This detailing, which mixes Japanese Kanji with English font actually relates to the rotating day and date wheels exposed through the surface of the dial. It also features white hour slashes, a black outer minute ring with a black upward-sloping tachymeter scale and black segments running through the centre of the dial from left to right. There’s also a bright orange chronograph seconds hand that provides a punch of colour across the entire design. This translucent dial creates the impression of floating hands and indexes atop its surface – elements that have been borrowed by Seiko for the two new Seiko 5 Sports Kosuke Kawamura SRPJ41 & SRPJ43 watches.

Japanese art and timekeeping

For the release of these two new Seiko 5 Sports Kosuke Kawamura limited edition watches, the brand partners up with Japanese artist Kosuke Kawamura. The Hiroshima-born creative began as a graphic designer and soon became recognised for his exhibiting artworks, having collaborated with the likes of G-shock and Adidas. The artist is known for his collage-style creations, which play a significant role in the design of the two new limited edition 5 Sports watches. True to the design seen in other 5 Sports watches by Seiko, these new models feature a 42.5mm stainless steel case with a measurement of 46mm lug-to-lug. In addition to this, there’s a 4 o’clock positioned crown, a Hardlex glass front and a unidirectional rotating bezel to enjoy about these two 100-meter water-resistant wristwatches. A screwed caseback also provides optimum protection over an in-house developed automatic movement, which we’ll get into in a second.

The coloured, partly translucent dials are the star of the show in these two new creations since they reveal the graphic printed elements relating to the rotating discs of the day and date wheel underneath their surfaces. These two-coloured combinations are both bold and attention-grabbing. The reference SRPJ41 boasts an orange and green scheme, whilst the SRPJ43 offers a green and grey colourway. The translucent plates have received a concentric textured effect that gives each timepiece a vintage-inspired feel whilst simultaneously nodding to Kawamura’s shredded art designs. These dials are framed by an aluminium bezel insert in contrasting black and silver blocks.

The retro-inspired Seiko 5 Sports Kosuke Kawamura limited edition watches feature the current day and date window in white at 3 o’clock, protected by a Hardlex glass front and accompanied by a black 60-minute scale around the edge. Alternating blue, red and orange accents also feature around this section, adding layers of depth and contrasting colours that border the eye-catching display. Propelling the cathedral-shaped Lumibrite-coated hands around the dial is the entry-level Calibre 4R36. Designed to do its job without faltering, the self-winding movement performs at a rate of 21,600 vibrations per hour and delivers a power reserve once fully wound of 41 hours.

The grey and green version of the new Seiko 5 Sports Kosuke Kawamura watch is exclusive to just 500 pieces worldwide – the orange and green version, 3000 pieces. If you’d like to own one of the two models, you can call and speak to a member of our Jura Watches sales team on 01335 453453 today or check out the spec list on these models here.