Seiko 5 Sports Evisen Skateboard Limited Edition Collection Review
Monday - 10 May 2021
The Seiko 5 Sports collection has become somewhat of a luminary in the luxury watch community. They are durable, aesthetically pleasing and deliver Seiko’s iconic sporty dive watch design at an impressively affordable price. The line has also become source for some of Seiko’s most creative designs including the Seiko 5 Sports and Brian May SRPE83K1 Limited Edition and the Naruto and Boruto collaboration. Today, their latest partnership is with Japanese skate brand Evisen with the launch of the new Seiko 5 Sports Evisen Skateboard Limited Edition watches.
Evisen Skateboards was founded in 2011 by director Katsumi Minami and his friends, taking its name from the word “everything” pronounced with Japanese intonation after their belief that “skateboarding is everything”. Based in Tokyo, Evisen have become renowned for their unique creativity, its Japanese graphical sense and imaginary artwork that decorates their assortments of skateboarding decks, hoodies, backpacks and accessories. Many of their original designs also incorporate ancient Japanese traditions and culture, something Seiko themselves are certainly no to doing in their watch collections. As a result of their partnership, Seiko and Evisen have launched a trio of limited edition Seiko 5 Sports watches incorporating elements of both brand’s playful and artistic tastes.
Each Seiko 5 Sports Evisen Skateboard Limited Edition is almost identical in its specification, offering the same case material, movement and water resistance and differing only in its choice of colourway. They all meet the five traits of every Seiko 5 Sports watch including an automatic movement, a day and date window, extended water resistance, a recessed crown at 4 o'clock and a sleek, durable case design. Powered by the automatic winding 4R36 Calibre, they deliver central hands for hours, minutes and seconds, a day and date window at 3 o’clock , 24 jewels and a power reserve of approximately 41 hours. They are all engineered from stainless steel with Hardlex crystal glass, a 100 metre water resistant rating, unidirectional rotating bezels and Lumibrite coated hands.
What varies them is their extraordinary use of colour which is taken from different aspects of Japanese culture. Starting with the Seiko 5 Sports Evisen Skateboard watch under reference SRPF94K1, this opulent yellow gold plated piece is motivated by the shapes and colours of the Samurai helmet. On the brushed black bezel, kanji characters replace the typical Arabic numerals on the 60 minute scale and on the black dial, the Evisen logo marks the 12 o’clock spot in gold. The black silicon strap is specially designed with the original paisley pattern and on the case back, Evisen’s iconic Samurai helmet logo is adorned over the exhibition glass element beside its limited edition rating out of 1,500 pieces.
Also limited to 1,500 pieces is the Seiko 5 Sports Evisen Skateboard Limited Edition watch under reference SRPF93K1. This more classically styled timepiece takes inspiration from skateboards themselves with the off-white dial resembling the urethane material of a skateboard wheel and the distressed-effect brown calfskin leather strap designed after a wood-grained skateboard deck. At the centre of the dial, the central hands are joined by the image of skateboard’s wheel bearing while around the circumference, hexagonal indexes reflect the image of axle nuts that connect the wheels to the truck. Like reference SRPF94K1 above, the Seiko 5 Sports Evisen Skateboard SRPF93K1 watch features an exhibition case back decorated with the brand’s logo and its limited edition status.
Last but not least is the Seiko 5 Sports Evisen Skateboard Limited Edition under reference SRPF95K1. This is possibly our favourite out of the three for its unique and playful colourway inspired by tuna sushi, a food said to be one of Evison’s icons found on many of their deck designs. The bright red dial mirrors the colour of sashimi while the textured white rubber strap is the rice beneath it. The stem of the crown is also coloured in a dark burgundy for the soya sauce. In the dark, the Seiko 5 Sports Evisen Skateboard SRPF95K1 watch looks fantastic, with the hour and minute hands coated in red coloured Lumibrite and the seconds in green, reminiscent of tuna and wasabi. Reference SRPF95K1 is also the most limited out of the three models with only 700 pieces being manufactured worldwide, a fact stated on the green translucent screw down case back.
For more information on the Seiko 5 Sports Evisen Skateboard Limited Edition watch collection and to order your own, get in touch with the Jura Watches team on 01335 453454 or send us a message at help@jurawatches.co.uk.
