I've written about two dive watches before (the Orient Ray & Mako and Omega Seamaster) and suffice to say, I've always been enchanted by them.
I love how dive watches is like James Bond, handsome and good looking on the outside, but packed a huge technical specification inside. In terms of durability as a watch, nothing can beat a dive watch that's designed to withstand high pressure underneath water.
In this post, I'd like to introduce you to the Seiko Sumo, another good value for money dive watch. It's so good, in fact it's included into the 30 best automatic watch list under $1000 in this site here.
In terms of following, I can say it also has one of the huge number of fans among Seiko watches. Just check out this huge thread on watchuseek.com where there are thousands of replies on it alone! Started off in 2010 and yet the thread is still active to this day (June 2018). Now that's a loyal following to me.
Like most watches, the Sumo also comes in a few colors. The most famous is the blue colored sumo (so called "Blumo" LOL!). There's also the more traditional black dial sumo.
So what makes the Sumo a popular watch?
For a start, the watch is a good looking one. It's one of those watches that when I first laid my eyes on I've felt a strong desire to own it. That's how good looking it is!
Part of the charm is in the unique look of the Sumo. While the Ray II can be said to be a bit mundane to be honest (it's designed to be a great beater watch), the Sumo is designed to be eye popping and appealing to its viewers.
There's no running from comparing the look to more popular dive watches such as the Rolex Submariner and Omega Seamaster. All has the same basic aesthetics but that's a given as the design of dive watches is already specified by the ISO standard. And this Sumo being an ISO 6425 complied dive watch (another advantage of the watch) follows that closely.
If you notice the shape of the case is also a bit unique. It's definitely not normal and the pillow like case actually lends to the nickname "Sumo" to the watch. What I love the most is how Seiko uses a lot of lines and curves on the case making it a really great and not a boring case.
There's high legibility on the watch, courtesy of the big numeral markers filled with huge amount of lume paint on it. The bezel is also big and easy to read. And that's a good thing for a dive watch!
What's a dive watch without mentioning about the water resistance right? The Sumo is designed to be able to withstand up to 200 m of water depth rating thanks to watertight case and its screwdown crown. And as I've mentioned earlier, the watch also complies with the ISO standard for dive watches - so this is as real dive watch as you can get.
Below is a bit of specification summary of the Seiko Sumo (taken from automaticwatchesformen.com):
- Diameter - 44 mm
- Case Material - Stainless steel
- Watch Crystal - Seiko's Hardlex crystal
- Movement - Seiko in-house 6R15 automatic movement
- Features - 50 hours power reserve, Comply with ISO 6425, Lume, Magnetic resistance
- Water Resistance - 200 m
What about it's price?
The Seiko Sumo MSRP is around $500 to $600 though it being a Japanese Domestic Model (JDM) watch means to buy it directly from Seiko we will need to go all the way to Japan. Fortunately, in this age of online shopping getting a Japan-only watch is cheaper (less than $500 is a norm) and easier than ever. These are the 3 watch sites selling the Sumo that I'd recommend to be used:
- Amazon.com - usually the cheapest of these sites. Also if you already buy stuffs from Amazon, a watch is just another item to be added to cart
- Longislandwatch.com
- Seiyajapan.com
What do you think of the Sumo? Let me know your thoughts about the watch in the comments below. Cheers!
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