First Impression of Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT model no. SUN019P1 aka "Katie"

The package arrived in a typical FedEx Large Pak, in the same packaging that I have received for many other watches couriered from overseas such as Steinhart, SevenFriday, etc. The retailer took care to ensure that the inner Seiko box was protected from elements of shock from mishandling (although the Prospex series was supposed to be the G-Shock equivalent for Seiko), and I do appreciate that.

I have received 3 Steinhart watches from Germany and all had the outer boxes torn while in transit, although it was not really a big thing. Still, it made one felt good when you opened the parcel and there it was- a brand new box waiting for one to explore. But I digress.

Opening up the box, we have the Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT model no. SUN019P1, also known as Kinetic Tuna amongst WIS on forums. For comparison, this was how the original Quartz Tuna looked like :

For simplicity, let's just referred to the Kinetic Tuna as KT ("Katie"). After all, it was a big chunk of behemoth metal, felt solid in one's hand, constantly attracting prying eyes towards its end, and came at an affordable price for what it had to offer.

Sounds more than a little similar to Katie Price then, whom was a big thing and always in the news for whatever right or wrong reasons, when I was working and living in London a few years back. But I'm digressing again. Oh well, back to the watch then...

I liked it when a watch came delivered with the time all set up for the intended recipient's time zone. In this case, given that KT was running on the Kinetic movement caliber 5M85 with the capacity to store up to 6 months' of juice, the reseller could just tune up the watch at his or her end and as long as KT reaches me in 6 months' time, she would still be purring happily away. Her rotor seemed to be a little loud though, when you handled her roughly to and fro.

I glanced at the BR01 that I was wearing and the time was almost on the dot between both watches.

KT was a big chunk of metal, all stainless steel of it; and you could really felt her weight. I chose this model rather than the SUN021P1 or SUN023P1 because this was a more corporate version that I could wear for work and play irregardless (okay, so perhaps I'm a boring person ;p), and I liked the way the bracelet integrated into the case. From the pictures, you could probably see the toolish grains of the matt case and bracelet, which made it very utilitarian and serious. I liked it.

I had a concern that it may wear too large for me, and here's a comparison to the next-largest diver watch that I have in my winder last night- the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean XL at 45.5mm. KT was actually the same size as another watch that I had i.e. a Citizen Eco-Zilla that was also 47.5mm.

KT may be only 2mm larger at 47.5mm; but when placed side-by-side, her size truly showed and I'm part due to the thick chunk of bracelet. I liked the solid ends of the bracelet though, and it came with diver extension even. All in all, KT's bracelet was very much similar to the Planet Ocean's bracelet; although the final build quality and premium feel still goes to the Omega's.

Time to try other straps on KT then. I looked through my collection of watch straps but alas, most of the straps were of 20 - 22 mm variations with the exception of the ones for Bell & Ross. For the fun of it, this was how KT looked when paired with genuine Cordura 1000D army fatigue strap meant for BR01 :

Very much of a kick-@rse outlook, right? But not the way a diver watch should look like.

I tried on a pair of Nato vintage leather 22mm and the strap kept KT nicely-strapped to my wrist without sliding to and fro, despite the weight and size. Looked like this would work out just fine then, and I have already ordered for 24mm Nato straps from overseas to match with KT.

With the straps aside, look at the chunk of metal that KT was and the details of the protector shroud. Me likey.

And here it was again, next to the Planet Ocean XL. And also time to see if its LumiBrite lived up to its reputation.

Indeed Seiko's proprietorship LumiBrite does rocked the night away! I checked it some six hours later when I woke up, and I could still see traces of the lume shining away- KT would definitely be fun at nights after a full day in the sun then.

And because KT was meant for the European market, she came with 2 years of warranty instead of the standard 1-year in Asia and USA. I have purchased a few Seiko watches from thereabouts for the additional warranty. After all, I have a circle of good friends and relatives still living in the UK, so they could help me if assistance was necessary. But Seiko being Seiko, you would hardly need to send it in for warranty claims. They could really take a beating, and would just go on ticking.

All in all, the first impression of KT was good. I can't wait for the newly-ordered 24mm Nato straps and Isofrane straps to arrive; after which I believe that she would wear even better.

Ain't she a beauty? For silly money, you're going to get lots of pleasure in return. Really.

It's Here : Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT model no. SUN019P1

All it took was 3-working days and I now have a FedEx parcel waiting for me to open and explore the contents inside. Of course, you would know that it's not quite a surprise; as my Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT SUN019P1 was the article in the parcel! Real pictures to follow suit and let's see how the watch fares (keeper or flipper) from here hence...

The Journey through My Humble Collection

I was reading through my own blog earlier and thought that I would organise the types of watches that I owned into a few groups as per the following :

Vintage (prior to 1983) :
1)  1972 Rolex Datejust 1601;
2)  1978 Pagol Sub-Second Date 3055;

Diver :
3)   2005 Tag Heuer Kirium Ti5;
4)   2006 Omega Seamaster Chronometer James Bond;
5)   2007 Seiko Perpetual Calendar SNQ043;
6)   2012 Ball Hydrocarbon John Hembel;
7)   2013 Seiko Monster Dracula;
8)   2013 Omega Seamaster Chronometer Planet Ocean;
9)   2014 Citizen Eco-Zilla;
10) 2014 Seiko Diver SKX009J1;
11) 2014 Orient Mechanical Force;
12) 2014 Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military;
13) 2014 Steinhart GMT-Ocean Ceramic;
14) 2014 Steinhart Ocean Forty-Four;
15) 2014 Oris Aquis Date;  
16) 2014 Edox GMT-Class 1 Titanium;
17) 2014 Glycine Combat Sub;
18) 2014 Tudor Heritage Black Bay;
19) 2014 Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT SUN019P1.

Aviation :
20) 2013 Seiko Sportura Aviation Alarm Chrono;
21) 2014 Bell & Ross BR01-97 Reserve De Marche.

Dress/Race :
22) 2012 Oris Artelier Date;
23) 2013 Tag Heuer Carrera Chrono Caliber 16;
24  2014 Hamilton vintage chrono 3828;
25) 2014 Edox Les Vauberts;
26) 2014 Certina DS Podium GMT;

Sports/Fashion :
27) 2013 Ball Fireman Night Train DLC;
28) 2014 SevenFriday P3-01 DLC;
29) 2014 Casio G-Shock Riseman;
30) 2014 Casio G-Shock Riseman Wave-Ceptor.

I may have left out a couple of watches here and there but generally from the above list, my preferred genre for collection was certainly made up of Diver watches. Another watch that I would hope to add into my Divers after building up my war chest includes the Rolex Deepsea D-Blue. Until then, I had best to continue working hard to climb the corporate ladder, and flipping watches to save up to further build upon and enhance my collection. Let's all wear our watches in good health!

Pulled The Trigger : Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT model no. SUN019P1 (RRP : RM2,630)

In the previous blog, I wrote about my interest to get the Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT model no. SUN019P1. Officially, this model has yet to hit the Malaysian shores so it was rather tiresome to scout around, hoping to hit the jackpot. It's siblings in the model nos. SUN021P1 and SUN023P1 were readily available in Malaysia.

An overseas Seiko retailer whom I have made purchases from previously, replied my queries that he had ready stock for the SUN019P1, which was the best-selling model; followed by SUN023P1 and thereafter, SUN021P1. After conversion, the SUN019P1 was retailing at RRP : RM2,630; and he was willing to give me a good discount for repeated purchases.

He further informed me that he could pick a special piece with "James Bond 007 is No.1" serial no. for my collection, so I was like, "Shut up and take my monies!". Well, in a much more diplomatic manner, that was.

We have previously dealt before and he upped the purchase offer by throwing in FedEx signed-delivery for me, so I shall be getting the watch by this week. Hooray!!!

(Update : Some Mudah resellers e-mailed me to request that I remove references on my online purchases and prices, as they were also getting stocks from overseas (all Seiko products whether purchased locally or internationally, came with a 1-year international warranty unless you purchased from Europe, in which then it would come with (an even better) 2 years warranty) and selling the SUN019P1, SUN021P1 and SUN023P1 locally for a small profit.

It seemed that the street selling price for SUN019P1 was currently at RM2,070,  and SUN021P1 and SUN023P1 were going at circa RM1,550. The SUN019P1 carried a rather high premium as demand outstretched supply for the interim period.)

Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT model no. SUN019P1

I have been interested to get the Seiko Prospex Kinetic model no. SUN019P1, but retailers in Malaysia only have model no. SUN021P1 and SUN023P1, in rubber strap, thus far. Some grey resellers were bringing in the SUN019P1 meant for US and UK markets, but since the Seiko warranty provided was international warranty, it doesn't really matter as Seiko Malaysia would still honour the warranty claims as long as it's within the standard terms and conditions applicable. Depending on where they were getting their goods, the ones from US were a couple of RM cheaper due to the exchange rates.

RRP prices as per Seiko USA : RM2,210 - RM2,280.

RRP prices as per Seiko UK : RM2,530 - RM2,630.

Having purchased Seiko watches from UK and Europe, I knew that the European Seiko comes with 2-year warranty instead of the typical 1-year warranty for watches purchased in USA and Asia. I supposed that the premium in the pricing of European Seiko compared to the counterparts elsewhere accounted for the cost of the additional warranty period.

I have contacted an overseas Seiko retailer whom I have previously purchased from, to check if the shop could requisite for the metal bracelet SUN019P1 and ship over to Malaysia; and the associated final selling price.

I really like the looks of the beefy SUN019P1 and these pictures as sourced from the Net, really increased my liking towards the watch :

However, the SUN019P1, SUN021P1 and SUN023P1 are huge pieces at 48mm excluding crown (or 52mm including crown), so it may not be a walk in the park to carry these watches on one's wrist that easily.

I further found these pictures from an owner whom owned the SUN019P1 along with Seiko Sumo, Seiko Tuna, and Seiko MM300; and the pictures were great as comparison photos. Credit goes to the owner for the pictures @ WUS, as re-produced below :

Before the combat starts, let's place our champions in the weight:









Conclusion: At a MASSIVE 233 grams, the Kinetic Tuna is a whopping 32% heavier than a Sumo, 28% heavier than the SBBN015 Tuna or 15% heavier than the MM300.

Let's now run some side-by side comparisons of the Cases. You can see that the kinetic Tuna is a VERY bulky watch:

1) Side by side with the Sumo. Sumo on top.



2) Side by side with the Tuna. Tuna on top.



3) Side by Side with the MM300. MM300 on top.



Now a few Shots comparing the Bracelets:

1) Kinetic Tuna (right) and Sumo



2) Kinetic Tuna (right) and SBBN015 Tuna



3) Kinetic Tuna (right) and MM300



Wrist Shots in Pairs:







Lineup of all 4:



Side Lineup of all 4: Note the MASSIVE bulk of the Kinetic Tuna:



And a few more solo shots of the Kinetic Tuna for your viewing pleasure:

1) Shroud: Machining and brushing is distinctively inferior to the Tuna.





2) Clasp: in-between the Sumo's and the Tuna's. No ratcheting adjustment.





3) Diving Extension: Same as the Sumo's. This literally dug a hole into my wrist after some continued wearing during my summer holiday, as it protrudes substantially from the bracelet links and the watch is top-heavy. I'm not exaggerating one iota.



4) Crown: