It wears slightly smaller than the diameter would let you imagine. The case is, however, pretty well designed, with relatively compact lug-to-lug measurement, at 48.7mm. Not small watches per se, and expect quite some wrist presence. It thus measures 43.8mm in diameter for a height of 12.8mm. And here you have the King Samurai watches.Īs such, the centre case of the King Samurai SRPE35K1 & SRPE37K1 is identical to the classic SRPBxx Samurai watches.

Take one of the most acclaimed accessible dive watches of the Seiko Prospex collection, keep what’s loved – meaning the design, the overall performance and the reasonable price – and upgrade some of the parts with high-grade and wear-free materials to bring better-perceived quality and more resistance to external aggressions. The recipe is well-known yet pretty efficient. And while the classic Samurai watches are still available in the brand’s catalogue, an upgraded “King” version has been launched mid-2020, following the same idea that we’ve explored with the King Turtle watches. We’ve reviewed the classic Prospex Diver’s Samurai on multiple occasions, here at MONOCHROME – for instance here with the inaugural collection, or here with the PADI version. Starting with 4 references (SRPB49K1, SRPB51K1, SRPB53K1 and SRPB55K1), it brought back its sharply-designed case, its textured dial, its imposing dimensions and some updates on the bezel, the fonts, the colours, the indexes/hands and a more modern movement. It took Seiko almost 10 years to revive the Samurai, which made its comeback in 2017. This watch existed in multiple editions, including versions with a titanium case (discontinued in 2008, and reserved for the Japanese market) or steel case with “Clou de Paris” textured dial. Yet it features some of the unmistakable signs a Seiko should have. Already at that time, it was a rather large, sturdy, 200m water-resistant and modernly-designed watch, with no vintage inspiration. The Seiko Samurai was launched in 2004 and was produced for a few years only, before being removed from the catalogue.

While the Turtle can be seen as the old-school, slightly vintage-oriented, and rounded vision of the accessible dive watch by Seiko, the Samurai is its opposite.

The samurai king