Introducing the Seiko Presage SRPF41 and SRPF43 LE
Although Seiko only introduced Cocktail Time watches of the Presage line out of the Japanese domestic market in 2017, the success was tremendous, because, in addition to bringing the quality seal of the Presage line, they are elegant watches, with exquisite dials and with attractive prices.
The Cocktail Time watches introduced in 2010, aims to revive the atmosphere of Japanese bars and its famous cocktails and that is why each watch in this series is inspired by different cocktails, these two new models now introduced by Seiko are no different.
Thus, the new model SPRF43 is inspired by the “Hojicha” Cocktail while the model SPRF41 is inspired by the “Green Tea” Cocktail. These two famous Cocktails being the work of the award-winning Mr. Hisashi Kishi who owns the STAR BAR and which, according to him, reflect the atmosphere effervescent Kyoto.
Now looking at the two watches, what stands out is undoubtedly the textured dials, which aim to recreate the ingredients through the tea leaves used in these two drinks and the result is nothing less than fabulous. The dials come with a minute inner scale and applied Arabic hours markers, dauphine hands and a framed date window at 3 o’clock. In terms of differences, the SPRF43 features a brown dial that accentuates the tone from the center outwards and has golden details (applied markers and hands), it comes with a brown leather strap to pair with the respective dial. The SPRF41 comes with a green dial which, like the brown dial of the SPRF43, accentuates the tone from the center to the outside, the details are in silver and comes with a green leather strap to accompany the colours of the dial.
In terms of movement, it comes with the Caliber 4R35 with automatic movement, it was launched in 2011 and is used throughout the Cocktail Time series and also in other Seiko watches and comes with about 41 hours of power reserve.
The watch comes in a steel case 38.5mm in diameter and 11.8mm thick, with the crown at 3 o’clock, comes with a screw-in caseback with glass, which allows you to observe the movement of the watch, it is engraved with the inscription “Limited Edition”, and in addition, each watch comes with individual numbering.
As we just mentioned above, both watches are limited editions of 7,000 units each and are available for an incredible price of € 490.
Final thoughts, Seiko has the gift of making “omelettes without eggs” and this is another one of those cases and we could stop here, but let’s go to what we liked best and least liked, we loved both dials and we just saw it per photo, we are eager to see it live and the variation of tones according to the light, we are suspicious that even though the result will be even more surprising, the size for us is perfect and it seems to us more and more consensual, the detail of individual numbering may seem like a precious thing, but that translates to whoever buys it in exclusivity and that also pleases us, lastly the price, we do not know another brand that offers watches with this refinement and quality for this value. What we liked least, the date window on the brown dial seems to be an unfortunate choice that breaks the homogeneity of the dial, we think it would be more consensual to opt for the same solution as the green dial that has a black background and the date in white, as it had already happened with the SRPE41 / 43/45 models.
General Specifications:
Brand: Seiko
Model: SRPF41, SRPF43
Dial: Green (SRPF41), brown (SRPF43)
Case Material: Stainless steel
Case Dimensions: 38.5 mm diameter, 11.8 thick
Crystal: Hardlex Glass
Case Back: Hardlex Glass
Caliber: 4R35
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Winding: Automatic
Jewels: 23
Frequency: 21,600 Vph
Power Reserve: 41 Hours
Water Resistance: 50 Meters
Strap: Green calfskin strap (SRPF41), brown calfskin strap (SRPF43)
Price: € 490
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: 7,000 pieces / each