Why The '5KX' GMT Is The Most Important New Seiko In Years... 

Go for the flat sapphire, Jody. That's where I think 90% of modders go wrong. Double-domed doesn't suit the profile of the skx and family, and it just makes the watch even thicker. You can thank me later 🙏😉

I do agree with you Jodie. This is an important movement and will open up a plethora of new reasonably priced quality GMT watches. I'm excited to have a modded Seiko GMT once they are available.

It's a game-changer. I'm glad you ended up with a black one, as most reviews feature the blue. Black may end up being the sleeper color. I'm sure some of us are eyeing 2 or more of these models at least.

Love my Blueberry! Running really accurately too… +20s over a week… pretty good I’d say. Not a lover of the bezel insert though. The daylight half is either black or a garish blue depending on angle, and I’ve never been a lover of the prominent polished bevel on the crystal. A matched pair of no-bevel domed sapphire and Batman ceramic bezel insert are on the way from DLW as we speak!

17 Minutes Jody! That’s all it took for me to buy this watch. 14min of your video and 3 more minutes to find one and purchase it! I just sold a whole bunch of watches and told my wife “no more watches”…… that ended in 17min. 🤣

I think you're right about the fallout for the microbrand market more than this watch's own appeal. I find it an example of Seiko flaunting cheapness and can think of better ways to spend my money. Now, a Samurai or Monster GMT? That's a different story! Cheers!

I’m tempted to buy it and mod it but I might wait to see what the micro brands come out with. I’m thinking Marc at Long Island Watch would make a lot of varieties and one of them would probably be what I would mod it into anyway. The biggest thing I want is a red and black bezel a la the Tudor Black Bay.

I can't wrap my head around Seiko using so much hardlex. Seriously, when buying in bulk, people would gladly pay the minimal difference for sapphire

The real star of the show for me is that new jubilee; solid female endlinks and a proper taper, showing Strapcode and their fugly bracelets how it's done.

Exactly! This movement is going to have unparallelled horological significance. Take that Rolex!

I’m still yet to add a GMT to my collection. 6-12months ago I’d have snapped one up. I do like the looks of these, but dive-style watches have fallen out of my rotation and don’t feel the need to run out and pick one up at the current retail price.

Exactly what I've been waiting for. Thank you Seiko. An affordable automatic GMT.

Great review! That's the first Seiko that's made me want to get my credit card out of my wallet for at least 5 years, maybe longer. Even spending $100 more to get it "perfect" it's still a bargain and will still say Seiko on the dial. And I don't have an orange watch at the moment either.

I do not have any issues with Hardlex, my Sumo is from May 2014 and when I 1st got the watch I immediately purchased a double dome sapphire for it. Fast forward years later and the Sumo's hardlex still looks great and I ended up using the sapphire on an Urchin mod. I do not yet own a 5KX, I tried to pull the trigger on an SRPG47 and thought that with an LE of 11,000 watches I had some time, and the clock ran out in a matter of months. Late to the party again. My older son is a US Merchant Marine officer and I am very much looking forward to one of these watches. The really cool aspect is that if I want a screw crown, no problem, sapphire? no problem, signed crown? no problem and i will wager it uses a standard 4r winding stem. My hat is off to Seiko again! Thanks Jodi, as always, great review. Batman for me please and I am going to be patient, lol.

While I'm definitely waiting for microbrands to get this and put out better/more affordable offerings, this is definitely a very nice looking piece. For those willing to pay extra to mod it, why not replace the gmt bezel with a timing/dive style one? You already have the 24 hour chapter ring.... That would give you loads of functionality! That's what I'm hoping someone does (Long Island Watch? Zelos??) when Seiko starts selling the movement.

Great looking watch, but with some features that had shortcuts, like the friction bezel rather than a full clicking bi- directional bezel. But again, for the price, this is an action packed watch. Definitely worth the value for the price range...it's a welcomed entry.

Many 5kx mods were GMT mods. Some okay-ish with 12h bezel. That is usable, but most were with 24h bezels and there were no gmt hand. So, Seiko saw the opportunity, and I know this model will sell like hot cakes! And the best of all, there is so many 24h bezel inserts in the mod market. Hit the ceramics, and you have a winner, right there!

I stated watching you ad out 2 years ago. The first watch you showed (it was one of 5 you was talking about) I bought. An invicta pro diver. It is now my main watch. Thanks for the recommendation

I’ve never really liked Seiko styling and couldn’t justify the price vs. a high spec micro or even a highly modded Orient mako/ray II. Thanks in part to your reviews, my collection of affordable watches has grown considerably in the last few months. I have a couple Steeldives, 4 or 5 different Pagani homages that I genuinely enjoy and I went on an Orient kick a while back and ended up with 5 of those, all with crystal, bezel/insert and bracelet/strap mods that kept me occupied while recovering from an injury. My latest horological itch has come in the form of type-B fliegers after getting beaten on an eBay auction on a San Martin SN030. I know I should have waited for the sale but I had to scratch the itch so I ended up buying a Steeldive SD1940 on the upgraded bracelet that was on sale right then that still has not arrived. After doing a little more research I decided that one wouldn’t be enough and I needed ‘just one more flieger’ so I have an Escapement Time PT5000 (last one available on AliExpress Black Friday sale) on the way and I can’t wait to get it on wrist to see if I like it as much in real life as I did in pictures and video reviews. I may gift or return the Steeldive but I have a really hard time letting go of watches, even ones I don’t wear because I MIGHT want to wear it one day. It’s a sickness, Dr. Jody, do you know a cure? 😂 Thanks for the great reviews!

Great review Jody, interesting speculation around the movement. All a bit samey for me, seen one of these Seiko's you've seen em all.

Sold! My only complication is which to go for, Black or Blue! I'm leaning more towards the Black at the moment but that may change when I see them side by side.

Been waiting for this. Thank you Jody! - love your insights and opinions. I ordered the Bat Man version as soon as pre-release sales were out. Did NOT realize it was only a push pull crown. Bad on me for not reading the specs more closely. 🙄That’s a significant draw back to case design - No? I am absolutely looking forward to your predicted Turtle & Samurai GMT and agree with your outlook. Cheers and get well soon.

Morning jody, the prospect of this movement ending up with micro brands is very appealing, Zelos could double their range over night, a gmt swordfish would be very cool. Also a Helm komodo gmt would b super cool, if you could get one!

Got mine a few days ago, last one from the AD. Never had a Seiko 5, but now might have to get a 5KX and a DressKX while I wait for more GMTs to be released.

Marc at Long Island Watch has already indicated he's waiting for the NH version of the movement and will be creating a GMT Islander watch series. Looking forward to that day ⌚😎👍 With that said; I'll probably be getting one of those Seiko's 😁

I like it very much. I’m warming up the braceletsI really like the Jubilee or an engineers bracelet they’re comfortable to wear. The other ones I’m still not quite as open to. Thanks for sharing your time with us

I think it's a belter for the money! I shall be ordering a blue one just as soon as finances allow. Thanks for the video!

Day Date GMT and I'm all over AliExpress, I swear 😍🙏

I wish Seiko would revive the mid-size version of the SKX. Gimme a 38mm GMT and I'd jump on it.

I like this one a lot. Not enough to pay RRP +, which is what they are going for right now. I'll wait till they get more realistic. One plus here that wasn't mentioned: with a bi-directional friction bezel the alignment actually works! That is a rare situation indeed for a Seiko at any price.

Hello Jody. Been looking forward to this. What really surprises me is that Starbu, who are usually the guys to beat price wise are selling this for $875 while its in the 500s at Sakura JDM. Keep it up!

I love the look of these. I gotta wait till the hype dies down and save some money😂 Disregarding the GMT part the base setup of these with the colors and bracelet and that cyclops sets it off for me personally. I really like the look of cyclopes but watch companies don’t use them as often which is unfortunate.

Been waiting for this review. The watch is great, but more importantly, the new NH34 movement will give us many more GMT options from micro brands in the future. Exciting!

You make a good point about NH34 movements for microbrands, but it will have competition with the new Miyota 9075(?) hi beat GMT movement already appearing in a few watches.

It looks amazing, the blue one is fantastic in person. I'm going to get the orange one though. Great release!

Like you mentioned, now that there will be a gmt movement from seiko, I'm excited to see what other brand will be pushing out in the next few months in the gmt arena

Yes a review of the gmt 5 by Jody! Best channel on RU-vid, period!

Bloody Seiko, price almost $900, no sapphire glass or even ceramic bezel. Clasp also look cheap. Other than that, this thing look damn good. Nice review Jody 👍

I personally won't be getting this model, but as you said, this will open up up a hole new chapter for keenly priced GMTs.

Great to see a Sydney review from a world-leading reviewer, Jody.

Wearing my SSK001 today. I purchased it (along with the Blueberry SSK003) for 25% from Macy's online during a sale here in the U.S.; I bought the Orange SSK005 from Trifecta Watches for 20% off. They're currently running the same sale now for any Seiko models they have in stock.

I like GMTs and Seiko, so this is a natural choice, but would love to see a Turtle style version... ⌚👍

Definitely on my list now....the Orange one! But I'll wait a bit. It will not be at full retail forever. Excellent video Jody. And yes, Covid is nothing compared to man flu !!

Let's see if the bezel is align with the indexes. Ha, Have! Excellent video! Thanks!

Hope you feel better soon, Jody. Drink lots of fresh juice and take vitamins. I would love to modify my DressKX with a 4R34 sometime in the future.

Swapping the case for something more along the size of an skx013 would be perfect for my sub 6 inch skinny wrists. Looking forward to seeing what others do with this movement.

Picked up my Battoman yesterday and tossed a black/blue/red nylon strap on it - it's pretty fantastic. I'll probably throw a non-cyclops sapphire on there at some point.

NH34 powered homage watches incoming... Oh this is going to be good. As for this particular watch... It was a nice surprise to see solid end links. Shame about the pressed clasp though. But that it easily fixed with a cheap milled one. I would have preferred a solid caseback, as the movement definitely isn't a looker by any means. Great video as always Jody.

I've had my eye on one of these for almost the whole of my fairly short (so far) watch collecting career.....Finally got one on ebay, second hand in 'as new condition' at a great price. Opted for the 'Blueberry' version and it's everything I was expecting. Very pleased. I've got a close friend on Oklahoma, and it's going to be so much easier to keep track of the time it is for her, so that I don't end up waking her up with a message at 3am LOL.

More than meets the eye Jody! Amazing mechanics and great review as always. Get well soon..

I’d love to see a “change the clasp tutorial “ please 👍🏽

I do think l will go for this Seiko,but l,m afraid not until they are at sale or special offer prices. But certainly looks good.

I had a feeling when you said to stay tuned for the weekend! Finally, a budget auto Seiko GMT movement! This will be a game changer for the budget and micro brand scene and I reckon Seiko will win big from this.

The Seikos I have most experience of 7S26 and NH36 both have similarly loose specs and it's easy to get them to +5s area, no excuse for Seiko to fob you off with those numbers at the price they are charging, with hardlex!

I actually prefer the all black and grey one. If you do end up getting the orange one and want to get rid off this black please let me know Jody 👍😉

The Long Island Watch GMTs that Marc has foreshadowed are very appealing. It will be interesting to see what they will look like. I also think that a Phoibos Eagle Ray GMT containing the NH 34 movement would have great appeal to affordable watch collectors - the question is will the current Eagle Ray GMT / Eagle Ray cases be easily adaptable to the NH34? If so, I very much look forward to seeing those offerings from Phoibos.

Great review as usual Jody. Just got the black one, now available in the UK for £280. Congratulations on becoming a watch Doctor 😁

Looking forward to this watch! A friend of mine is an authorized Seiko dealer, he told me he will reserve one for me then called me 5 mins later to say he cant, apparently his wife sold out their entire stock in 2 mins. Lol. Gotta wait a few more weeks for the next batch

Thanks for the review! Looking forward to experiencing this one in real life.

Great videos love the humor and awesome reviews.

Double-domed, IMHO, Jody. I am intrigued by the prospect, of a "Samurai GMT." In-house, at that. Great work, as usual. See you, in the next one

Sure but as you pointed out Jody it's a caller (office) GMT ...if you are using this to track on OS time zone at home it's next to useless in rotation if the watch winds down... that's why I bought the other one you reviewed.. the Timex Quartz for half the price, so this will all just depend what you are buying it for (travel vs second time zone tracking)

I'm willing to pay extra for a REAL GMT with a REAL crystal. No more entry level watches for me. TY Jody!

I'm an admitted Seiko fanboi. I have other watches, 2 Tag Heuers, a Tudor and an Omega, but I usually wear one of my Seikos. I'm on the waitlist at my local Seiko AD for one of these, he says I should have it at the end of the month. I never thought I would be on the waitlist for a Seiko 5. I also plan on buying an NH34 movement and building a GMT with it. It's only a matter of time before the modding community starts producing 24h chapter rings, they already produce everything else needed to build a good looking GMT. I'm thrilled that there will be budget GMTs with a solid movements for under $500. I know there are already budget GMTs on Aliexpress, but I haven't had a lot of luck with Chinese movements. Seiko movements are not the most accurate, but from my experience, they are robust. I have a 7002 diver that I bought in 1990 that is still plugging along.

The new 5 series is, for me, the most great bluff of the last years in sense of your own spirit respect of the watch that it's based. Recognize that they'd some nice watches like the 5xk dress, in my opinion the only that deserve consideration, and some one of special series. Off topic, I like the sweater of garden's shots

At close to 900 AUD, you could almost get a Steinhart GMT with an ETA or Sellita movement.

Think people are more excited about the movement rather than the watch itself :) Nice work as always Jody 👌

I just got my Orange GMT, and I have to say it is a fantastic watch, Seiko did an amazing job. I am wearing mine on a black and grey nato. The bezel has also that grey/black effect, looks better in real life than the pictures. Thanks Jody for the video 🙏👍

I absolutely love how this model looks. Especially the grey one. I just wish it existed without the second hour hand.

A Great review Jody, had mine for a few months now and I love it for it's classic design and 'usability', but I do think that Seiko missed a Very BIG trick by not having something that'd be effectively an 'SKX Diver' with a GMT complication/function to sit between the Seiko 5 and ProSpex range with an appropriate price? BUT it's great for the micro brands with the NH34 movement, it's going to make 'GMT's' so very available for a very modest price!

@1:15 Seiko GMT movement- Xlnt analysis. Seiko's current NH35 can be found on ebay for as little as $30. (new!). So expect the GMT movement to go into a lot of microbrands at cut-throat (low) prices

❤️❤️❤️ Love it and hope for a Phoibos Wavemaster GMT 😇

I must have the orange version. I already have the SKX 011 and The Monster 5 versions in orange. Thanks for the splendid review. I only wish Seiko offered Sapphire crystals. Cost would not be an issue for most people. I guess that's where after marketers come in.

Push-pull crown, Hardlex, and friction bezel mean that I won't be purchasing, but excited to see what Islander and others will do with this movement!

It's a buy for me...Blue Max for moi...Gr8 review btw. Thanks for sharing J!

This is awesome. I haven't really considered buying a Seiko in a while because of the expensive (to me) price for the specs. It's great they came out with an auto GMT, we can get away from the movements in the Pagani GMT master homage. I also love that bicolor reflection, it's subtle when looking directly on it, cool seeing part of it change when reflecting.

Just pulled the trigger on this one. Can’t wait!

The SKX case is probably the most comfortable case compare to anything on the market by far. Sold my SKX but this one will definitely be on my "want one" list.

As has been said, the GMT complication is as important as it's ever been - and for different reasons than it was initially important. The prospect of boutique brands using this movement in exciting and affordable watches is a good thing for the global village we all inhabit.

So I guess if you are after a GMT and you can live with hardlex glass pressed clasps and a visually identical design to the standard Seiko 5 this must be the one? Think your comments about the movement getting into other brands might in the end be the really exciting outcome for us watch nerds. Because I’m certainly not sellling my skx to get this one becaue the GMT hand isn’t enough reason to as there is no other real advantage or progress made with the rest of the watch. Let’s see what other creations come out with this movement! Nice review Mr M!

Nice review, but I think most of us watch enthusiasts get a bit bored with the cheap seiko movements, hardlex and stamped bracelets. Nothing really there on this Seiko GMT to move the dial for me except a modest price. Glad you brought this out.

Solid review and fantastic t-shirt!

I look forward to when companies like Helm get their hands on this movement and give you so much more for similar money. The orange one is quite nice though

Good review. I am looking for the next-gen where the get back to where the SKX was. They seem to be inching towards where they used to be.

Wish it had a screw down crown 😭

Just love your reviews!

Something totaly off topic! I just orderd the Steeldive SD1980 for a measely €120,-! The SD1970 is at the moment €108,-.........on mister AliExpress. For those who still have no "captain Willard" hommage.

The blue one has the same reflective bezel insert...top vid as always mate...hail seiko!

Been waiting for this video!

Jody- your talking of the future sounds so really right. Get going 🚀

Love mine. Same black/silver bezel. Holds honest +/~ 4 sec/ day if kept wound. Great bang for the buck from an established brand.

Will wait for the movement to be used in a diver gmt sumo is my vote since I do not have that model but gmt turtle, Sammy etc would work too.

I guess the speed of the Chinese homages will depend on the depth of their nh35 stocks, I suspect closer to 6 months. It’s an SKX with jet setter ambitions, same cheap ass short cuts, kudos for solid end links but no sapphire and a pressed clasp. I do like the bezel. So the bottom line is that Seiko’s biggest new release isn’t actually new. I would save my money for a helm

The SKXtra, I’m quite a fan of it. I’m adding it to the competition for a budget GMT to get me through travelling later this year.

Great video as usual Jody! Probably not really to my liking but I’m sure there will be a lot of people that this will appeal to.

Quality watch, quality video, quality shirt. Great work as always Jody

I don’t understand those that criticise the specs of this watch. This is new mechanism once again that the entire world is going to jack.. also it’s not 1990, you ain’t guna get this for 200 dollars

ive been debating to get this, i really like seiko, but i also want to upgrade to a prospex, but i really want this watch, it looks soooo clean

Now we are talking,,,I dig it, the price not so much, but yeah I can see this in my own collection because is different from all the Seikoš few changes that's all ,Right,..!! Looking forward to purchase this GMT fall of 2022, thanks again for this review on this Seiko 5. GMT..not bad..

@jody Love it; been waiting for this one!