Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Watch review archives can be found here.
Post Reply
User avatar
TimelessLuxWatches
Posts: 920
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 12:14 pm
Name: Brett

Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by TimelessLuxWatches » Sat May 11, 2019 1:05 am

Image

Last week, I reviewed the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Ceramic & Titanium, an excellent high-end tool watch. One commenter opined that perhaps the model shouldn't really be considered a tool watch because it cost $8,100, and it was unlikely many people, if any, would actually treat it as such.

Image

That's a fair point, but what if I were to tell you that there was another black-cased diving watch with not only an in-house movement, but even a dial that features a wave motif, and it only cost about 1/14th as much? What if I were to tell you there were two?

That's where the SRPD09 (right) and SRPD11 (left) come in.

Image

While their model numbers may not jump out of the screen at you, their colloquial fan-made names might. These are two of the most popular dive watches ever made, the Turtle on the left and the Samurai on the right. These, however, are special versions that Seiko has produced in association with the Ocean Learning Center, a charity founded by Jacques-Yves Cousteau's grandson, Fabien Cousteau, to promote ocean conservation. Consequently, these two watches, and a few others, are called the "Save the Ocean" watches.

Image

But the Save the Ocean Seikos boast more than noble goals. Each model comes with an extremely impressive dial inspired by the deep waters of the ocean. The gradient you see, from a vibrant blue all the way to a deep black is not a trick of lighting or the camera, but rather, the design of the watch, and it does an amazingly good job at replicating the subject matter. Seiko has always been known for its superb dials, but this is usually in the context of Grand Seiko or Credor. Prospex is known for being brutish and nearly invincible, not beautiful.

Image

And yet, here we are, with two of the best looking dials available on a dive watch today. What my photos, or any photos, can't convey, however, is just how dynamic they are, almost to GS-levels. What you see above is how they look in direct lighting, but move them around in different environments and the color will shift, from bright blues to almost purple. While it is not a sunburst dial, it has some of the properties of a sunburst, and in the right light it appears to almost glow. The 3-dimensional character of the dial, with deep engraved lines, is very impressive as well.

Image

One of the most obvious differences between these watches is that the Turtle has a day-date complication whereas the Samurai only has the date complication. I've never personally found much of a need for a day-date, but as any Seiko fan already knows, this is a fairly interesting version of the complication. Here you have access to two languages for the day, in this case you can also choose Spanish, which is a neat touch. The day also changes color, with blue for Saturday and red for Sunday, so you actually get different colored accents as the week progresses.

Image

Although these two watches have basically the same dial, they're different in many other ways, like their bezel designs. The Samurai's bezel is far bolder, with sharp, distinct lines throughout, mirroring its other highly-angular styling cues. The Turtle, being the more rotund of the pair, gets dots instead of lines and has a more laid-back appearance. Whichever you get, they both feel the same, featuring Seiko's characteristic smooth, medium-resistance feel.

Image

The hands are completely different as well, particularly the seconds hand, as the SRPD11 Turtle adopts a lollipop style while the SRPD09 Samurai keeps a relatively conventional hand, albeit with lume in the middle instead of on the tip.

Image

It's easier to compare the differences between the hour markers and hands in the dark. Both photos were taken with exactly the same settings, so we can pretty safely say that there is no meaningful difference in brightness between the two watches, although the Samurai does keep a tiny luminescent marker at 3:00 where the Turtle lacks one, presumably to create space for its day-date complication. In either case, the lume is superb, and you can see that Prospex, like the Omega I recently reviewed, followed best practices in designing the watches. Due to the different shape and colors of the minute and hour hands, it's virtually impossible to confuse them, even at a glance. Furthermore, a distinctive 12:00 marker makes orienting the watch very easy.

Image

Far more different than the hands are the cases. The SRPD11 case, for which it received the name Turtle, is extremely smooth and rounded, while the SRPD09 is completely the opposite, composed almost entirely of sharp angles. The Turtle is also slightly larger at 45mm, compared to the Samurai's 44mm. They're both about 13mm thick, though, which is quite reasonable for watches in this genre these days. Both, of course, feature black cases, or more precisely, what Seiko calls a "gray ion" finish. Unlike many black cases, these remain very shiny and metallic and are somewhere between black and a dark gray, depending on lighting.

Image

Here you can see just how different the design of these cases is. The Turtle has smooth, flowing lines, reminiscent a turtle shell, while the Samurai has very sharp edges, as well as an unusual shape that gives you the impression the watch is somehow held in place by the lugs, not unlike the old Ananta.

Image

The crowns are entirely distinct as well. The Turtle features a recessed, and relatively discreet, 4:00 crown, whereas the Samurai uses an unusually long crown at the regular 3:00 position. The Turtle's crown has a coin edge, while the Samurai uses knurling. Because the crown is recessed in the Turtle's case, it doesn't have much need for crown guards, but this is entirely the opposite with the Samurai's long crown. The Samurai's crown is also easier to unscrew and wind because there's so much to grip there. Both, of course, screw down.

Image

The SRPD09, shown here, is powered by the 4R35 while the SRPD11 is powered by the 4R36, the difference being that one has a date complication and the other has a day-date complication. Both of these movements are successors to the legendarily tough 7S26, the mainstay of affordable Seikos for years. This next-generation of movements is a big upgrade and includes features that we now take for granted, like hacking (stopping the seconds hand) and hand-winding. Chronometers these are not, but they are about as proven as an automatic movement can get at this point, so they are a great fit in an affordable watch that's going to get banged around.

Image

So if you think spending $8,100 on a tool watch like the Seamaster Diver 300M Ceramic & Titanium is absurd, then you're in luck. You can get a black-case, wave-pattern dial tool watch with an in-house movement for about 7% of the price. That's not a typo, you could basically buy 7 of each before you got to the price of that Omega. While I encourage people never to buy on price or value alone, as they may end up saving money on a watch they don't really want in the first place, there is the practical reality that most of us just aren't going to use something like that Seamaster the way it was intended. We might, however, with a watch like these Prospexes.

Image

I usually have something more to complain about when I review watches, but I'm not sure what to dislike about these, given their price point. I guess I can complain that Seiko USA's pages on these watches are slightly misleading, insofar as I think they photographed prototypes. As you can see in my photo, the back is is polished steel, not black-coated, unlike in Seiko's official images.

Whichever you choose, you'll get quite an interesting package. Not only are these great looking divers in the general sense, but they have remarkably interesting and refined dials too, something that is not commonly seen in this genre of watches, particularly at this price point. I love them, particularly the SRPD11, and they're probably my favorite overall Prospexes right now.

You can learn more about the SRPD09 by clicking here and the SRPD11 by clicking here.

User avatar
BacoNoir
Posts: 6393
Joined: Tue May 10, 2016 6:33 pm
Name: Roger
Location: Colorado

Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by BacoNoir » Sat May 11, 2019 9:17 am

Great review. The only thing I had to complain about with the Samurai was the strap. It’s very comfortable, surprisingly so, but I didn’t like the style. A ToxicNATO fixed that.
Image
Image
www.simplynoble.net
Time Magazine Person of the Year - 2006

Image

User avatar
dukerules
Posts: 15049
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:32 pm

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by dukerules » Sat May 11, 2019 11:12 am

STO is nice, but the PADI NAFT is nicer IMO. Would love a black case PADI.

User avatar
CGSshorty
Admin
Posts: 33918
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 5:18 pm
Location: Boynton Beach, FL

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by CGSshorty » Sat May 11, 2019 11:43 am

dukerules wrote:STO is nice, but the PADI NAFT is nicer IMO. Would love a black case PADI.
That’s funny. The PADI is one of my least favorite Turdles. I hardly ever wear mine.
"It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever."
David St. Hubbins

User avatar
dukerules
Posts: 15049
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:32 pm

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by dukerules » Sat May 11, 2019 11:59 am

CGSshorty wrote:
dukerules wrote:STO is nice, but the PADI NAFT is nicer IMO. Would love a black case PADI.
That’s funny. The PADI is one of my least favorite Turdles. I hardly ever wear mine.
Yeah, well it's not like you have a lot of experience with Turdles :lol:

User avatar
TSD
Posts: 2767
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 6:47 am
Name: Tom
Location: So Fla

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by TSD » Sat May 11, 2019 12:13 pm

CGSshorty wrote:
Sat May 11, 2019 11:43 am
dukerules wrote:STO is nice, but the PADI NAFT is nicer IMO. Would love a black case PADI.
That’s funny. The PADI is one of my least favorite Turdles. I hardly ever wear mine.
You have a few others that are decent.

Image

Image

User avatar
CGSshorty
Admin
Posts: 33918
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 5:18 pm
Location: Boynton Beach, FL

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by CGSshorty » Sat May 11, 2019 12:24 pm

It is the perfect watch for me, most of the time. They look great and it isn’t a big deal if they take a little abuse at work.
"It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever."
David St. Hubbins

User avatar
dukerules
Posts: 15049
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:32 pm

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by dukerules » Sat May 11, 2019 12:38 pm

Actually I don't believe any of these new Turdles are an improvement on the originals. These are just perfect.
Image

User avatar
TimelessLuxWatches
Posts: 920
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 12:14 pm
Name: Brett

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by TimelessLuxWatches » Tue May 14, 2019 8:41 am

The PADI is very cool, but I'd take a STO any day. The dial is killer. I might choose the non-coated case version though.

vakkup
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2020 3:04 am
Name: Mike Vestal

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by vakkup » Sun Jun 07, 2020 3:13 am

I think Seiko makes one of the best dive watches on the market. Its really hard to compete with modern dive computers, but still...im using it as a backup instrument to measure the time underwater.

Besides, I've made a small comparison page https://vstwtch.co/guide/best-dive-watc ... -1000.html that should help to understand which dive watch may be the best for you. Don't hesitate to contact in case of any questions! :salute:

Mike Vestal.

User avatar
aikiman44
Tiki Extraordinaire
Posts: 9440
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 7:50 am
Name: J

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by aikiman44 » Sun Jun 07, 2020 4:40 am

Nice work on that page.
"We'd better synchronize our watches."

User avatar
four20
Posts: 3301
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2011 12:36 pm
Name: erik
Location: NE of disorder

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by four20 » Sun Jun 07, 2020 7:08 am

nice write up :salute: love my "std" STO and am so glad the hands are the same lume color. that shit drives me nuts :cussing:

User avatar
deepcdvr
Flipper Extraordinaire
Posts: 13267
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 2:29 pm
Name: Paul

Re: Seiko Prospex “Save the Ocean” SRPD09 Samurai & SRPD11 Turtle Review

Post by deepcdvr » Sun Jun 07, 2020 7:10 pm

vakkup wrote:
Sun Jun 07, 2020 3:13 am
I think Seiko makes one of the best dive watches on the market. Its really hard to compete with modern dive computers, but still...im using it as a backup instrument to measure the time underwater.

Besides, I've made a small comparison page https://vstwtch.co/guide/best-dive-watc ... -1000.html that should help to understand which dive watch may be the best for you. Don't hesitate to contact in case of any questions! :salute:

Mike Vestal.
Welcome to DWC, Mike :cheers:
VR/
Paul

SI VI PACEM, PARA BELLUM

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 71 guests