Seiko 4R vs 6R

The 6R55 runs 72 hours with the published +25 to -15 tolerance, in a 40mm case rated to 300m behind sapphire. It is the watch that shows everything the 6R step buys.

$296 per overhaul, published.

300m and a 46.4mm lug-to-lug in the same watch is unusual. The extender in the clasp is the detail that says Seiko still expects this one to be dived, not just worn.

The same tier at 70 hours in a 41mm case at 12.3mm thick with the ISO diver's marking — the best watch on this site on our scoring.

Same $296 overhaul.

This is where Seiko starts publishing an accuracy figure (+25/-15 seconds a day) and fits sapphire. A 6R35 overhaul is $296 against $176 for a 4R36 — a real difference, and one you can plan for.

The Turtle is the argument for the 4R: a certified diver on the most widely serviced mechanical caliber in the country, at the lowest published service price we know of.

Hardlex and 41 hours are what you are not paying for.

Seiko rates this at 200m as a diver's watch, not merely water-resistant — screw-down crown, screw case back, unidirectional bezel. The 45mm figure is misleading: the cushion case has no protruding lugs.

The most wearable 4R watch: a 39.4mm field case on a 20mm strap, rated 100m.

Over twenty years, six $176 overhauls is about $1,056 — the most predictable running cost for any mechanical watch we cover.

The 39.4mm case reads small, but the 48.1mm lug-to-lug does not — this wears longer than its diameter suggests. Measure your wrist before you buy on the diameter alone.

Seiko prices the 4R family as one line, so the 4R34 GMT costs the same to keep as a plain 4R36. The complication is effectively free to run.

42.5mm and 46mm lug-to-lug; the 39.4mm SSK023 is the smaller version.

The 4R34 is a caller GMT — the 24-hour hand is the one you set, not the local hand — but it is a real mechanical second time zone on a movement whose service price Seiko publishes.