Best Seiko 5 watches

The most useful Seiko 5: a legible field dial in a 39.4mm case at 48.1mm lug-to-lug, on a standard 20mm strap. It suits more wrists and more occasions than the 42.5mm cases.

Same 4R36 and $176 overhaul as every other Seiko 5 here.

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.

The same 39.4mm case with a 24-hour hand for a second time zone. It is set independently, which suits tracking home rather than hopping zones.

Seiko prices the 4R family as a single line, so the GMT costs no more to service.

Identical movement and identical service cost to the SSK001 in a case 3mm narrower. If the 42.5mm SSK001 is too much watch, this is the same purchase in a size more wrists can carry.

The original SSK — the same GMT caliber in the 42.5mm dive-styled case. The 46mm lug-to-lug is shorter than the diameter suggests.

Choose between this and the SSK023 on case size alone.

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.

The SRPD case is a good everyday sports watch at 42.5mm and 46mm lug-to-lug, and the SRPD79 is that watch without pretending to be anything else.

100m covers swimming. It is not a dive watch, and neither is the one below.

Same 4R36 and the same $176 published service price as every other 5 Sports, with a hard coating on the case that takes the first year of scuffs instead of the steel.