Although Seiko has been moving upmarket in recent years, the brand’s Seiko 5 Sports series remains its ever-attainable offering, and it frequently serves as the basis for limited editions and collaboration pieces. As its latest new release of 2023, Seiko has teamed up with Japan’s top skateboarder Yuto Horigome, and the new Seiko 5 Sports Yuto Horigome Limited Edition SSK027 takes the core platform of the popular Seiko 5 GMT series and gives it a blacked out case and bracelet paired with a purple and blue bezel insert that is inspired by the colors of sunset in downtown Tokyo, where Horigome first learned how to skateboard.
In terms of its core design and functionality, the new Seiko 5 Sports Yuto Horigome Limited Edition SSK027 is identical to its GMT siblings, and it features a stainless steel case in the classic SKX style that measures 42.5mm in diameter by 13.6mm thick, with 22mm lugs and an overall lug-to-lug profile of 46mm. Similarly, the new Yuto Horigome SSK027 also receives a push-pull crown at 4 o’clock, a flat Hardlex crystal with a magnification bubble above the date, and a screw-down display caseback that offers a view of the internal movement and helps support the model’s 100 meters of water resistance. However, the entirety of the case has been given a hardened black coating (a first for the Seiko 5 Sports GMT series), and the caseback features Yuto Horigome’s signature, along with each watch’s individual limited edition number out of 2,700 examples.
In addition to featuring a black coating on its external components, the new Seiko 5 Sports Yuto Horigome Limited Edition SSK027 also features a split-color bezel insert that appears in navy blue and purple with the GMT series’ characteristic 24-hour scale. While the colors of the bezel are inspired by the sunset in downtown Tokyo, they are also rather reminiscent of the “Fuchsia” inserts on vintage Rolex GMT-Master watches that originally started out in their standard blue and red “Pepsi” colorway before fading to blue and purple due to prolonged exposure to sunlight and the elements. Meanwhile, the dial and handset have been carried over from the standard-production Seiko 5 Sports GMT models, with a matte black surface, luminous hands and hour markers, and small bright red accents for the 24-hour hand and “GMT” text on the dial.
Powering the new Seiko 5 Sports Yuto Horigome Limited Edition SSK027 is the brand’s Cal. 4R36 automatic GMT movement, which is the same caliber that can be found inside the standard-production versions of the Seiko 5 Sports GMT. Running at a frequency of 21,600vph (3 Hz) with a power reserve of approximately 41 hours, the Seiko 4R36 offers hacking seconds, along with independent adjustability for both the date and 24-hour hand. Lastly, completing the new Yuto Horigome Limited Edition SSK027 is a Jubilee-style stainless steel bracelet that features a rounded five-link design and is finished with the same hardened black coating that appears on the various external components of the watch.
The new Seiko 5 Sports Yuto Horigome Limited Edition SSK027 GMT watch will be produced as a limited edition of 2,700 examples, and it will be accompanied by an official retail price of $520 USD. While this does make the new Yuto Horigome Limited Edition slightly more expensive than the standard-production versions of the Seiko 5 Sports GMT, the actual price premium is only 50 bucks, which can easily be explained by the black coating that appears on its components, along with the watch’s limited-edition status. Given that the Yuto Horigome branding only appears on the caseback, collectors who don’t have a personal connection to the design inspiration of this model can simply enjoy it for its Tokyo sunset-inspired colorway and as a unique rendition of Seiko’s most affordable GMT watch. For more information on the Seiko 5 Sports Yuto Horigome Limited Edition SSK027, please visit the brand’s website.