KMII offers an in-depth look at the Seiko Presage SRQ019J1 chronograph, a watch that garnered significant attention at Baselworld for its in-house movement, classical design, and grand feu enamel dial at an accessible price point. This review delves into the watch's intricate details, performance, and aesthetic nuances.
The Presage line that has been re-launched / extended at Baselworld in spring has certainly raised the odd eyebrow in the watch world. Where else can you get a chronograph with an in-house movement, a classical design and a grand feu enamel (in this case) or urushi (in the case of the SRQ021J1) for anywhere near the price? Exactly.
It is not of the 'slips under cuffs easily' variety and quite boldly sized, too. But then again it is not a watch one would strictly need to hide, either
So having rediscovered my olloclip macro lens, here are some detail shots. The logo, minute markers, arab numerals for hours and five minute increments, etc. are all painted but on the enamel dial in this case one can see an excellent level of smoothness. No grainy, imprecise edges here. At this magnification it is hard to capture the slight indentations of the subdials but I'll get to that later. And you can just see the subtle interplay between the blued hands and the red 12 o'clock marker.
The blue hue of the hands is definitely something that has the 'now you see it'...
...'now you don't' characteristic. And even if I was somewhat worried by the size (having acquired it sight unseen), it seems to fit even more slender wrists just fine. There are even shirts, where you can squeeze it under the cuff (admittedly not many
).
If you go for it, trying to catch the light in the right way to display the enamel dial and the hands to best advantage becomes a frequent pastime.
And it certainly has the potential to keep you occupied for a while, if there is nothing else going on...
The movement is related to earlier Trimatics used in Ananta chronographs and seems to have been geared more for precision than designed for beauty. While they do not promise much in terms of accuracy, mine has been spooky for a mechanical watch, coming in reliably at under 1 sec fast a day. Shockingly good at this price level.
In terms of decoration you get some Tokyo stripes on the movement and that's about it. But then again, this was not the primary aim of the piece.
But it seems to have accumulated light dust inside - not that it affects performance in any way.
Finally, as a chronograph, it has to be placed in an automotive environment of some sort (planes would have been fine, too, I guess). While finding appropriate Japanese cars from the era the watch has been inspired by (it does copy many design elements of the first Seiko wristwatch from 1913) turned out to be too difficult at short notice, I tried lining it up with some 60's and 70's machinery instead. I cannot remember what the coffee that came in the cans tasted like but I love the motives all the more and find they complement the SRQ quite well
Thanks for viewing!
