Seiko Sportura SLQ017

Unfortunately, I don’t own this watch, and even more unfortunately, it’s likely I never will. There were only 1,500 made world-wide, and only 400 of them found their way to the US. It’s a shame because I think this is an absolutely fantastic looking timepiece, and I’ve always had a soft spot for Seiko ever since I worked for them at their world headquarters in Japan for the better part of a year. This was some time ago, however, and unfortunately, all I left with was an inexpensive stainless steel Chronograph (which I still really like), and a few of those funky Alba Spoons which people in Japan were falling over themselves trying to get back then.

The Sportura, as the name implies, is a sports chronograph, which means it’s primary function (aside from looking very cool) is to time events. If you’re an Olympic track coach, you’re still going to be better off with something in the digital realm with multiple splits, etc., but if you just need to time the occasional yacht race or something, the Sportura will work, and look, just fine.

Seiko Sportura SLQ017 Features and specifications

• Kinetic rechargeable quartz movement. That means it’s a quartz watch, but you don’t have to change the battery. It’s stores energy like a watch with automatic movement (an oscillating weight rotates in response to wrist movement, generating energy), but it uses that energy to actually power a quartz crystal as opposed to winding a spring. The watch can keep time up to a month on a full charge without being “recharged”.
• Chronograph which goes up to 12 hours, 6 minutes, and 12.2 seconds in 1/10 second increments.
• Separate date window display. This is not a perpetual calendar watch, though, so you will have to fix the date after a month with 30 days or after a leap year.
• Solid stainless steel.
• Sapphire crystal (anti-glare treated).
• See-through case back. Observe the guts of this watch while it’s in action.
• Double-locking, push button release, solid stainless steel band.
• Water resistant to 100m (330ft, 10 ATM, 10 BAR).

This is a great looking, very unique watch, and as long as you don’t need overly sophisticated timing functionality (the stopwatch works almost identically to my $270 Chronograph — the Sportura SLQ017 retails for $3,500), it’ll perform just fine for you. Of course, the trick is going to be getting your hands one of the 400 in circulation, but as we all know, where there’s a will, there’s eBay.

Additional resources:

• The Sportura SLQ017 product page.
• The SLQ series Operation Guide.