Seiko Honours Skateboarder Yuto Horigome with the Seiko 5 Sports SSK027K1 Limited Edition

Limited editions are a dime a dozen these days, and Seiko is well-known for playing that game. It seems like every other week, Seiko releases a new special edition, and we have the next one lined up for you. Made in partnership with Japanese professional skateboarder Yuto Horigome, this urban take on the do-it-all Seiko 5 Sports Style GMT is given a stealthy overhaul. Dressed in all black, this limited edition has a trippy blue-and-violet bezel insert, making sure it stands out as you drop in your local skatepark’s half pipe to bust out some ollies or kickflips.

Yuto Horigome is not just any skateboarder but the first-ever Olympic gold medalist in the sport. It became an Olympic sport in 2020, as it was added to the programme of the 2020 Summer Olympics hosted in Tokyo, Japan. Yuto is one of the very best in the past few years, racking up wins left, right and centre. He’s won multiple times at the X Games, the biggest stage for extreme sports such as BMX, Skateboarding, MotoX and Rally. So to say he knows his way around a skatepark or half-pipe would be a huge understatement.

Seiko dresses the 5 Sports Style GMT in stealthy black. The 42.5mm wide by 13.6mm tall case is finished with a black coating from top to bottom. The bidirectional rotating bezel has a metallic blue-and-violet insert with a 24-hour scale. The screw-down crown sits at 4 o’clock and is protected by a pair of guards protruding from the caseband. A Hardlex crystal with cyclops covers it all, and the watch has a water -resistance rating of 100m.

The dial is black to match the stealthy exterior. The large raised indices light up at night thanks to a LumiBright finish. The same goes for the broad hour and minute hands and the red-lacquered triangular GMT hand. A black and white central seconds hand completes the timing indications. Enhanced by a cyclops, the date can be checked at 3 o’clock. Surrounding it all is a sloped flange with a printed 24-hour scale. One thing to note, though: this is an Office GMT and not a Traveller’s GMT.

A Hardlex crystal caseback gives way to the calibre 4R34, the brand’s ‘Office’ GMT movement that’s been making the rounds. It was used in the trio of Seiko 5 Sports Style GMTs mentioned earlier, but also in the Presage Style60s GMT SSK015. The frequency is 21,600vph, and it provides 41 hours of power reserve. The movement has basically no finishing whatsoever, so to spruce it up a bit, Yuto Horigome’s signature is on the inside of the crystal.

This blacked-out Seiko 5 Sports GMT, labelled the Yuto Horigome SSK027K1 Limited Edition, is available in a run of 2,700 pieces for a price of EUR 570. Seiko puts it on a matching black coated five-link steel bracelet, fitted with a folding clasp and secure locking system.

For more information, please visit SeikoWatches.com.