SEIKO 5 SPORTS SRPA12 Black Dial

From the start, Seiko 5 was designed to break the mold of watch performance and to bring to the young 1960’s generation a watch that belonged to their age and that fitted into their lives. As perhaps never before, young people of the day saw no limits to their aspirations. Seiko 5 needed to be a watch that could go anywhere and everywhere. The first challenge was durability. To be durable, a watch needs to be impervious to two threats; water and shock.

Water resistance was built in as standard to every Seiko 5 watch, and metal bracelets were used so that, from buckle to buckle, the watch was resistant to water and sweat. Shock resistance was assured with two Seiko inventions. First, the mainspring was made from “Diaflex,” an unbreakable alloy, and the “Diashock,” system was created to protect the movement from shock within the case.