An underrated beauty

The Seiko Presage SRPD37J1 ‘Mockingbird’ is one of the most beautiful releases in Seiko’s distinct and timeless Presage Cocktail Time line , and also one of the more underrated ones obscured by the slew of limited editions that were released under the series as well.

With icons like the Irish Coffee, Fuyugeshiki, Honey Comb and even Sakura Fubiki taking center stage, the Mockingbird seem to have taken a back seat, and that’s a shame, because it is no less beautiful or desirable (in our opinion) than any of those timepieces.

With green watches being the trend in recent years, it’s a surprise that the Mockingbird hasn’t been garnering as much attention and love as we think it should have since its release. Though it does have a loyal cult following and does find a place in most fans’ hearts, it seems to have been left in the dark following releases of other more popular limited editions that we mentioned earlier. Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at this beautiful timepiece, and tell you why we think it deserves a place in your collection.

Before we delve into that, though, we should give a quick recap about our opinion on dress watches like this one. Simply, we think that the dress watch should be a staple of every man’s wardrobe, and if you don’t have one yet, or a looking to get one, then you should pay attention to what we have to say about this one.

No man’s wardrobe is complete without a simple, traditional 3-handed dress watch. Of course, simple and understated watches often come with a twist, and with the Seiko Presage Cocktail Time SRPD37J1 Mockingbird , that is certainly the case.

On paper, everything seems in order; a simple 3 hander with nothing but the date window at 3 o’clock invading the otherwise symmetrical dial. The dial, of course is where our twist comes into play. The more observant of you might have noticed the Mockingbird moniker on the watch’s name, and no, it isn’t paying tribute to Eminem’s famous song of the same name.

Its name, in fact, refers to a cocktail. Together with the other beautiful pieces in Seiko’s cocktail time collection, the Mockingbird is named after the carefully crafted drink by award-winning bartender Ishigaki Shinobu, with whom Seiko has collaborated to create their cocktail time pieces.

The Mockingbird’s dial comes in a shimmering, sunburst British racing green, with spear shaped indexes along the edges inspired by the stems of cocktail glasses, polished dauphine hands and a beautiful, contrasting golden second hand with a diamond shaped counterweight.

The beautiful green dial is undeniably, the star of the show, with its easily recognizable and well-defined sunburst effect playing differently under different lightings and angles, all of which can be enjoyed under a vintage style box shaped crystal. Powering the watch is Seiko’s proprietary caliber 4R35B movement, with brushed and beveled edges here and there and a decorated golden rotor weight to add a touch of flair to the otherwise spartan looking movement. Power reserve is a respectable 41 hours and frequency is at a reasonable 21,600VPH (3Hz).

If you’re looking for a simple, traditional dress watch but want something with a touch of subtle flamboyance, then the Presage Cocktail time Mockingbird should certainly be worthy of your consideration. Being a limited edition release that most people have forgotten about (which may not necessarily even be a bad thing), this means that you’re getting a beautiful and timeless watch that could very well be very desirable in the future.