Seiko’s Affordable New Pepsi GMT Takes a Direct Shot at Rolex

The Cola Wars have crossed over into the watch industry.

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The Datejust is the best-selling, the Submariner the most iconic and the Daytona the most hyped. But if you were to poll a group of watch enthusiasts and ask them to name their favorite Rolex watch, I'd bet money that the GMT-Master II "Pepsi" would be the top answer.

From its origins as the world's first GMT watch in the 1950s to a trip to the moon to co-starring roles in Goldfinger and Magnum, P.I. , the blue-and-red-bezeled GMT-Master and its successor, the GMT-Master II, have been the embodiment of on-wrist cool.

While Rolex may have invented the "Pepsi" bezel , it is far from the only watch brand to employ the color scheme. Most notably, Seiko has used Pepsi bezels on a number of its watches, including the now-discontinued SKX009 diver that was introduced in the '90s and was immortalized on the wrist of Robert Redford in the film All Is Lost , and the 6139 Speedtimer "Pogue," which became the first automatic chronograph to be worn in space in 1973.

Now, Seiko is staking its claim as the Pepsi watch by collaborating with the cola brand on a pair of official collab watches — something that, let's be real, Rolex would never, ever do.

The Official Pepsi GMT (and Diver)

The new collab is part of Seiko's 5 Sports line, which means the two Pepsi watches are decidedly affordable. The Rolex Pepsi is many things, but no one could ever accuse it of being affordable, especially with rampant demand causing the watch's $11,000+ retail price to double on the secondary market.

Seiko's Pepsi collab consists of two watches: a diver and a GMT. SKX009 notwithstanding, the GMT is the more natural fit for a Pepsi bezel, so I'll start there.

The reference SSK047 is a Seiko 5 Sports GMT with a blue-and-red bezel and a black dial, with a black PVD case to match. The watch is mounted on a black silicone rubber strap — a first for the 5 Sports GMT line — that features some pretty bold Pepsi branding. The brand name is fully spelled out in relief on one side of the strap, with the Pepsi Globe logo at the other end.

The GMT's heavy use of black echoes the current version of Pepsi's Globe logo, which uses bold black text and features a black outline around the globe. The modern Pepsi wordmark appears on the watch's dial in white above the red GMT logo, while the modern logo shows up on the caseback, also in white. The hands and indices are outlined in Pepsi blue and filled with white lume, while the arrow-tipped GMT hand is in Pepsi red.

The dive watch, reference SRPL99, is more retro in its inspiration. It takes its design cues from Pepsi's branding in the 1990s and features a silverwhite dial that recalls Pepsi cans from that era. The Pepsi wordmark on its dial mimics the brand's logo from that era exactly, as does the red-and-blue globe logo on the watch's exhibition caseback.

Unlike the GMT, there's no PVD coating on the case, which appears in plain stainless steel and comes with a matching three-link bracelet. The Pepsi bezel features red until the 20-minute mark and blue the rest of the way, as is traditional on Seiko's bi-color dive bezels. Like on the GMT, the hands and indices feature Pepsi Blue surrounds and are filled with white lume.

Outside of the Pepsi branding, these are your usual Seiko 5 Sports models. That means the GMT has a 42mm case and the Cal. 4R34 automatic GMT movement inside, while the diver gets a 38mm case and the Cal. 4R36 automatic. Both watches feature 100m of water resistance, Hardlex crystals and LumiBrite.

Pricing and Availability

I've gotta say, these watches have the most perfect bezel colors of any Pepsi watches I've seen. That's no surprise given that they're official collabs with the brand, but man, those colors are sweet.

Both designs look pretty good, with the GMT doing enough to distinguish itself stylistically from Rolex with all of its black aspects and the diver coming across as both unmistakably Seiko and universally attractive. I'm honestly not sure which I like better, but I am a big fan of both.

Both watches also come in some very fun packaging styled to look like Pepsi cans. The diver gets a silver '90s-style can, while the GMT's can is black and features today's Pepsi branding. Both watches are limited, but with 7,000-piece runs for each, I don't think you'll have much trouble getting either.

However, there is one potential roadblock to getting one if you're in the U.S., as it's unclear if the watches will be available for the American market. As of this writing, product pages are live for the UK, Australia and the EU, but there are no listings on Seiko's American site. I'll update this article if any U.S. pricing or availability information becomes available.

For now, the SSK047 GMT is priced at £470 (~$625), while the SRPL99 diver has an SRP of £330 (~$439). Both watches will be available starting in September.

Seiko 5 Sports x Pepsi Limited Edition SSK047K1

 Specs 

•  $625 at Seiko 

Seiko 5 Sports x Pepsi Limited Edition SRPL99K1

 Specs 

•  $439 at Seiko 

About the Author:

Johnny Brayson is an editor at Gear Patrol mostly covering watches. He enjoys watches that are packed with blink-and-you'll-miss-'em details and believes nearly every watch could stand to be a tad smaller.