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The Pink Panther for the Seiko 5 Sports

Duh-dun... duh-dun.

Seiko pinks out its affordable bestseller with the Seiko 5 Sports SKX Series 38 mm Pink Panther, a tribute to the award-winning animated short staring the vexatious feline. In addition unique dial, bezel, case back, and crown, the 9,999-piece limited edition is delivered in themed packaging along with a pink nylon strap – complete with pink paw prints.

Initial thoughts

Since its launch in 2019, the Seiko 5 Sports has served as a platform for seemingly countless co-branded limited editions. These collaborations span streetwear labels, anime franchises, consumer brands, artists, and American cartoon characters, from Snoopy to the Pink Panther.

The “5KX” base makes commercial sense for such projects, offering the mass appeal of an easy-wearing diver-style watch that remains affordable enough for an impulse buy.

While Seiko’s entry-level mechanical watches are arguably not as cost-competitive as they once were given the rise of micro-brands (many of which rely on Seiko-sourced movements), they remain a better value than most mass market watches given the brand’s in-house know-how and storied history.

Editions like this Pink Panther model add extra appeal, both in terms of the theme as well as the (relatively) limited run.

The Pink Panther

The Pink Panther debuted in the 1963 detective comedy film of the same name as an animated embodiment of the titular pink diamond. Created by American animators Hawley Pratt and Friz Freleng, the character soon eclipsed the film itself, spawning more than a hundred short animated films and multiple television series.

The “wet paint” strap references the Panther’s first standalone short, 1964’s The Pink Phink, in which he encounters the moustachioed Little Man painting a house blue. Naturally, the Panther prefers it pink, leading to a playful war of colours set to the now-iconic theme music. The short won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film that year, helping to propel the franchise’s success.

Thinking pink

The Pink Panther is based on the 38 mm Seiko 5 Sports, which debuted in 2022 as a successor to the 37 mm SKX013 diver. Unlike the cult-favourite SKX, which was a true dive watch according to the ISO 6425 standard, the 5KX is less professionally oriented but still features a robust a 100 m depth rating, bi-directional bezel, push-pull crown, and a display case back. That said, it remains a dive watch in all the ways that matter to most consumers.

While the watch comes with both a matching stainless steel bracelet and pink nylon strap, the later is more unique, as it features pink paw print which are continued on the dial. The pink numerals on the bezel are also rendered in a more whimsical typeface than usual.

The pink theme continues on the back, with a pink-coated Hardlex crystal case back featuring the series’ logo and the Pink Panther’s distinctive eyes. Keen-eyed readers will also note that Seiko individually numbers each watch — even in high-volume limited editions like this — a corner many other brands tend to cut.

Not shown in the press photos, the crown is adored with an engraved and pink-filled profile of a brilliant cut diamond – though the diamond in the films was pear-cut.