Seiko Prospex Speedtimer 6R Collection Watch Review

I hope you’re ready for a Japanese feast because Seiko are releasing seven new watches this week. Right now we’re looking at the first trio, a brand-new model entering the Speedtimer sub-collection, the Seiko Prospex Speedtimer 6R Compact Countdown. The new series features two core collection models and a Speedtimer Compact 6R x DATSUN Fairlady Z Limited Edition, which we got hands-on with.

Off the bat, this is the first Speedtimer to house a movement from Seiko’s high end 6R series. Largely that’s because the 6R is not a chronograph movement and the Prospex Speedtimer 6R Compact also has the distinction of being the first non-chronograph Speedtimer. That might seem like an oxymoron because how can a Speedtimer be not a chronograph? Well, Seiko’s solution to that is to introduce a new internal rotating bezel with a countdown timer.

Say that you know your motor race starts in 30 seconds, you can move the 30 marker to wherever the seconds hand happens to be and when the hand reaches zero, start running. Though that might be cutting margins a bit finely when you should be focussed on the race. A more practical example might be that your important meeting is happening in 43 minutes and you don’t want to miss it but you also want to grab lunch first.

One of the upsides of this new dial layout for the Speedtimer is that this is the slimmest 6R timepiece that Seiko have every produced. It measures 39.5mm in diameter with a thickness of 11.95mm with a flowing shape from lug to lug, which is where the appellation ‘compact’ comes from in the watch’s name. And it does wear very nicely, especially the Limited Edition with its racing leather strap. The standard models are instead presented on Roleaux style steel bracelets.

Focussing in on the dial, the two standard models are either white or dark grey and the special edition is black. They all share large, baton hour markers with central hour, minute and seconds hands with lumed strips for low light legibility. There’s also a colour-matched date window between 4 and 5 o’clock. For the first time, the Speedtimer logo accompanies those of Seiko and Prospex.

On the Speedtimer Compact 6R x DATSUN Fairlady Z it’s also joined by the Datsun logo, with the red accents on the seconds hand and countdown timer also being inspired by the colour scheme of the Datsun Safari rally car from the 1970s. The actual car being the 240Z aka Fairlady Z, an iconic vintage car.

I’ll be the first to say that Datsun doesn’t really have any special meaning to me, even in a vintage motorsport sense, but for those who are a fan of early Nissan it has strong significance. For that reason I find myself preferring the standard editions though I still appreciate this limited edition for putting a spotlight on an aspect of motorsport I was less familiar with. Heads up, this is not the only Datsun special edition being launched today, as there is also a chronograph and solar chronograph edition too.

We’ve already mentioned that this is the first 6R in the Speedtimer family and specifically it’s the 6R55 automatic, introduced in 2023 inside the King Seiko 39mm with its improved 72-hour power reserve. It’s protected by a solid caseback, which is also decorated with the Datsun logo for the limited edition.

The standard Prospex Speedtimer 6R Compact Countdown models are priced at £850 and the limited edition is £1,110. It’s limited to 2,500 pieces, so in classic Seiko fashion it’s not the most exclusive watch out there but you also won’t see them everywhere.

More details at Seiko.