Comparing the 6r15 to the 4r36

Seikos with the 6r often sell for twice the price of equivalents with the 4r. Many have debated this, claiming both movements to be like comparing a new avocado to a ripe avocado. The ripe one is better as you can eat it right away. What an awful simile, you may say.

But many Seiko fans just want the cheapest 7s26 inside. Old is gold -no need to fix anything. Happens I had both 6r and 4r and finally put both to the test after lots of breaking in, knocks not drops. The results are interesting.

4r36

6r15

You can see the difference. The 6r has about half the deviation (slant) compared to the 4r and there is practically no gap between left and right oscillations of the balance on the 6r (the spinning is consistently more symmetrical). At 8s/day vs 4s/day, the 6r is twice as accurate considering the Prospex got banged about the same, if not more than the Seiko 5 Sports.

I'm not very sure if chronometer specs mean that the blue graph line has to be centered. None of the Seiko movements are in the zone but the 6r comes close. It is sub-chronometer while the 4r isn't much to talk about.

6r15 after being dropped

So happened today, my Prospex diver slipped off its Zulu which was wet and slick. It took a drop of a few feet and a nasty bounce on the tiles of my bedroom, smacking against the wall, before falling flat onto the floor where I retrieved it. The above is it's new accuracy profile. You can see it hasn't changed that much, effectively (there are more specks because it is raining).

Either Seiko dive watches are tougher -feature some sort of shock mounting, or the 6r is just more robust. You may by now fear me handling your watch(es) but years ago, I dropped a Presage from a similar height and it went from +4s/day to +20s/day. Casting my mind back to physics class, you can hammer a nail over somebody's head if they pile enough books in between. I'm guessing the oversize case has something to do with absorbing shock.

12 hours later, and my dropped diver has lost / gained a fraction of a second. Feel like wearing it more somehow, after its accident. Not expensive-looking when paired with the garish Bond Zulu.