Seiko Hi end Quartz Perpetual diver NOTE: This review was written in June 2011 but then I was too lazy to take picture to complete the review and therefore left in cold storage before I look into it recently
How the hell I end up with thisMy Bday come and go few months ago. My initial plan to reward myself a Sbbn015 Tunacan quartz but somehow my “finance minister” disapprove it because it very expensive lol. I also worry it will look wired on my wrist lol . To be honest, the issue of it on my wrist is not really a problem because SBBN015 bracelet is adjustable to whatever wrist size and my wrist is squarish instead of rounded. So I got to find an alternative for it and I found one which looks actually a mirror copy of my mid-size diver watch (Review link in mwf) but the difference is that the move is a quartz (more on it later) instead of the 7s26 auto movement I will tell more about it below. It is also wallet friendly compared to the Sbbn015 tunacan. So What I did is place order with one of the Big 3 Japanese watch dealer (Higuchi, Seiya & Chino)
Arrival & Unboxing
It takes about 7 days to reach to my place. Yes, it uses EMS/Post laju to send to me but I don’t know why it takes so long to reach to me. I saw the watch landed in another city 999 km from mine and it had to crawl its way back to the place I am currently now. What I did next is go to the Seiko appointed service near my place to readjust the bracelet which is I like it BECAUSE IT CAN BE SIZED TO WATEVER WRISTSIZE DESIRED…….. This is the wrist shot.
Let go into the details details details details detials of the watch
The watch is 36mm which is considered small. It only look big on my wrist is because my wrist is small. Haha.
The watch is has a brushed finish on most part of the watch except for the side of the watch, side of the bracelet and crown which is polished finished. I really like the brushed finish. I would prefer brushed/bead blasted finish over polish finish.
The dial of the watch is actually similar to the other Seiko diver like SKX007 or my mid-size diver SKX013 diver but with additional wording which reminded me of “Superlative Officially Certified Chronometer” on lolex.
The dial itself is in black matt while the chapter ring had a darker black. I like this setting because matt black dial does not reflect as many light compared to glossy dial.
One thing I liked about the watch hour marker is that it is applied with something with a metallic base which is then filled with Seiko lumibrite. For me, it reminded me again of Rolex sub no date that had white gold inlay which is filled up with lumibrite. The glow in the dark performace of the watch is not good compared to Seiko monster but it is way better than Sinn 656/657. The watch small marker and glow in dark performance again reminded me of Rolex submariner no date.
The bezel of the watch had 2 layer of “teeth” to grip bezel easily but it doesn’t work for me because at time my hand will sweat which will make gripping onto the “teeth” will be quite a challenge for me. But if u wearing glove to turn the bezel then it will be an easy job to do so.
The crown in my opinion is one of the weak points of the watch. Firstly, the crown is really hard to get a grip on it. Mind you I had a small finger and I having trouble to unscrew it. I wonder how the people with large finger will be able to go through this. Secondly, the crown wobble quite a lot which does not give me confidence that the watch will able to withstand 200m not to mention it gave me the feeling that the watch crown will come out anytime soon. Somehow the service center folks told me this is normal. Apparently this thing does occur on Seiko SBDX001 MM300 watch, can anyone who had this watch able to check this for me.
The bracelet of the watch in my opinion is really well-done. I think it is copied from Rolex oyster bracelet. All the links on the watch were removable unlike some other brand watches which leave people with small wrist like me had to resort to wired way to wear it or end up using Nato/leather strap in order to wear it. The end links is kinda hollow ended which is a “no no” for some people. The clap is solid as usual and it has a more “clicky” sound over the Seiko monster bracelet claps. The diving extension was the same as the one found on monster or SKX007.
The watch is powered by a quartz movement 8F35 which is the high torque version of 8F family that have higher than usual frequency. This make this watch a High Accuracy watch which had 20+/- per year accuracy. The catch is yo gotta wear it like 12 hours per day in order to achieve that specified accuracy, if not it will stray away when there is sudden chance of temperature. The Current accuracy at the time of writing as in 17 Nov 2011 is that it only faster than then Sirim MST by 1 second after owning it since April.
Another feature of this watch is it had 8+/- year worth of battery life which is longer than most of the quartz watch outside. I find it is a good thing but I doubt the gasket/seal will last that long. So for me I plan to test the gasket like every 3 or 4 years as I worried the gasket seal will deteriote due to usage of sunscreen or washing detergent. Its like cancelling off the effect of using a battery that last 8 years.
Another feature of this watch is that it has perpetual calendar setting which will last until 2100 (I wish I can live that long). This mean I no need to change the date date from 30 to 1 manually, it was done automatically. These save me the trouble from unscrew the crown and set the date manually and hopefully it will extend the life of the gasket on the crown for a longer period.
The watch have an ultrasonic motor that make the change of the date very quick (not in blink of eye) instead of the date wheel start move slowly at 10pm and changes at around 12am.
An interesting note regarding the durability of the watch movement compared to 7c46 which found on Tunacan watch. According to one of member in WUS, the 8F35 watch is not that robust compared to the 7c46 as he saw more 8F watches in need of repair compared to 8F equiped watches while the 7c46 watches still continue ticking on.
How true was it, I myself have no idea about it???!!!!??? I know 7C46 was more superiorly build but then….??
What Do I Think About This Watch
BRILLIANT!!!!!!What more I can say about it, it’s my 3rd quartz watch after my “pre-WIS” watch (not with me now anyway) and casio gshock riseman which ended up being my table clock. This is the only quartz that I enjoy wearing very much. I am
fascinated by the ticking of the hand to each of marker (not really hitting it but close enough). I know quartz have “no life” but you can’t deny that it has its strong point like accurate to ½ sec per mth and it was ready to wear.
Too bad the watch is discontinued so if you wanna buy it you gotta find in 2nd hand or if u is lucky NOS. I wonder if Seiko still had the part after 8 years when my watch need to change battery and gasket???!!
What next???When I was looking at me, this thing in my eye look like other watches such as Rolex Sub no date and SBDX001 Marine Master 300m. This watch to be honest look like a MM300 to my eye. So most probably I will get either one of these somewhere in future. Yes, I am more learning toward Sub ND because of the design & small size. Not to mention Lolex will support it for 10 year plus compared to Seiko which only had part to cover for 8 years.
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Three of these image ripped off from the net
Thanks for reading my long winded review
