Product Description

SEIKO 5 - the meaning of the "5" A great marketer had the idea in the 70ies: to be a SEIKO 5, the watch has to have the following 5 (five) attributes (thus the name SEIKO 5): 1. Automatic, 2. Water resistant, 3. Shock resistant, 4. Date, 5. Day. Please note that some SEIKO 5's are in fact SEIKO 4's, if the "Day" function is omitted, then the Caliber 7S25 is used. The only difference to the normally found 7S26 is the omission of the day wheel. Also re-issues of SEIKO 5 Sports often use the 7S36 caliber. Again the 7S36 is similar to the most popular 7S26, yet it features 23 Jewels as opposed to the 21 Jewels in the 7S26. Please note that all these movements beat at a rate of 21'600 bph (beats per hour) or 6 bps (beats per second). As a comparison, an ETA 2824-2 beats at 28'800 bph or 8 bps. A Miyota 82xx beats at 21'600 bph. Why do I mention these three movements? Because they are found in probably 80% of all inexpensive automatic wrist watches. A market share that is huge, yet challenged these days (2006) by an increasing share of inexpensive China Made automatic movements An automatic watch (also called a self-winding watch) is a mechanical watch, typically with a balance wheel escapement, whose mainspring is wound by the motion of the wearer's arm, instead of having to be wound manually every day. Whereas a quartz watch is powered by electricity, a mechanical watch is powered by a mainspring which must be rewound for the watch to keep time

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3576 in Watches
• Brand: Seiko
• Model: SNK793
• Band material: stainless-steel
• Case material: stainless-steel
• Dial color: blue
• Dial window material: Mineral
• Movement type: automatic-self-wind
• Water-resistant to 30 meters

Features

• Japan 21 Jewels Automatic Self-Winding Movement
• Stainless Steel Case and Band with Push Button Deployment Clasp
• Day/Date Display with Spanish Option, Luminous Markers
• See-Thru Screwed Down Caseback
• Water Resistant - 30 meters

Customer Reviews

A little fancy for me
Owned for 2 months, received as a gift.

Stainless steel band and midnight blue face are a combination of tough and formal. Good for work if you have a clean job. My job isn't so clean, so I wear it after work and weekends.

Since I'm not wearing it continuously, the movement runs out of gas occasionally. So I get lots of practice setting the time (and day and date), which requires a half dozen more steps than a simple quartz watch.

For instance, the stem has three positions: retracted, middle, and pulled out all the way. And, the instructions say NOT to set the watch between 9 PM and 4 AM, which is to avoid some ambiguities as the mechanical day/date changes around midnight.

Making a long story short, you play with the stem a few times and learn how it behaves. You realize setting the time between 9 PM and 4 AM is not prohibited, but is instead easily done. All in all, a small learning curve that you should be aware exists, but shouldn't stop you from purchasing this pretty thing.

An interesting function is that, while adjusting the minute hand, if the stem is turned slightly backwards, the second hand stops moving. (Turn it backwards more, and the minute hand adjusts backwards, as usual.) That provides for a way to set the second hand exactly.

When my watch runs continuously, it picks up about five seconds per day. It would be best if it kept time perfectly, but running a bit fast is 2nd best. Using the afore-mentioned function, you can stop the second hand as required without disturbing the minute hand. Pretty easy, if you care about second-accuracy.

In this rare instance, Amazon's images of this watch are pretty good. The styling of the band is continuous with the case of the watch, so it all looks like one smooth, silver piece. The watch and band is a little heavy, which satisfies the hardware-like feeling that makes you feel like a man. Works for me.

I walked around a shopping mall until I found a jeweler who claimed to have experience removing links from this band. Recommend removing links evenly, i.e., one from the top of the watch, and one from the bottom of the watch, one more from the top of the watch, etc. That way, when the watch is centered at the top of your wrist, the latch will remain centered at the bottom of your wrist. He charged $10 to perform the adjustment, but he wouldn't accept a tip.

To release the latch, don't just try to pull it open. Instead, squeeze the two tiny tabs on either side of the latch to release it : |

Seiko Good Watch GREAT PRICE!
i am writing this through the mrs account but what the heck. ordered this automatic seiko to replace the invicta pro diver which seemed to have gone kaput on me. well i was in greece and notice that the invicta was like 1/2 late. the watch has stopped somewhere along the way- so the invicta which i loved which i owned for pretty much exactly 2 years. the invicta stopped and started every now and again - the movement on the invicta is a citizen watch company miyota 8162 - but i digress...

anywho - i was looking for another watch - something i didn't have to replace batteries for (actually i ended up buying 2 watches from amazon - the seiko and a casio g-shock watch) and decided against solar, kinetic, eco-drive watches. they have an internal rechargeable battery which as anyone knows rechargeable batteries at some point would no longer hold a charge.

so i was looking for another automatic - i thought about getting another invicta but decided against it - invicta didn't make their own movements - so i was perusing amazon.com and came upon this Seiko - Seiko makes their own movements - albeit cheap movements not unlike the invicta miyota movement- so i thought they would have better QC if their name was on it and Seiko make fine quality watches and instruments. The movement on this watch is the 7s26b 21 jewels non-hacking (cannot stop the seconds hand when the crown is pulled) - there are a few discussion sites concerning this movement - its predecessor was teh 7s26a... the replacement is purportedly more accurate. the miyota movement in the invicta actually gained like 5 minutes every week.

the watch itself i thought was simple yet elegant. can be worn on casual or formal i think. The blue face makes it all the more attractive. the face is smaller than what i'm used to with the invicta dive watch - that was 40mm.. this one is around 38mm. it displays the day and date... the day comes in spanish too. depending on what you want it to read... it can be a little tricky setting it to how you want it to read but i had no trouble setting it to english. what happens is it will inevitably go to spanish in the wee hours (when you are probably asleep anyway) and quickly switch back to english of the NEXT day. you'll have to fiddle with the time to see when exactly it changes the day so you can set the dominant language you want to see the day on.

when it arrived i was very happy with the watches appearance. it came in a light blue handsome box - inside the watch had protective plastic around the center links. the Seiko tag was there - turn the back and you can see the heart of the watch - it is a see-through skeletonized back where you can see the movement and the heartbeat. what makes the watch automatic is the rotor - your wearing the watch and your bodily movement moves the rotor which winds the watch. the watch is also "resting" on a pillow and on the bottom instructions.

The crystal is Seiko's "Hardlex" - not mineral not sapphire but their own proprietary(?) Harlex crystal.

while the watch is on the small size from a dive watch - seiko certainly put enuff links on their for the big man! i have a small wrist so i had to take off 5 links all together. these links confused me a bit because it is not the usual pins... but these links were actually easier to take out than the usual pins. there are holes in which (i used a bulletin board push pin) if you push it at an angle you can push the pins out and using a needle nose plier quickly take out the pins and links.

i have had this watch for two days and it seems to be keeping time pretty well with the casio - i will compare it for a week to see how well this goes up against a battery driven quartz movement.

so far i'm satisfied with this watch - this was sold on the amazon site by an affiliate - K.G. Company that does not have it's own website - but it had good store reviews so i went with it. Although i think the marketing people at K.G. or amazon thought of a "call to action" device by declaring the "limited" quantities they had - "only 2 in stock -- order soon" -meanwhile i'm sure they had plenty -just to create some sense of urgency on the customers part. I also did see this watch at different pricing with the same affiliate company. $83.99 and at $99.00 - so maybe they are wanting to see which pricing makes a difference or perhaps no difference at all.

so if you're looking for basically a simple watch which tells time accurately (so far) and with the day (in english and spanish)and date display at a good price - this watch is what you're looking for.

m

A reliable automatic watch at a reasonable price
Let me start off by saying I researched for about five months before buying this watch. I looked at many automatic watches, ranging from the cheapest to the most expensive I could afford in a couple of years. I was torn between saving up for an Omega Speedmaster Chronometer with Day&Date which would cost somewhere around $3,500.00 or getting a low end Fossil automatic with Day,Date,&Month.

I actually ended up getting the Fossil ME1030 (For those of you who were thinking about this watch). It was heavy (making my hand numb) and could not keep time. I had it for a month and a half. The more I wore it the more seconds it gained a day. It would range from gaining 15 to 45 seconds a day. I ended up returning it, realizing how important precise time keeping was to me. And don't listen to people who say, "Automatics can't really be precise or accurate." Do your research and you'll find out that there are some automatics that can keep quit accurate and precise time.

Which brought me back to either saving up for an Omega Speedmaster Chronometer (which should gain or loose 6 seconds a day) or another alternative. Well, since I didn't have the money for an Omega at the moment and I wanted to see how I would I like having a "More Precise" automatic watch, I kept searching for a more affordable alternative. My search ended here, with the Seiko 5 Automatic SNK793K1.

I must say I love this watch. It's much lighter than my Fossil, you barely notice it's on. Yet, as it's made of stainless steel it feels very sturdy. The dial is a handsome deep blue, allowing it to go well with casual or formal attire. The dial itself is very easy to read, as well. The day and date are also very easy to see and adjust. Since this watch is not perpetual, all you have to do to change the date when it's off is pull the crown out to the first position, and rotate up to correct the date or down to correct the day. It is also very simple to set this watch accurate to the second. All you have to do is pull the crown out to the second position and turn it back slightly, causing the second hand to stop. And most importantly, after having this watch for a month, it appears to gain only about 8-10 seconds every 24 hours. This is within acceptable parameters for a modern day non-certified automatic watch. This watch is very accurate and precise for the money you pay.
I can't say how much I love this watch. I don't wear it to work, but I wear it for 4-5 hours after I get home and all day on my days off, which keeps the mainspring charged. If you were wondering if this watch is worth it, there's no need to hesitate. The other reviews on this watch are right on! I don't even think I'm gonna bother saving up for that Omega anymore.

Here is a final list of the Pro's and cons on this watch:

Pro's:
-Automatic
-Day & Date
-Stainless Steel Construction
-Links that are adjustable by yourself with tools in your tool box
(it's on google or just watch a repairman do it once and you'll see
how easy it is)
-Light weight construction
-Precise time keeping

Con's --> Why I gave this watch 4 stars
-Mineral Crystal (Whish it were Sapphire)
-Watch cannot be manually wound