Seiko is a lot like Honda. They make the red bull F1 car, and they also make the civic. Both are extremely great cars. As goes for Seiko and GS watches.
Only make the engine there but not a bad analogy. I would probably say toyota is a better one because they have lexus as gc, and probably the LFA as the credor
It doesn't matter if we're referring to the more down-market or "mid tier" offerings from Alba or Lorus, or pricier options from GS and Credor: I firmly believe the Seiko group has one of the most well-rounded and diverse catalogues out of any watch group to date.
mamacoo You are so well-informed about luxury watches. You've obviously done your due diligence and the comparison to the US is very informative...because of course, I live in New York. thank you very much
Seiko recently came out and clarified that Credor is not really meant to sit above GS, but alongside it. GS has a particular design language that Credor doesn't share. Historically, Credor has played in the eye-watering territory, but I think Seiko has begun to realize they aren't selling at that price and they've introduced some more affordable Credor models.
Seiko had to do this as stupid Americans only consider Rolex for men & Cartier for women. Things should improve in their market, as long as they pay a well-known loudmouth Yank (most likely a golfer) to start advertising them. I own both Rolex Daytona & Seiko Le grande Solar chronograph (which absolutely BEATS the Daytona in everything but resale value). 🤗
Don’t hesitate to buy second hand Seiko because they’re so durable and easy to maintain. Additionally, their design grammar doesn’t change, though there’s a universe of variety. And there’s a whole fascinating mod community. It’s the heart of what I truly like about Seiko, a watch person can really collect to their unique tastes and budgets. Enjoy!
Seiko is the only quality sports watch you can not only afford, but afford to break! I really fell in love with the Seiko 5 Sport 55th anniversary edition (SRPK17). Instant James Bond on the beach vibes! But the best thing is it is so dirt cheap I got two directly and I don’t have to worry about scratching it up while skiing, hiking or kitesurfing. Would not dare take my Glashütte SeaQ diver anywhere near the actual water or a rock. Even it has a way better crystal and depth rating. That being said for dress watches I wear to work I do prefer the next level refinement and artistry you get from JLC or A. Lange.
I keep hearing that lower end Seiko movement (themselves) aren’t that accurate. I have a 4R34 regulated to +/- 2.5 seconds per day. It’s my only mechanical Seiko. But I can’t help wondering if the published specs are for the level of OEM regulation. Apparently, the movement itself is capable of much more.
Like this format. Would love to see such guides to brands, especially on the affordable end (or less discussed) like Oris or Vostok or even Seagull. What these brands do well, why & what are they known for, history, pros & cons etc.
I really wish Seiko would get a little bit better regulation of their movements. I get that its a cost thing but got to think a little bit more labor and final regulation work would help support their steadily rising prices. Ive got several swiss and a german and everything from a SKX i use as a beater to an SJE073 with the super decorated 6L35 movement but even that pales in comparison to even my Tag's caliber 5 and the almost identical Sinn sellita movement - all of them are absolutely left in the dust by any rolex movement. I keep saying I will get a timer and regulate the SKX myself (yet to happen haha) but im not messing with the front loaded super thin 6L movement.
Nerds don't get it. You can only get so much at every price point in today's "smart watch" dominated market. The industry is suffering it's 2nd "Quartz Crisis" equivalent thanks to them & Japanese + Swiss are suffering in Western World markets.
The first watch I ever laid my eyes on is a Seiko 5 and I was blown away by the fact that it has a display case back for the movement to be seen and many many years later the first wristwatch I ever bought for myself was a Seiko 5. It is a 7S26 caliber, stainless steel case, and stainless steel folded links bracelet that some people mistake for silver. For less than 150 dollars, it is a great value. In my home country, Seiko 5 is the entry level and slightly above it is the 5 Sport.
I own a SPB 151J Willard, and a SPB317 Turtle, which i purchased this year 2023, and both are erratic time keepers the Willard can gain up to 2 minutes per day,and the Turtle can gain 1.30 minutes per day, this i find very annoying as i need to adjust both each morning. Seiko are nice quality and look smart, but surely a watch these days could keep accurate time. I will be sending both back to Seiko to be adjusted under the 5 year warranty... 😞
A lot of people confuse "made in Japan" with "made in china". China is interested in quantity over anything where Japan is all about quality craftsmanship. The best rifle scopes, paint guns, and the best, a lot of things come from Japan. Those people dedicate their lives to perfecting what they do.
Have 2 Seikos, neither are current. First, a 7005 from 1970 that still works perfectly (looks like a King Seiko), and second a titanium AGS kinetic divers watch (with the 'ghost' dial). Undecided about buying a new one, prices are going up and quality seems to be dropping...
Buying a Seiko will get you back your Ex-Girlfriend, solve your chemical imbalance, give you six pack abs and basically make your life magically unshit itself
I am a big fan of Seiko, my first automatic watch was Seiko, and I will cherish it forever, but nowadays I would buy Citizen over Seiko any day of the week (in affordable section).
I actually got rid of my Citizen eco-drive I owed for 10 yrs free of any service maintenance needed and decided to change the scene with Seiko and never looked back.
Don't buy a Seiko until you read and test it out! Seiko service is atrocious. Bought a brand new Lake Suwa Ref SLGA021 with the Spring Drive in Japan after hearing how great GS was. It's supposed to have a 5 day power reserve. I got the watch for a family member as a gift thinking this would truly be a watch he could enjoy for years to come. Never wore or sized the watch. Absolutely brand new from authorized Grand Seiko dealer in Japan. I just opened it up and wound the power reserve to near full and hoped to see it last for up to 5 days. Two days later I go back to see the watch that's in the box and it's stopped running! Now this can't be normal right? Since I don't live in Japan I couldn't go back to the selling dealer. So I went to my local GS dealer in my country and he said this is not normal. He said let us bring it to our Grand Seiko watch repair center to see what they say. 4 days later they tell me oh this is something ONLY Japan can repair and because this model is so new we are not equipped to repair this! I said so I paid about for a new watch and it has to go back to Japan for about a month or more to get repaired? I requested that Grand Seiko simply replace the unit with a new unit and he said they could not do that. I find this practice to be unethical, poor business sense, and a quick way to lose brand loyalty, of which they have not even yet established yet. SO basically I have to pay in full, never get any use from the purchase, and it has to go to Japan for repairs for God knows how long. Not sure Grand Seiko Marketing or Director of Sales would find this remedy to be fair. Anyways, that's my experience with GS so far and no I won't recommend this brand to anyone. Pretty much at my wits end, if you have any suggestions or recommendations please send them my way. Thank you for your informative video.
If you come a cross a Seiko with a 6R35 caliber it is a Spring Drive you don't have to buy a Grand Seiko 6R15 caliber basically adds hand winding and hacking mechanism to 7S26 and is yet less expensive than most of the mainstream Seiko movements. It operates with 23 jewels, beats at 21,600 vph and holds magnificent 50 hours of power reserve with +25/-15 sec/day, which makes it quite a premium workforce. It is just a step below “high-beat” movements, but has greater power reserves and a great accuracy (compared to the “high beat” calibers) due to its Spron 510 mainspring. Seiko caliber 6R15 became famous by Seiko’s SARB (Spirit) series on Japanese market and its fame went global with Seiko’s “SUMO”, “Alpinist” and “62MAS Re-edition” watches series a bit later. Seiko Sumo SBDC027 Prospex Diver Automatic 50th Anniversary Limited Edition, Seiko Prospex Thailand Limited SPB029J1 Silver Sumo 200m Diver Seiko Prospex Sumo Pepsi Bezel SBDC057 Diver 200m Seiko Prospex Japan Limited SZSC004 Green Sumo 200m Diver Seiko Prospex Sumo PADI SBDC049 Diver 200m Limited 1000 Pcs. Seiko Sumo SPB055J Zimbe Limited Edition Series 4 Automatic Watch
The world's first commercial quartz watch was under the Astron name; that name has a lot of important history behind it and I can't imagine who would think that's in bad taste.
I bought a Seiko PADI dive -type watch, and it looks great. But i'll never buy another 'automatic' watch again! Take it off, and the next day it will have stopped. Both the time and the date will need to be reset. I also hate batteries, so I'd like a solar quartz, ideally !
Except for their lousy scratch resistance; my 033's bezel was very glossy and the wind would scratch it. The case wasn't much better - despite having their Diashield coating. My OSD300, on the other hand, seems nigh impossible to scratch. SEIKO needs to fix its QC issues (misaligned bezels and chapter rings, lack of anything resembling regulation before leaving the factory, for example). I'm much happier with my OSD300 than I was with my O33, tbh.
Proud owner of the Bluemoon (SRPB41J1), King Turtle green (grenade), King Samurai (white) and a battered old sea urchin (snzf15), 4 watches that offer a great variety all for fantastic value.
Damn, a true watch person. Most Rolex owners can’t carry your water, no pun intended. The only Rolex owners with that creds are the ones with watches that they had scratched and dented.
Its a little sad that you guys don't seem to know (perhaps seem is important there) the difference between hardness (resistance to scratching) and fragiity (shattering). This is the key behind understanding "why Hardlex". I get that its a hard thing to steer the understanding of the public, but feeding into this misunderstanding isn't the right approach.
I bought this popular video watch from nkuwan , which was originally priced at a few thousand dollars, but now it's only $380! It's really suitable to pick up feces!
A very important part of seiko which you left out is the huge difference between the Japanese and International Market. You often have to pay for import, but „Made in Japan“ models usually keep their value much better than „K“ from Taiwan. Also many models are only available overseas and vice versa. Love your channel, keep up the good work.
As a former seiko employee, i can truly confirm that there is literally no difference between J an K models, except some minor cosmetic touches. For example 21 jewels text on the dial of skx. However, as perception belies reality, people collecting watches attributed such values to J models. On the other hand, JDM things are different, deserves the value they were attributed, often
My first Seiko was a Japan market SBDA005... the orange dialed "titanium Samurai" diver, purchased in 2005. The 7S25 movement... non-hacking/non-manual winding, left a bit to be desired, but the titanium case, unique styling and - at the time - sub $400 price point, as shipped from Seiya in Japan, sealed the deal. I've bought many Seikos since then, and although the Ti Samurai, which has yet to be serviced and loses about 30 seconds a day (the horror!) is still a favorite. In fact, I'm wearing it now.
My very first mechanical watch was my SARB017 Alpinist. This was followed up by my SRPK777K1. Quality wasn't 100% with the turtle. The first one had a badly misaligned bezel and hands. The second one runs quite fast. Regardless, no matter what I'm doing, I'm seldom seen without one or the other.
Alba has been revived since last year and they've released stunning designs below $100. Automatic too. I think they're using the surplus 7s26 from the Seiko 5 range.
I just bought my third. Love my two different baby tuna's ( automatic ) and now will add a land turtle to the collection. Maybe at the very end of they year the emperor tuna.
I became addicted to Seiko only last year. They are affordable so I got five or six of them over a brief period. Seiko overdelivers in quality per price, which is quite unusual in the watch world. Some models have fantastic dials. The fans give them funny names. Who doesn't want to wear a Captain Willard, Land Tortoise or Tuna. My favourite? Perhaps the Dress KX, an allround beauty, Explorer vibe, for almost nothing.
Seiko is great because you can get something guaranteed to fit your desire. Whether you want a watch with loads of history, or you just want something with a pretty dial, or if you just want a watch with a unique design, there is something for you and sometimes you can get more than one of those options in a single watch.
One thing to know before getting a Seiko, be careful of their QC, they are known for misaligned bezels and poor QC. Surprisingly, Orient, their sister brand seems to be better in QC, have seen less complaints. So I would suggest you sit down with your final choice and go through it carefully, before paying for the watch.
People who think display casebacks are a waste without a decorated movement really overlook the fact that a Seiko is often someone's very first mechanical watch and seeing a movement for the first time is mind blowing even if it's not decorated.
07:45 i have the exact model for almost 4 yrs now, my daily driver. Such an ugly bezel, looks like it's made out of pot aluminium or something. But i bought it now so that's that because i don't like to waste rhings. Also its so heavy. Ugly timepice, won't purchase again
Picked up my first Seiko this month - a Premier White Dial - D from AMJ Watches on sale. This is a lovely dress watch if a little large but it's solar which is also something I've never owned and blows my mind.
What have u noticed? I’ve noticed that they use hardlex mineral crystals. Its a joke. Almost all good reputable brands use sapphire crystals. Buy a seiko 5 and watch the scratches accumulate. Stop comparing this company to the swiss brands. You are right… its not the the right crystal.
Seiko is an ok day-to-day, and I don't mind syncing it at the start of a work week. Most important, the movement is robust, so servicing costs are reasonable. Not so much with high end brands, where the servicing costs will be more than the cost of the watch within a decade.
@@SomeOneOneOne get a standard full service on a 10 yo Ball, Mido, Certina, Hamilton, Longines … I can go on. There’s a reason why Citizen and Seiko are popular in developing nations where they are passed from fathers to sons.
you didn't speak about seiko lassale , i have a lassale that dates back to 1984 , a quartz 7 jewels mouvement , ultra thin you can't believe it when you see it , just super elegant , i have another vintage seiko all in gold , seiko was and is and will always be there for its seikoholics.