Today, we'll take a look at a watch that's big, beefy, pricy, and packing a serious movement, the Seiko SLA021 'MarineMaster 300'. Thanks to Lewis Jewelers of Ann Arbor, Michigan (lewisjewelers.com) for sending this guy along.
Awesome ! True iconic dive watch. I rank it in the top along with Rolex Submariner, Omega Seamaster, Panerai, Seiko 007, Squale, Doxa, Aquadive, Oris TT1
I own an omega seamaster and a Rolex hulk. Just picked this watch up today from my AD. After wearing it for a few ours I already know this watch is going to win wrist time over my other 2 dive watches. There’s just something about it. If you’re thinking of getting this watch don’t hesitate. You’ll love it.
Have been wearing the sla047j1 for 3months now... Fall in love every time i look at it! I have small wrist and it fits beautifull, bracelet is not crap... Extension is only for wet suit use. I love it and it will never leave my collection
Pretty sure only some bezel stuff is lumed to make it easier to tell at a glance if you're close to out of air. For a diver it's actually a feature to not have the whole bezel lumed.
@@code6400 No. Timing bezels have nothing to do with air supply. You have a pressure gauge attached to your tank to see how much air you have left. The bezel is just for timing things, look up safety stops and decompression, bottom time. That is the type of thing the bezel is used for, although all divers now use dive computers and would maybe only have a diver's watch as a backup.
Why only the partial lume on the bezel? It's essentially akin to the "Pepsi" coloring on most Seiko diver models like the SKX and the Turtle, in that it designates a 20-minute "buffer zone" on the timing bezel. If you have an hour-long activity to measure, you move the 20 on the bezel to where the minute hand is, and you know that in dark conditions you'll have a 20-minute zone of time during which you can finish your business.
Am blessed to have this in my rotation. Only negative is a slightly small dial when all is said and done. Dressy tool watch? Yes it is. Better than an Omega PO? No. But it’s different, nostalgic and amazingly well built and lights up beautifully in the sunshine. It’s a keeper watch IMO
The monoblock case is not for water resistance but to prevent the ingress of Helium in a Saturation chamber, it's Seiko's way of not having to put a Helium release valve on the watch. On the case back you will see He-Gas Diver. My only concern with this method would be changing the date or time in a chamber where I would assume He gas would enter via the crown maybe, although I am sure they must have thought of this ?? Either way a lovely watch and a great review. Thanks Nick.
It’s strictly designed as a tool sea Diver. Not as a desk diver even though obviously 99% interested in this have never deepsea dove. 20 minutes is the safe zone. Same concept as red paint on aluminum bezels
Red on bezel is redundant, the first color you lose as you go deeper under water is red and that is only 10 meters down. After that, its hardly distinguishable from the rest of the bezel.
@ Yeah I bet most pro divers would never take anything more flash than a G-Shock underwater to compliment their dive-computer. A highly finished watch that costs thousands and you want to take it down to do underwater welding on a oil-rig? Yeah sure.
First sight love. I got mine from Japan in my honeymoon and it´s big, chunky, and heavy as hell. That aside, this is the most beautiful watch i have in my collection and lives in my wrist everyday. Apple watches came but now they are gone, this is my watch and makes me happy every day.
What kind of certification? Unrealistic to expect Swiss certs like COSC to do business with Seiko. It’s got ISO and other certs Im sure. The movement is reputed to do +/- 2 easy.
@@FCM415 yes, I would like to see an ISO 3158 or 3159 certification. Since this is made from parts common with Grand Seiko, perhaps Seiko's internal certification would be nice at this price. Just something that can give the customer some confidence when paying this much for a watch
@@thomash4578 It's ISO 6425 certified, like SeaMasters and Subs etc. It's 300m sealed case let's not need a a gas escape valve. Yeah they really should regulate it out the box though, it's such a robust and capable movement in there. I've had COSC chronometers that have been off spec from the big brands. I guess it's just that tricky.
Markers 0 through 20 min are standard diving timing. So Seiko chose to illuminate just those markers. Also Screw links are not more reliable. They may be easier to remove, but are not more reliable.
I owned a Seiko turtle, loved the look but not impressed with +15 sec per day. Sold it and gave Seiko one more try with the SLA021. It's my favorite watch, and I own a Casio MTG, Omega Seamaster 300m and two Omega Seamaster Planet Oceans. The SLA021at +6 sec/day is not as accurate as my other watches, but the look and feel on my 7.25" wrist is perfect. Others have complained about the bracelet, but I like it.
Seiko need to up their bracelet game across the board. I recently decided to make a "mid-tier" purchase and looked at GS. I didn't end up pulling the trigger largely because of the bracelet. GS bracelets are equivalent to what you'd find on a Swatch Group watch in the $1500 range.
FWIW Seiko is known to publish accuracy ranges that are typically much wider than the watch's expected or actual perform. I'm not sure why - some people think it's to avoid warranty claims, others say it's a 'Japanese thing'. Maybe they're defined by the guy who makes the bracelets, because they've always been a liability as well. Again, no one knows why. Rumor has it that the true accuracy data is online somewhere, though I imagine that any Grand Seiko using a given movement is adjusted within much higher tolerances than even the secret accuracy estimates.
I can't believe they don't regulate and guarantee a 3k watch! Plus the unibody design probably means a pro regulation will be more expensive than usual.
True. Seiko cannot get COSC certification standards because it is not a Swiss brand but they should still regulate it to a better factory error rating of +15/-10. It's actually a very nice robust movement that, with a simple regulation, can be well within COSC +6 and be dead accurate and consistent. With the right simple common tools, a watchmaker services the unibody as a nonissue.
LOVE all of your reviews and agree. I have this but in the 035 DLC black version. LOVE it totally... I've had many seikos and frankly, the bracelets can just be thrown in the garbage in terms of quality...... Pin collar? really? Love the chunky size and robustness... My DLC version came only on a super comfy strap... So, I am happy. However... for this watch... Pick it up on the USED market... someone is always looking to unload one.
Seiko lume 0-20 as a reference on this dial to the 20min being the point of no return on an average dive with a single 200bar tank . Rolex mark off 0-15 mins as a last " missed safety stop " . Not a hard and fast rule however that's the basic idea. Great vid as always ;)
Favor to ask: When referring to weight for watches, please also state the weight in grams. I understand that most of your viewers (me included) are under the English unit of measure, for watch nerds, the metric system reigns supreme.
Spot on, I have this watch and I live with the 10 seconds + per day, since that what I paid for. On the other hand, it sucks knowing it could be better.
With the Mono blok case on the MM300, expect to send this back to Japan for any Service requirements, Local Seiko service centres won't service this Watch
The 8L35 beats at 28,800 vph, not 36,000 vph (hi beat). The analogous Grand Seiko movement to the 8L35 is the 9S55, not the 9S85. There actually is a hi beat Seiko movement which is the 8L55, not the 8L35.
Omg, monoblock case, so difficult to self regulate & unregulated for $3k, no just no. My Sinn 104 ran less than 0.25 per day for 1/2 the price! I asked an ad if it ran 10s slow would they sort it, they said no it’s within spec, no sale!
Good watch review.. Pro: nice watch design; great lume; 4 o,clock crown that doesn’t dig into the back of your wrist. Cons: price; clasp. Yes, it does have a quick micro adjust clasp, but it looks like stamped metal instead of milled & when the quick micro adjust is extended out it breaks up the look of the bracelet. That’s just ugly and lazy by Seiko at that price point. Look at the clasp/micro adjust of the Submariner or better yet the Tudor Pelagos.
This is a real tool watch. Not a fashion diver like the Sub. The clasp is ugly but you can adjust it directly on wrist, even in water in diving situation.
Seiko should have kept the Marinemaster branding on the dial. And yeah they need to regulate the watch and claim / standby better accuracy. Not many watch makers are willing to work with a monobloc case. So it's a pain to get it regulated by anyone else. I have had a MM300 that ran +20s a day
Its not monoblock because of the depth rating. It is done that way sonit can be used in divebells and use of helium. Rolex use a valve, Omega uses the manual valve.. Seiko uses monoblock. Helium is a gas that will enter youre watch, if that gas is not released it will pop youre glass.. this will not happen in a monoblock construction with a L shaped gasket. Has nothing to do with depth rating.
I think the tuna version of this is better. Don’t get Me wrong both are great. I have the tuna version and it’s quartz: so accurate, has a day window, and great arrow hands.
I agree 100%. I just received one of these today. The watch head is fantastic. It's on par, perhaps even better than Omega Planet Ocean ceramic's and other watches that are twice the price of this one. However, the bracelet sucks and the clasp is crap.
One of my favourite watches of all time. Not sure why but it reminds me of a Deep Sea. I had a few people tell me that as well, when they saw it from a distance. Good review.
In my opinion, pinned links isn’t a real issue here. If you rate safety higher than easy length adjustment, you should definitely go for pin and collar rather than screws. The lack of movement regulation however is indeed a shame.
I wasn't expecting this to be like a Swatch Sistem 51. I think if you're making the movement more difficult to access to maintenance or repair you're robbing yourself of the advantage of a mechanical watch. I don't know if the case body actually does impact the serviceability of it, but I do hear reports of those mechanical Swatch pieces being next to impossible to service. That's new to me for sure.
its not really any more difficult than a regular screwdown caseback. The bezel is removed then there is a crystal retaining ring that is removed to get to the movement, dial, hands.
Dive watches usually have some way of visually isolating the first 20 minutes on the bezel. They usually only rotate counterclockwise as well. That way when you set it to give yourself 20 minutes, you don't accidentally hit it in a way where you might think you have more time than you actually do, better safe than sorry. These are features of dive watches, not faults. Complaining about the choice of lumed numbers is like buying a car and complaining about the fact that it has seat belts. Look into what dive watches are and how they work before complaining. All that said, this watch is not worth 1/3 of what they are charging for it.
@@FCM415 It's an international model. The previous versions were JDM. Hopefully since they've made it international they make sure their service centres around the world can work on them and we don't all have to send them to Japan still.
Holy crap 3 grand, honestly I didn’t expect that. I though it was similar to the Sekiro padi solar which is 275 ish which I’m interested in. Granted it’s a grand Sekiro movement but holy crap not for me sadly.
Or you could get the CITIZEN Eco-Drive ( solar powered ) Diver's 200m for $180.00 40m ish 20mm band . regulated ? I 've had it for a year it has been right on only set savings time . starting to really like diver's watches ! good vid !
Hey Nick, you're certainly entitled to your opinion own opinion, but regarding the accuracy rating of the Marinemaster, Seiko seems to simply under-promise on the accuracy of their watches across pretty much their entire catalog whether you're buying a $500 Prospex or a $10,000 Grand Seiko. And not that I'm an expert on this or anything, but I've never heard of an 8L35B movement that wasn't substantially more accurate than it was rated. For that matter, (somewhat more relevant since its personal experience) I've never owned a Seiko watch that wasn't significantly more accurate than it was rated. While I can understand wanting the accuracy rating in writing, I don't think it's less accurate in practice than other watches at that price point.
Seems like they should have just gone all the way to make this a true "Grand Seiko": better regulation, more attention to the bracelet, slightly more expensive. The price just seems too high for a plain "Seiko" to me.
People are just not understanding: this isn’t just a Diver in the “tool watch category” just because enthusiasts say it is. To Seiko, it is really made FOR deepsea diving originally FOR THE JAPANESE MARKET where diving is a big hobby. It has a lineage going back to the 60s and it was officially named MarineMaster in 2000. It was one of the first that had a ratcheting bracelet, it’s all business. There’s other options within the brand that play to the desk diver’s tune better. It’s the pragmatic’s Pro diver which ironically is it’s biggest appeal to tool watch fans.
So i bought this watch. Have it for almost a week now on a Strapcode Angus Jubilee. I watched almost every review and i thought a long time about buying it. I wanted a watch in the mid-price range that is bulled proof reliable and of good quality. To be honest, a rolex is out of my salary range. I also didn't want a watch made of titanium, because i like the weight. So far, i like the watch. But i was surprised how small it really is. It looked way bigger in the videos. It runs with plus 3 seconds a day. The polishing is superb, the lume is awesome, so it the crown and bezel action. And i like the weight. It always reminds me it's there. But i also have issues with it. I want to ask Seiko: For a list price of more than 3000 Euro, why don't you adjust and regulate the movement? Why don't you include a bracelet with screwed links? Why is the bezel not sealed? The lume triangle is bare paint exposed and will easily scratch or get dirty. And why do you put the lume only up to the 20 mark? Is that your way to tell the customer if he wants a full lumed bezel he has to pay 6000 Euro for a Grand Seiko? I got the watch for 2400 Euro with a lot of cashback. And in my opinion, it is not worth more than 2400 Euro because of these issues. But i'm going to keep the watch. Maybe you guys here know if i can buy a spare bezel from another Seiko watch that will fit this model. A ceramic bezel with lumibrite but without exposed paint. Thank you for the nice review and your effort in producing it. Greetings from Germany. André
They are expensive but I got mine for £2200 which I was happy with (nearly 25% off). An Oris Aquis? haha, it always comes up. It has nothing on one of these and is nothing special. Case design and finishing is nowhere near this level, movement isn't as good (standard SW200 which is I think -10 to +30 spd). Not ISO 6425 compliant. Oh but it's Swiss with a nice bracelet and it's well priced. The Aquis gets put up against Seiko's 6r15 divers, not the MM300. It's true it's close to some Tudor BB prices though which would be a worthy alternative if you like the look.
You are looking at this watch as a luxury item which it is not. 1- the first 20min are lumed to time surfacing from deep dives. Sometimes divers need to stop for 20min at a time to prevent decompression sickness. 2- because this is a dive tool where the time should be set before a dive being -20sec off would not make a difference 2- you need to look at the hand finishing in this watch. It’s a direct competitor to Rolex, Omega and has the historical lineage to match. So you are getting a non COSC legit diving watch with an incredible amount of hand finishing, a manufature high beat movement, a mono block case for under $3k if you shop around. Is a Omega Seamaster worth twice that or a Rolex sub that you will have to pay well over MSRP or play stupid games with a AD in order to get?
How is it not a luxury item? It's an expensive, shiny diver. It has no practical reason to exist, as real divers use dive computers - and if those didn't exist, they would use quartz watches because they are objectively better tools that can be had at much lower prices.
Luxury watch brands would be Rolex, Patek, AP, VC, GP, Glashütte O, etc. this watch falls in line with higher end tool watches like Marathon, Sinn, Doxa, maybe Omega. IMO Omega can be in the same league as Rolex. Sometimes. But the MM300 is a divers tool, of course as you stated any pro diver would not solely rely on a watch. With most watches these days practical as nothing to do with it.
Do you live in Japan? Are you a deep sea diver? I heard it’s very popular there. I also hear that the MarineMaster is only intended for the local market there and when you buy the watch, all the booklets are in Japanese! You guys sure love your Seikos and diving over there! Way to mix both hobbies! In the states, the move is to buy a Rolex and tool with it on a desk.
@@TheSC20k Agreed, and I own this watch and I dive. I love it and while it is a "legit diving watch" as f que says, it is also definitely a luxury watch. There is no need for this at all when diving, everybody has a dive computer and most would use cheaper quartz as a backup. I do like taking them diving though and I obviously won't be the only one.
Nick makes a good point here when saying that everything on the watch itself is really nice, and probably worth the price... and then you have the bracelet that is just phoning it in. Nothing visually spectacular, really phat ass clasp, (which, top down, also looks nothing new), the dive adjustment that's there but also a little meh. It doesn't match the case all that well either (saw that right away); like the brushing and the hue aren't too similar. That could be far better, like a bracelet that actually impresses somebody.
Regulate, regulate. I've had many watches, some COSC, that were regulated and didn't keep better time than any standard NH35 movement. Regulating guarantees absolutely nothing but a self proclaimed accuracy that doesn't live up to it's proclamation.
Green Erick I know all about their history, have own several over the years, and my comment still stands. They have raised their prices significantly over the last five years, and in very few instances have they improved the product. Where they have improved the product (some have better clasps, some have sapphire crystals) these improvements have not been across the board, and their quality control and customer service is still bottom of the barrel.
Nick- stop rattling around a brand new watch- show a little respect. That’s how you scratch up the bracelet for a piece you don’t own. The 8L35 is not high beat- it is 28,800. The 8L35 is not the same as the 9S85 - it is related to the 9S55. 10 seconds a day is not the end of the world- don’t tell your viewers that. Do a little research.
Pick any subject and some fanboy will be there to tell you what they bought is better than what you bought, I have owned watches from all 3 brands mentioned and don't hold any in higher regard to the others. Lets be real, if you truly want something that is better at the job it is meant to do and that is telling the time you are better off with a digital watch unless you are under the risk of an EMP strike maybe ;-)
Used Rolex Sub around $3k? What country are you in cause I would vacation there buy a used sub and it would still be cheaper than any sub I’ve been able to find.
