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In general, Seiko watches are very good value for the money at several different price points, and in many different designs. They have the mechanical automatic ones - the high end Grand Seiko line, that are quite appealing.
These are excellent automatic watches that are not officially sold in the U.S. But they are readily available on Ebay.
They're inexpensive (most are less than the one in the link, some a lot less) and have a zillion styles & colors.
There are "J" models (made in Japan) and "K" models (made elsewhere using Japanese parts).
IMO, they're both good but you can decide that for yourself.
I have three of them. I've worn them in a swimming pool... they didn't drown.
Was gifted a couple of their dive watches in the last couple of decades. One mechanical movement, one battery powered.
In view of their intended service, they were both pretty damn fragile watches. While accurate timekeepers, both broke in the minimal service of being worn on dive trips. The dial mounting tabs broke on one of them so that the dial face spun around freely. My watchmaker (a Seiko dealer) said he saw this type of failure "all the time". He had a kit to epoxy glue replacement tabs onto the face but would not guarantee that the $35 repair would last.
As well, I gave Mrs Sun two of the very plain face Seiko solar recharging watches. She wears it almost full time. The first failed within a year of purchase, and had multiple failures/replacements under warranty over the years. The last one under warranty wore out the pin holes for the stainless steel bands (which had also worn out fairly quickly) and would not retain a band. Since she liked the very plain readable face, I bought her a replacement Seiko watch of the same series from an on-line watch shop I'd bought other watches from. When that watch failed to recharge and keep time, I discovered that it was only covered by the retailer's one-year warranty because they weren't an "authorized Seiko dealer" … even though the watch was new in-the-box when I purchased it. They did give me a "sales accommodation" discount from their normal discounted price on it's replacement, which she now wears. (It's a styling issue … the Seiko has an exceptionally clean face with large numbers and hands, so it's very readable at a glance … no day/date or other stuff to confuse the dial).
So, my experience with Seiko mechanical and electronic watches has been less than stellar. I'd look at other brands before buying one today.
PS: what would I look at instead? Bulova watches have given me excellent service for many years. and, just for grins … I inherited a Timex mechanical/self-winding man's watch from my Dad. That watch has to be 45 years old now … a gent's "dress watch" with a metal "expansion band" (which I don't like this style of band). The Timex keeps better time than my Rolex SS Submariner 1000' (NO, I would not buy another Rolex!) and works fine when I wear it. YMMV.
Just look for a reputable (or authorized) seller with a good reputation. Believe it or not, there are fakes. Just like Rolex, any popular item is going to be faked. So let the buyer beware. Don't be reeled in by something that sounds too good to be true.
I'm very dubious of anyone who would call a Seiko Dive watch "fragile". They have a reputation as being top of the line in durability. Some call the dive watches "bullet proof". They are as good or better in quality as 99% of known watches.
I'm very dubious of anyone who would call a Seiko Dive watch "fragile". They have a reputation as being top of the line in durability. Some call the dive watches "bullet proof". They are as good or better in quality as 99% of known watches.
My first Seiko dive watch broke the 3 tabs that hold the dial face in place sometime during one of my dive trips. (fortunately, I had a Bulova dive watch in my dive bag for the trip, so was able to continue my diving). The dial face would rotate independently from the watch body, so I could not rely upon it to tell time except for the relationship of the minute hand to the rotating bezel.
When I returned home, my local watchmaker/jeweler said he'd seen a lot of these Seiko dial face failures, to the extent that he had a repair kit in stock which had metal tabs to overlay with epoxy onto the original broken tabs. He could "repair" the dial face for a nominal cost, but would not guarantee that it would be a durable repair. To install a new dial face wasn't giving me warm fuzzies in view of the original dial failure in normal service, so I retired the broken watch. This was a Series 5 100' automatic dive watch (generally sold for well under $200), not one of their vastly more expensive top of the line Monster dive watches. My understanding is that the movements are essentially the same, it's only the case and styling that are the difference from the entry level dive watches to their top of the line ones.
Couple that experience with the repeated failures of my wife's Seiko watches and I'm not a fan of this line of watches. YMMV. Have a nice day, dubious.
PS: I bought Mrs Sun a Tissot ladies' dive watch on a dive trip years ago. I was visiting with a fellow (refueling his C210 in El Paso where I was refueling my C182) and his wife who'd been to Cancun for their first dive trip and they'd bought a pair of Tisssot dive watches there; models which were not sold in the USA market. Turned out they didn't like diving and weren't going to do it again, so were wanting to sell their new dive watches. These were a moderately expensive dive watch, the fellow claimed he'd spent around $300 each, new in Cancun. I gave him $400 for the pair. Mrs Sun liked hers and wore it everyday; it lasted about 18 months before it quit working. My local watchmaker said it wasn't a USA model and wasn't supported by his USA sources. So this "up-line" watch got retired. I wore my men's model infrequently for 3 years before it, too, failed and was retired. Just because a watch is a bit more expensive doesn't mean it's that much better or a durable performer. Lesson learned: be careful about buying watch models that aren't USA distributed and supported, or not from an "authorized dealer".
Anyone would be a little dubious of someone who has owned lots of models of a reputable watch brand they seem to hate. It doesn't add up. Unless they owned fakes.
On the other hand, there are also lots of fakes. Which means the watch repair person would have had to deal with a lot of repairs on the fakes. There are even Japanese American dealers who are selling fake Seikos and Citizens.
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