Ready to hit the ‘buy’ button on a Seiko divers watch. I have circa £150 to spend so was thinking of either the SKX007 or the SKA371 from Creationwatches. I’m looking for an everyday watch that can withstand MTBing / canoeing / horsing about but still looks reasonably good but not so good that I start greeting when it breaks. I have a ‘good’ Omega for posh days!

I believe the SKX007 is a fairly low end automatic movement and the SKA371 has the ‘slightly better’ Kentic movement? Several google searches suggest:

The 007 seems to be robust & reliable but can be out by up to + or – 15 sec per day.
Some 371 reviews state that the kinetic capacitor isn’t the most reliable (needs replaced after 5ish years) but keeps better time.

Anyone got any experience of how resilient these are, specifically when it come to MTBing in terms of time keeping? My Omega goes ‘nuts’ if I wear whilst MTBing.

I bought the Seiko solar divers a few weeks ago.

I have got fed up with flat batteries or crap time keeping from automatic watches. I had bought an automatic divers watch from Chris Ward which looked great but I sent it back as it gained about 30s a day.

I got this one except with the rubber strap

Very happy with it so far, pretty tough, looks OK and whould never need a battery.

http://forums.watchuseek.com/f21/please-advise-seiko-skx007-vs-sumo-movement-368415.html
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f74/seiko-ska371-kinetic-question-about-movement-498475.html
Personally, I would stay with the auto, purely because there is no battery to have to replace, as someone mentions in the ‘371 review. Accuracy is largely down to how often you wear the watch, and if you’re bothered enough to get it regulated.
My SPORK has the 4R15 movement, which, like the 007, is non-hacking, non-hand winding, but has a power reserve up to approx. 55 hours. I regulated mine myself over a period of weeks, while I was wearing it continually, and I had it down to ±5 seconds a month, I’ve just checked against my phone clock, and it’s 20 seconds slow, from the clocks changing in March. I just bought the back opening tool from Maplins, and very carefully tweaked the adjuster a few times, in very, very tiny increments.
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f21/seiko-spork-power-reserve-incedible-511118.html
I guess it’s all down to preference, but I just like the idea of a movement that works just by virtue of my wearing it, and only needs picking up and putting on to start going, although the hands need adjusting. Still, 55 hours off the wrist without stopping is pretty good.
Whatever you get, I’m sure you’ll absolutely love it, I wouldn’t be without mine now, and I don’t begrudge one single penny of the £360 it cost me. 😀

I have the SKA371 (I also got it from Creation)

I am very pleased with it and the quality has actually put me off an Omega for the time being. The only downside is that it is properly heavy and a bit chunkier than it looks in the pics. Suits me as I’m a fat munter, but a skinnier wrist may suffer.

Incidentally, I don’t mind if the capacitor packs in after 5 years, in my mind, it saved me about 1500 quid over something a lot fancier

Incidentally, I don’t mind if the capacitor packs in after 5 years, in my mind, it saved me about 1500 quid over something a lot fancier

A good point, well made!
I often look at more expensive watches, just on the off-chance that the lottery might cough up, and I can indulge a bit.
So far, the only watch I’ve seen that would entice me is this one:

Off-shoot of Rolex, made in the same factory, but a different Swiss auto movement. Titanium case, which Rolex don’t do, and I love the styling, and the blue lume on the ceramic bezel insert. About £2500, I believe.
Until then, my Seiko stays on my wrist.

winston_dog – Member
I bought the Seiko solar divers a few weeks ago.

I have got fed up with flat batteries or crap time keeping from automatic watches. I had bought an automatic divers watch from Chris Ward which looked great but I sent it back as it gained about 30s a day.

I have to admit winston_dog I share your frustration re the timekeeping of my ‘good’ watch.

I have the SKA371 (I also got it from Creation)

Bobba fatt…did you have to pay any custom fees? Is there a limit in terms of product value you can bring in before you pay taxes?

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Does anyone know of any issues with either these watches going a bit loopy when they are subjected to all the hand / arm vibrations us MTBers experience?

I just can’t get my head around the fact that some £2-3 k watches don’t appear to keep good time!
If they can make £100 watches that keep good time why can the same not be done to expensive ones.
Why would anyone buy a watch that is not accurate

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Does anyone know of any issues with either these watches going a bit loopy when they are subjected to all the hand / arm vibrations us MTBers experience?

No, but I did fracture my wrist riding from the vibration of a heavy watch! Took ages to heal and was a right pain.

I did fracture my wrist riding from the vibration of a heavy watch!

😯

Do you have osteoporosis?

I like the Seiko Tuna Can (not sure if that is its official name) but it looks huge on people wrists.

I just can’t get my head around the fact that some £2-3 k watches don’t appear to keep good time!

A £10 Casio quartz watch will almost certainly keep better time than most of the high end Automatic or Hand wound watches,but its not just about the time keeping on the high end stuff its the craftmans ship,design,feel,etc that your paying for(And the marketing hyperbole as well)plus a lot of people just like having a Analogue timepiece in todays digital world.

Incidentally, I don’t mind if the capacitor packs in after 5 years, in my mind, it saved me about 1500 quid over something a lot fancier

When the capacitor does go, you can buy complete kits off ebay to fit a new one, including instructions. Not hard, just need to be dextrous.

Easygirl, cheap watches are easy to make using quartz crystals for average accuracy, my G-Shock was set at the same time as my Seiko, but by last month had gained several minutes, so I adjusted the hands to a couple of minutes slow, and its now showing the correct time. The digital display is five minutes fast. My Seiko is currently about 17 seconds slow, over the same period. Thing is, I was prepared to fanny around taking the back off and adjusting it myself, which took seven or eight attempts before I got it as accurate as it is now. Most really expensive mechanical watches are built with an acceptable tolerance for accuracy, taking into account temperature variations, and its only certified chronometer’s that have to keep really accurate time.
I think people are now so used to quartz movements, especially radio controlled ones, being very accurate, that they find the slightly more variable mechanical movements to be less acceptable. It’s possible to get them a lot more accurate, but it takes some tweaking, and people like me who prefer mechanical movements are more accepting of some variation in accuracy just to have a watch that never needs batteries, and the cost involved when the batteries are changed; like £30-odd for my old TAG…
And my Seiko is actually more accurate than the TAG, which is quartz.

I like the Seiko Tuna Can (not sure if that is its official name) but it looks huge on people wrists.

I really like those, and there’s a slightly smaller ‘Baby Tuna’ which has a plastic guard around the case, but you can get stainless versions from Yokobies.

I’ve got one of these

Long battery life (c8 years)
High accuracy (c20 seconds a year)
Perpetual calendar

Unfashionably small by modern standards. Only cost about £200. Supposedly Seiko stopped making these movements because they were cannibalising sales of their expensive watches.

[quoteBobba fatt…did you have to pay any custom fees? [/quote]

Nope, can’t remember what they marked it as bit it was something ridiculous and didn’t flag up at all. Have a look on Pistonheads watch thread, there are plenty of good things said about Creation there, I have nothing but good things to say

Just had a chat with a very reputable watch repair business in Glasgow and asked for their thoughts. Without any hesitation they recommend the Kinetic movement over the auto movement. In their experience the auto’s are susceptible to vibration and shock and would eventually succumb to repeated exposure ie MTBing. Having read a little more online, it would appear that replacing a duff capacitor is relatively simple anyway. Decision made me thinks! Thanks again for your input.