Watch Reviews

Grand Seiko crashed onto the horological scene in 1964 when they released their first mechanical movement. The timing of that release was not coincidence, Japan was hosting the olympic games, and Seiko were to be their official time keepers. At the start of the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo, Seiko was ready with just over 1200 official time keeping stop watches. These watches had been tested and were found accurate 1/10th of a second between examples. Accuracy was paramount to Grand Seiko and that was very clear.

The Spring Drive movement was announced in 1997 after nearly 20 years in development. This was a sure sign of a company that saw the potential and accuracy of traditional mechanical movements, and wanted to take them a step farther. Before we get too deep into that, let’s go over some specs:

• Case: 44mm
• Case Thickness: 14.7mm
• Lug to Lug: 50mm
• Lug Width: 21mm
• Weight: 6.24oz

Fit:

The Grand Seiko GMT is a larger watch, with a 44mm width, and 50mm lug to lug. The thing that makes the SBGE001 comfortable, is the way the it hugs your wrist when you wear it, this is largely due to the case thickness. It rides low and and close to your wrist. The way the watch is designed spreads the weight of the case out, I think an accurate way to describe it would be to say it’s like wearing a flying saucer on your wrist. As is common with Seiko’s they have put the crown at 4 o’clock, this prevents it from pressing into the back of your hand while you’re wearing it. I was continually reminded of a spaceship when I wore this particular piece. Maybe I just watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind too many times as a kid, but whenever I’d see this watch on my wrist in profile I kept thinking, “Mothership.”

Movement:

One of the biggest draws to the Grand Seiko line of watches is their Spring Drive Movement. Often characterized by the power reserve on the dial, the Spring Drive is known for it’s unbeatable accuracy in the mechanical watch world.

There seems to be some confusion specifically in whether the Spring Drive movement is mechanical or quartz. The simple answer to this question is, “Yes.” The entirety of the power needed to drive the movement is generated by the mainspring, which is wound in the same way an automatic mechanical movement is. From that point on, however; the movement differs significantly. There’s a complicated system of brakes and regulators that replace the traditional gear train, and what that adds up to on the user’s end is an accuracy that is advertised as +/- 1s/week, but in reality shakes out to be +/- 1s a month. It’s incredible, and by a LONG margin the most accurate watch I’ve put on my wrist.

This particular Grand Seiko Spring Drive also has a GMT module on it, allowing you to track a second time zone. The 24-hr scale is printed both on the bezel and chapter ring, technically allowing you to track three separate time zones by turning the bezel. It’s pretty cool, if you live in one zone, work in another, and need to keep track of a third. The GMT-scales are printed with odd/even numbers, even numbers on the bezel, and odd numbers on the chapter ring. The movement sets as a typical “flying” GMT would, you set the GMT to your local time zone at home, then the you get off a plane you can adjust the local hour hand in 1-hour increments without effecting the GMT time. This is opposed to a “calling,” GMT which features a quick-set feature of the 24-hr hand (allows you to quickly set it to a time-zone you need to track briefly).

The 9R66 movement has a 72hr power reserve, this is evident by the trisected power reserve dial.

Case/Crown:

I’ve always heard people compare the finishing of Grand Seikos to some of the finest watch brands coming out of Switzerland. Well, I’ll be the first to tell you they aren’t exaggerated. The steel case is beveled and polished in way specifically designed to catch the light, this watch will sit on your wrist and shine like a jewel. The top of the bracelet lugs are brushed, with a very fine grit that borders on a polished finish, it then transitions to a polished finish down the edges. The watch is extremely lustrous sitting on your wrist, it will attract attention.

The crown is signed GS in a flowing script that sets it apart from other Seiko offerings. Grand Seiko went to great lengths to have their logo sit separate from other Seiko offerings you’d never mistake the two. It’s a screw-down crown, as you’d expect from a watch with a 200m depth rating. When winding it, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever handled, it winds up like a toy. That sounds negative but I don’t have another way to put it, it feels like one of those wind-up cars you had when you were a kid. As you wind the watch you can watch the power reserve fill up, which is also very cool. I’m always looking for ways interact with my movements, from hand-winding, to using chronographs, and a power reserve is a great way to do that.

Dial, Crystal, & Bezel:

Let’s start off by talking about the crystal on this particular piece. The sapphire crystal on the SBGE001 is a large polished sapphire crystal, lightly domed, with an AR coating on the underside of the crystal. The bezel is also coated in a sapphire crystal, the bezel and the dial are separated by a polished steel ring. All of this basically adds up to a very reflective face on the watch. It catches light and reflects it like crazy, just adding to the jewel like quality of this piece. Having sapphire covering both of these elements on the face of the watch is pretty great, you’ll likely never encounter a deep gouging scratch on your bezel, but if you do somehow manage to get one, it’ll be a much bigger deal. That’s the tradeoff with sapphire, it’s very hard to scratch, but if you do, it’s MUCH more expensive to deal with.

The dial itself is busy, but done so strategically. The hour markers are polished indices, with the 12, 3, 6, and 9 markers being larger with lume inlayed into the tops. The hands are polished steel in the same way, with strips of lume running down their centers. The GMT hand is red, large, and lumed at it’s arrow point. The date window takes the place of the 4 o’clock marker, and features a LARGE numeric dial for today’s date. One of my favorite features on the SBGE001’s dial is the power reserve indicator that sits between the 8 & 9 hour markers. The PR is divided into three sections representing the three days of the power reserve. If you’re a multiple watch owner this detail is valuable, you can simply look at the dial and know how much longer this particular watch will be running accurately.

The one criticism of the SBGE001’s dial is the triple signing. It says along the top “Seiko,” then below the mid point it has “GS,” and “Grand Seiko” that paired along with the Spring Drive and GMT markings is a lot of text on the dial. As of the writing of this article, Seiko just released at Basel World 2017, that Grand Seiko will begin to operate independently of Seiko-Proper, and the models they are releasing have redacted the “Seiko,” marking. The simplification of this detail would really improve the aesthetic for me.

Alright, lastly the Bezel, as stated earlier it’s a sapphire coated bezel that overhangs the case. The edges of the bezel are serrated slightly for grip texture, and it turns easily. The example I had turned very easily, and it wasn’t unusual for me to see the dial turned accidentally throughout my day. This isn’t as critical of a detail as it would be on a dive watch, but is annoying to have to reset your GMT scale after it’s been bumped out of alignment on accident. Now, the cool part of this bezel is that the numerals are lumed so you can see the bezel at night. This detail makes it VERY cool for night Instagram shots.

Bracelet/Clasp:

Let’s get this out of the way quickly: Grand Seiko’s bracelet work is some of the nicest I’ve seen and it easily stands up to the modern Rolex Oyster bracelets that I have experienced. Traditionally, Seiko’s bracelets are generally where their watches start to show some quality differences between them and high-end Switzerland. That is not the case once you cross over into GS territory. The links of the SBGE001 bracelet are screw together, with two small cap screws on either side and a small separate rod in the middle. The bracelet has brushed center and outer-links with small polished details separating the two (reminicent of the speedmaster bracelet). The clasp is a fold-over brushed clasp with the “GS,” logo in the middle. The clasp is push button and closes extremely secure. Unlike the MM300 bracelet links, the GS links articulate in three places, this allows for a very comfortable drape over your wrist.

Grand Seiko SBGE001 – Final Thoughts

Grand Seiko is a polarizing watch brand. They suffer from something I call the “Seiko Syndrome,” which basically means that people have difficulty wrapping their mind around spending $5k for a watch that comes from the same company that sells a watch for less than $100. All of that considered, the quality is there, and the watch delivers what you’d expect out of a piece of this price point. Another fair point to make is the act of owning a Grand Seiko will separate you from other watch folks, it’ll show that you are a true horology appreciator.

I wore this watch while on a trip to Italy, and that proved to be an apt test for the accuracy, ease of adjustment, and different features of a traveler’s watch. It was a joy, easily legible, and was very cool be able to glance at the dial and see what the local time was back home. If you’re wanting something different from traditional Swiss luxury watches, and something that would be good for you to travel with, look no further than the SBGE001.

I recommend purchasing the Grand Seiko SBGE001 at Amazon. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Tudor has become synonymous with “the poor man’s Rolex,” which is a bit of a shame. Tudor has consistently been making their own movements and putting them into their own watch cases for a number of years at this point. Their movements have 72-hr power reserves and some even come COSC certified. With that said, Tudor is still using top-grade ETA movements in some of their watches, and I’ll be discussing one of their ETA equipped pieces today.

The Tudor Ranger’s roots, much like the Rolex Explorer, are in arctic expeditions and overland lore. Today, it’s a watch that you strap on your wrist when you want to feel like you’re going to walk out of your crudely constructed A-frame shelter, jump into your Land Rover Defender and continue your overland adventure to the next stop, even if in reality it’s just to and from the office, in a Camry. But first, some specs:

• Case Width: 41mm
• Case Thickness: 12mm
• Lug to Lug: 48mm
• Lug Width: 22mm
• Water Resistance: 150 meters
• Power Reserve: 38 hours

Fit

The Tudor Ranger is a joy to wear. The watch hugs your wrist closely. With such a trim case height this is no surprise. Sometimes I feel like a broken record when I describe a watch as wearing close to the wrist, but really that is the biggest area that I look at when I am reviewing watches. I feel like case height is the first thing that you’ll notice when you strap a watch to your wrist, and at a mere 12mm tall the Ranger is perfect in that area.

Movement

Ahh, the ETA 2824… what a reliable work horse you are. You’re like a Chevy small block: you always work and if for some reason you don’t nearly anyone can fix you with parts they can get from any auto zone any-day except Sunday.

Tudor uses the ETA movement perfectly in the Ranger, redacting the date and regulating the movement. The example I had kept COSC time with an excellent power reserve. My one gripe, and I read that this is common on this particular model because of the redaction of the date, is when you pull the crown out to set it, occasionally the seconds hand won’t hack (stop). This feels weird, like the movement is doing something wrong, but based on my experience and research it’s not damaging anything.

Case and Crown

The case on the Ranger is simple, brushed steel, with a trim unadorned steel bezel. The lugs are nice, relatively simple, and drilled. The latter makes changing straps a cinch with anything from a straightened paper clip, to a push pin, to an actual spring bar tool. All in all the case really classes up the watch.

The bezel is separated from the case by a polished bevel, and when the bezel catches light just right it looks awesome. The crown is large and nicely textured for grip. I did, however, find that it sticks out a lot, and can dig into the back of your hand from time to time. The length of the crown tube is a bit difficult to get used to visually. It NEVER looks like you have the crown screwed all the way down.

Dial, Crystal, and Bezel

The sapphire crystal on the Ranger is slightly domed and raised with deftly applied anti reflective coatings (I think just on the inside). The curve at the very edge of the crystal plays with the indices and markers on the dial in really cool ways making the watch very interesting to casually look at while you’re driving, or just sitting around (I can’t be the only one that does this).

The hands are simple with a spear head shaped hour hand and a sword minute, the are polished steel with a generous amount of lume set into them. The seconds hand is a dark red with a lume pip on the end. The dial is matte black with painted indices and text. The text on the Ranger is very classically styled with the Tudor rose at noon, and curved text on the bottom hearkening back to the original Ranger. The lume on this dial is generous. My first Tudor was the ETA version of the Pelagos, and I found the lume to be lackluster at best. Thankfully, the Ranger does not suffer from this problem.

Strap/Bracelet

The Ranger is available on several strap options. My version came on the steel bracelet with the woven camouflage NATO.

The bracelet is very similar the the one used by the Black Bay. Unless I am mistaken, the only difference is the end links. As we’ve seen throughout the different aspects of the Ranger, Tudor is trying to make a direct callback to the old vintage Rangers, and they really do this in the bracelet with straight end link “bars.” Comfort wise, I love these bracelets. Tudor, since they’re owned by Rolex, have a direct line into some of the nicest bracelet making in the Horological World. The Ranger bracelet doesn’t have some of the features that Rolex uses, like quick comfort or Glidelock clasps, but they do utilize the screw together construction and excellent fit and finish.

So how about that NATO? That was the the big highlight for me, Tudor utilizes the same company to make their straps as the Vatican does for their robes. The strap material is soft and supple, but also has a sturdy quality to it. It doesn’t operate like regular NATOs. Instead, it has sewn in slots for spring bars and wears like like a regular strap. The camo pattern is not dyed into the material but rather woven into the strap. It’s also sizable (as in able to be sized): the strap passes through the clasp and allows you to adjust the “tail” length to suit your wrist, and prevents you from needing to cut it.

Long story short, the Tudor NATO is easily one of the best nylon straps I’ve used, and justifies the enormous premium they command on the secondary. Only downside to them is that they’re pretty specific to what watches they’ll fit on, based on the sewn in spring bar slots.

Tudor Ranger Review – Final Thoughts

If what you’re looking for is a watch that will serve you well in your day to day life, or on an overland adventure, then the Ranger is the watch you want. Conceived in the image of watches that went on some of histories biggest adventures, modernized to be practical and reliable in today’s society, and priced to be a good budget watch in the luxury marketplace the Ranger is the watch for you. Available on the secondary market for real bargains (I’ve seen prices below 1500$) I can’t recommend this piece enough, especially to get something so closely related to Rolex.

I recommend purchasing the Tudor Ranger at Amazon. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Seiko divers are iconic. Practically every review of a Seiko diver paints a picture of a high value tool watch, and the Seiko SRP779 is no different. The SRP77X line is not a new addition to the catalog, but a reissue of the beloved Seiko 6309 (or “Turtle”). For years, buying a vintage Turtle was a way to pick up a fantastic watch on the cheap, but over the years supplies dwindled and costs rose. When the reissue was announced, it was met with mingled praise and shock, both of which were positively reinforced once the new Turtles trickled out into the market.

I’d like to do something a bit different this time and take a moment for a PSA. Most knife and gear folks I know are familiar with the concept of buying secondhand gear. Often this gear is gently used – if at all – and buying this way is easier on the wallet. This is mostly true for watches, but not in all cases. In the secondary watch market, potential buyers aren’t just looking at secondhand sales, but something known as the grey market. Grey market watches are legitimate products, in that they aren’t stolen or counterfeit, but are sold through back channels not intended by the manufacturer. Sometimes an authorized dealer needs to move a bit of product without selling it themselves; in which case, they’ll sell to a grey market dealer. Maybe someone has a source for watches sold in international markets, where exchange rates can play havoc with the price controls watch manufacturers put in place.

Whatever the source of a grey market watch, you should know that there are hidden costs associated with them. Most commonly, they won’t be covered under the manufacturer’s warranty, and that includes servicing, repairs, diagnostics, the lot. For some watches, those service costs can hit three and even four figures. Moral of the story: be an informed consumer, regardless of how you purchase a watch. I only mention all of this because I’m not entirely sure that my watch isn’t grey market, and it was a pain to figure out what that meant after the fact. With that out of the way, on to the review.

Fit

The Seiko Turtle is not a svelte watch. That shouldn’t come as a surprise: it weighs 4.28 oz, with a 44.3x48mm, 14mm tall case. The bezel does tend to catch on shirt cuffs – especially on dressier shirts – and that same height means that the wearer is more likely to scuff up the watch on doors, corners, handrails, etc. Don’t mistake my meaning: it’s not actively bothersome, just a little fussy from time to time. The horizontal dimensions of the watch have never given me any trouble. Is it a wide watch? Yes, but the lug to lug distance is actually pretty tame at 48mm (for reference, that’s a hair less than the Bertucci A-2T).

Shirt cuffs aside, this watch is incredibly comfortable. Prior to the arrival of the SRP779, I didn’t quite understand why this particular style was referred to as a “cushion case diver.” After wearing it on a near daily basis for several months, the mystery was solved. This is quite simply the most comfortable watch I’ve ever worn. Sure, it has an unfortunate tendency to pick fights with sleeves, but the same curves that start those brawls are the ones that make the Turtle superb on the wrist.

Movement

The movement Seiko uses for the Turtle reissue is the 4R36, an in-house movement that offers a few upgrades to the venerable 7s26 movement offered on the SKX line, notably the option to hand-wind the watch and a “hacking” seconds hand (that just means the seconds hand stops when you pull the crown out). Both features are desirable if you’re the sort of person with a few different watches, as they allow the watch to be part of a rotation with far less hassle. The 41 hour power reserve is no slouch in this regard either.

Of course, this was also my first experience with a mechanical (or rather, automatic) watch. To state the obvious: no, it’s not as accurate as a quartz movement. I haven’t bothered to sit down and parse out the seconds lost/gained in a day, but it does need to be reset once a month or so. Estimates online hover at +/- 15 seconds per day, but if serviced that number can be brought down. The hacking seconds hand makes adjusting the time far less onerous than it would be otherwise. Still, a mechanical movement requires more upkeep and is less accurate, so is it worth it? In my opinion: yes, but not for any reason that could be considered objective. The sweeping seconds hand is beautiful, but not a mark of performance, and while it’ll never require a new battery, getting it serviced every few years is recommended (which is undoubtedly more expensive than a new battery).

Despite the quirks, I like the mechanical nature of the SRP779. There’s just something cool about a device powered solely by the motion of the human body, of gears whirring, springs winding, and weights swinging that a battery powered watch can’t capture. You might think I’m full of it, and that’s completely fair. My only rebuttal is that much like stropping a knife, inking a fountain pen, or really any gear maintenance, there’s a meditative quality to the upkeep that makes it not just palatable, but enjoyable.

Case/Crown

The stainless steel case is simple but distinctive. Cushion case divers are certainly in the tool watch category, and the SRP779 is no exception. The top of the case has a brushed finish in a circular pattern, while the underside was given a polish on par with a mirror. This two-tone finishing provides a touch of understated class to an otherwise function driven case (though it makes photography a bit frustrating). All of this is held together by a screw down caseback.

As a recent convert from the world of quartz, I didn’t realize the emphasis watch collectors place on the crown of a mechanical watch. After reflection, it makes sense: you’ll be interacting with a mechanical more frequently, so accessibility, traction, and (dare I say it) action are part and parcel of the tactile experience. The crown of the Turtle is – as best as I understand it – quite good. It’s located at just above 4 o’clock on the case, which keeps it from poking your wrist at odd angles. The machining is even and crisp. Winding the movement and setting the time are pleasant enough, all things considered, but I’m not qualified enough to say more than that.

Dial, Crystal, and Bezel

In many respects, the dial is the most striking feature of the Turtle. The black face of the dial is marked at five minute increments with raised pips, each of which is coated with Seiko’s Lumibrite paint. Dashes indicating minute marks are found on the chapter ring, which is at a 45 degree angle to the dial. There is a day/date function at 3 o’clock with a beveled window, and sword hands complete the package. The hands are polished along the edges with Lumibrite interiors. As much as I gripe about the height of the watch above, it’s the height that accommodates all of these features, so take my complaints with a grain of salt.

Two issues regarding the dial: first, most reviews note that the chapter ring is misaligned. I’m either dense, blind, or lucky, as I haven’t noticed that on my model. Second: unlike the original Turtle, the Lumibrite pip on the seconds hand is located not at the tip, but at the rear of the hand on the opposite side of the stem. It’s not so much a flaw as an oddity. Taken as a whole, however, the topography of the dial is gorgeous, especially for someone who thus far has only experienced painted numerals on flat surfaces.

Seiko uses their proprietary crystal, Hardlex, on the SRP779. The Turtle reissue is priced right around the point that sapphire crystal becomes feasible, but as Seiko uses Hardlex on four figure plus watches, I don’t know how much I can criticize them for using it here. Despite innumerable scrapes and dings, the crystal hasn’t picked up any visible scratches. It doesn’t have the shimmer that sapphire crystal does, but in the right light the Hardlex is practically invisible, which has a charm all of its own. The depth I mentioned above is absolutely entrancing when the crystal vanishes.

There are a number of color configurations available for the Turtle reissue, and the best known is likely the black & gold variant. It’s very handsome, and it does dress the watch up, but it’s not the configuration I chose. I’ve been on a couple dives, and hope to go on more, so I chose the blue and red variant. If those options are too colorful for you, there’s always the black and silver version. After several months of wear, there are a few points where the anodizing isn’t -quite- perfect, but you’d practically need a jeweller’s loupe to notice them. It’s not something that catches the eye with a casual glance to check the time.

The unidirectional dive bezel has actually proved quite useful. I use it to time samples at work, to set rest periods while exercising, to measure how long my commute takes, and countless other minor tasks. Rotating the bezel requires enough effort that accidental engagements are rare, but not so much effort that wet or sweaty hands couldn’t set it. The machining on the lip of the bezel (I’d hate to call something this polished “knurling”) adds visual interest and improves traction. Incidentally, the bezel is unidirectional so that if you are on a dive and accidentally shift the timer, you will only ever lose time. The last thing you want is to brush your watch against some equipment and end up thinking you’ve got fifteen minutes your oxygen tank can’t corroborate.

Strap

Up to this point, many of the pictures for this review have not featured the strap the watch came with, and you may be wondering if that’s a reflection on the quality of the strap. It isn’t. The rubber strap on my SRP779 is incredibly comfortable and doesn’t look or feel cheap. Yes, it’s rubber, but in the same way that a Nikon is made of plastic. I regularly switch between the stock strap and a NATO style nylon strap. When these photos were taken the weather was a little cooler, so I didn’t have to worry about sweat leeching into the strap. Now that my region is regularly hitting triple digits, the Turtle is rubber-clad once more. Readers should note that swapping the strap is made easier by drilled lugs.

Seiko SRP779 Review – Final Thoughts

Sometimes a purchase can represent a watershed moment in your understanding of quality. I’m sure most of us remember buying our first Spyderco or Benchmade after carrying nothing but swap meet specials. It was game changer, right? I’m not trying to imply that my prior watches were on the same tier as swap meet specials; rather, that the gulf in quality between those watches and the Turtle reissue is similarly vast. Due to my inexperience in the world of watches, I can’t make an informed comparison to other watches in this price bracket, but what I can say is that the Seiko Turtle has completely reset my expectations of quality. Hopefully that’s recommendation enough.

If you are thinking of buying a Seiko SRP779 (or the 777), please consider purchasing it at Amazon. By purchasing things through any of the links on this website you support BladeReviews.com, keep the website free of annoying banner ads, and help produce future reviews. Thank you very much.

Giorgetto Giugiaro is a well known Italian designer. Giugiaro is primarily an automobile designer, and his work includes some iconic cars – most notably might be the Delorean.

But Giorgetto doesn’t just design cars. He also works with Seiko and has designed several watches. His original 7A28-7009 is worn by the character Ripley in James Cameron’s “Aliens,” and gets a couple really great hero shots in that movie. Ripley is the epitome of a sci-fi badass heroine. Now that Seiko has reissued the design in the SCED035, or Spirit Smart, we have another chance to strap one on our wrist.

Let’s go over some specs first:

• Case: 42mm including the chrono-pusher, 39mm for the face only.
• Case Thickness: 11.1mm
• Lug to Lug: 42mm
• Lug Width: 18mm
• Weight: 3.8oz

Fit:

The Ripley is the definition of an unconventional watch. The massive chrono-pusher superstructure on the right side, and the relatively small actual size of the face makes you think that this watch is going to be awful to wear. The reality couldn’t be more different. The watch measures out at a pretty svelt 42mm and the pusher block prevents any sort of crown-stabbing. In many ways the watch wears the same way a 42mm x 42mm square would, since the lug to lug is nearly identical to the case width. All-in-all the watch rides surprisingly well on my 7.25” wrist, and doesn’t look out of place, well as much as a watch like this can.

Movement:

The original Seiko Ripley came with a 7A quartz chronograph movement. The original intent behind these was to give the Swiss a run for their money. They developed a decorated 15 jewel, regulateable quartz movement, that ticked at 1/10 of a second, that were used in these watches when they were under the Speedtimer banner. The reissue has a 7T12 movement, that ticks at 1/5 a second. Accurate and high quality but not nearly as robust as the original.

That being said, this watch tracks a remarkable amount of things, including date, chronograph, split seconds chronograph, 24-hr time, and a minutes counter. This is an enormous amount of functionality out of this watch, but on one hand I think the 24-hr time is a bit superfluous. It might prove to be useful if you had the ability to set a second time zone, but I guess now it simply operates as an AM/PM function on a otherwise unused sub-dial.

Coming from my background with strictly mechanical pieces having a quartz chronograph is…a little weird, the watch is always right, always on time, and the date is always correct. There aren’t any mechanical issues that I see looming on the horizon apart from a battery hidden by a snap-on case back that might cause an unwieldy watchmaker to gouge the case when the battery change time comes. It makes you begin to wonder about the merits of having a couple quartz watches in the watch box just in case you need to grab something quickly on your way out the door.

Dial, Crystal, and Bezel:

The crystal is Seiko’s proprietary flat Hardlex crystal. I feel at this point, discussing the merits of hardlex is almost pointless. It’s decent enough material, stronger than plain acrylic, and softer than sapphire. Ultimately, the crystal will be scratched easier than sapphire (but with more difficulty than acrylic) and should that happen the polish job will be more difficult than it would be with acrylic (yet possible, unlike sapphire). That being said, the anti-reflection is very effective, making it seem as if you could reach in and touch the hands with your finger.

The dial itself is busy, but not in a chaotic way. There is a grey cutout on the lower third of the dial that houses the three sub dials, and the rest is black. The minute and hour indices are painted yellow, whereas the sub-dials are white. The minuter and hour hands are a sort of dark orange that REALLY contrast with the dial of the watch itself and the chronograph seconds is yellow to match the the smaller details on the dial.

The thing that really makes this watch readable is the contrast between the brightly colored hands and indices and the black/grey dial. The orange jumps off the background to really guide your eye at what you need to be looking at, and the yellow second hand stands out just enough to be readable when you’re using it.

Case & Crown:

The case on this particular Seiko is a beautiful matte steel case. Coming from my pocket knife background I’ve always loved bead blasted handles and cases. They can show wear, when bumped or scuffed, but in my opinion there’s nothing more beautiful than a well worn matte metal (ref the handles of a well carried Sebenza).

It’s worth mentioning at this point that the case size is extremely polarizing. There is a giant superstructure on the right side of the case that houses the chronograph pushers. The original design behind that is to make them accessible when you’re driving. This was, in fact, a driving watch, with functionality to track laps, and all that good stuff. In this scenario, it makes sense and works perfectly. However in the alien slaying application, it’s dubious, at best.

The crown, is almost totally hidden by the chromo pusher assembly, and on one hand is reasonably difficult to access and use. This is a quartz watch though, so the amount of time you’re going to need to spend adjusting the time and date is likely very little.

Strap/Bracelet:

The Ripley ships on a folded steel link bracelet. When I first saw this I figured I would immediately want to put this watch on a rubber or NATO strap because I either wasn’t going to be able to size this bracelet, or if I did get it sized, it wouldn’t be comfortable to wear. The watch came to me with the bracelet at exactly my size, from what I’ve read online these bracelets are very difficult to size and that’s something I would keep in mind. Apart from that the bracelet is comfortable, I didn’t notice any hair pulling or pinching, and it draped fairly well on my wrist.

Upon inspecting the case and lugs in person I think it would actually be difficult to get a NATO on this watch. There isn’t a ton of clearance between the springbars and case. So, providing that you can size the bracelet and like the way it looks, I think you’ll dig wearing this piece.

Seiko SCED035 “Ripley” Review – Final Thoughts

There really isn’t a more sci-fi watch you can own. If you’re a fan of science fiction, in particular the Alien’s series, this watch is a no-brainer for you. The design of the case, and chrono-pushers is clearly very polarizing. It’s EXTREMELY 80’s and would really be home in a Delorean listening to Wham! but it can also fit into a modern watch collection as a bit of a novelty piece. It still retains all the functionality that we have come to expect. I believe they will also be something of value props going forward, and will likely increase as you own them.

I recommend purchasing the Seiko SCED035 at Amazon.com. Although they don’t currently have the exact SCED035 in stock, they do have similar Seiko watches designed by Giugiaro, such as the SCED037. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

History, provenance, and heritage are all very important factors to watch collectors. We care deeply about where our timepieces came from, what they have historically done, and what elements of those two things are carried on today in their modern offerings.

Stowa is a German watch making company that has been in operation since 1927. They released their first pilot’s watch, or Flieger watch, back in 1939 and have, in one way or another, maintained that offering ever since. Stowa draws heavily from the Bauhaus school of design, particularly in their Antea model, but all of their watches in one way or another draw from the Bauhaus movement in their simplicity.

There are a lot of brands that manufacture “flieger” style watches both expensive and cheap. From the IWC and A. Lange & Söhne to Laco and Wempe. There is a reason that the Flieger is basically synonymous with the German Watchmaking industry. “Flieger,” watches were originally designed in 1935 by the Reichs-Luftfahrtministerium for the German Luftwaffe to be used by their bomber navigators to coordinate attacks. These watches were distinctive in their simplicity as well as their purpose orientation. They were set apart by a large triangle at the 12 o’clock hour that would quickly show the correct orientation of the watch, and their large luminous arabic numerals that could be easily and quickly read.

The original Flieger style watches were very, very large at around 55mm in case size, in this regard they functioned much more like a piece of avionic instrumentation than they did a piece of horological hardware. The method by which these watches were used was also particularly important to their application. They had a “hacking,” movement, meaning that when the crown was pulled out, the second hand stopped. This allowed the users to synchronize their watches all at the same time. The crowns were also large “onion,” style crowns that could be operated with ease by a gloved hand.

From this foundation the Flieger watches evolved and were modernized over time into pieces that we can and do wear today. Stowa has done a great job of taking a design they worked on nearly 80 years ago and keeping relevant but also useable by modern wearers.

But first, some specs:

• Case Width: 40mm
• Case Thickness: 9.16mm
• Lug Width: 20mm
• Lug to Lug: 46.7mm
• Weight: 4.2oz on the leather strap.

Fit

Stowa did something brilliant with the 40mm manual winding Flieger model, they made it super wearable. It’s case measures in at under 10mm thick, which compared to almost anything I’ve written about thus far is ridiculously thin. The thickness paired with a less than 5oz weight while on the strap makes this watch almost disappear while you wear it. My only real comfort-gripe would be that the oversized crown can cause some “back of hand stabbing issues,” but that’s to be expected in a Flieger style watch, oversized crowns were the norm.

Movement

Stowa basically builds their watches a la carte, so you can order a 40mm Flieger, with or without logo, date, numerals, etc. You also have the options to pick an automatic ETA movement or a hand wound movement. The particular watch I have has the Sellita SW-215 hand wound movement. Stowa also offers a larger Unitas movement in a slightly larger case that is also manual winding.

All of these movements are proven, reliable, and movements I’d happily have in a watch. My example is running at -1.2-2s/day, I’ll take that. One of the coolest things that Stowa does on their watches is putting display backs on nearly all them. In my example there is a beautifully decorated Sellita, you can watch the balance move back and forth, even see the gears move as you wind the watch. Display backs add a lot to a watch in my opinion. I love being able to see how it works.

Case/Crown

The case is a simple brushed steel case, it’s minimal in every way but the proportions lend themselves well to being worn. It’s a nearly 47mm lug to lug width, so the case doesn’t feel small on the wrist, but it remains comfortable largely due to the flat case back. The crown as stated above is an oversized “onion,” style crown. This makes it very easy to get a hold of when you need to wind the watch.

Dial, Crystal, & Bezel

The dial of the Stowa is extremely simple, it’s painted numerals at the hour markers with large minute markers all the way around the dial. At noon there is a triangle capped by two dots, this is meant to allow you to quickly recognize which way is up when you’re first glancing at the watch. Flieger watches are all about quick time acquisitions and you can tell by how the dial is laid out and what elements are emphasized. Another thing Stowa has done is lumed everything on the face of the watch, at night all the hours markers, minute markers, and hands glow brightly with C3 Superluminova Paint.

The crystal is a slightly domed, anti-reflection coated, sapphire crystal. Paired with the thin and steep steel bezel it makes the dial look huge. This helps the watch to look and wear like a larger piece. Stowa does their AR coatings very well, the crystal looks as if there is nothing but air between you and the dial. All of this works to emphasize the legibility of the Flieger style watches.

Strap

Playing into their a la carte nature Stowa offers the Flieger on a variety of straps, from riveted leather strap to a steel Milanese mesh bracelet. My example is on the simple leather strap, it’s very soft and supple, and wears extremely comfortably. The Flieger is a watch that will wear well on a variety of strap styles, I could see it being worn on anything from a NATO to a vintage styled Tropic Rubber strap.

Stowa Flieger Review – Final Thoughts

Stowa is an interesting company that offers a wide array of quality time pieces that you can choose from. They make their interpretation of a diver, dress watch, marine chronometer, and many others…

The Flieger in particular is something Stowa is well known for. They’ve been making this this style of pilot watch with minor changes for almost 80 years. The nice thing about a Flieger is that it can double as a casual and dress watch, mostly by just changing your strap option. It would be a worthwhile addition to any watch fan’s collection.

The Stowa Flieger is available directly from Stowa. However, Amazon has a wide range of Flieger style watches. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

In the 1970’s Seiko changed the watch world forever. It’s open to debate whether or not that change was a positive or a negative one, but it was changed nonetheless. It was in 1970 that Seiko unveiled the Astron, the world’s first Quartz electronic watch at Basel World. Switzerland drew back in fear. What followed was known as the “quartz crisis,” and many strictly mechanical brands didn’t survive the coming years. This is, in my opinion, Seiko’s most notable achievement in the Horological landscape. It is not, however, the only thing that sets them apart from other watch manufacturers.

For many years Seiko has made mechanical watches that were comparable to their peers in Europe. Some of these pieces have long lines of heritage and aggressively devoted fans. The vintage Seiko collector market is alive and well online.

Seiko makes a lot of strictly “tool watch” divers, like the new Turtle Reissue, the Sumo, the SKX173/SKX007, and the Tuna lines. All of these watches fall under the banner of Seiko’s Prospex, literally meaning “Pro-Specs”, or watches that can and will perform under heavy and serious use.

At the top of the heap on the Prospex line is the Seiko Marinemaster 300, or the SBDX017. The MM300 fits a weird place in a watch collector’s collection. Seiko, is typically viewed as a “budget,” brand (in spite of their super high end offerings). The MM300 sits right between entry level high end watches like some Orises and Hamiltons and true Swiss luxury watches (ex. Omegas, IWCs, Rolexes.) Let’s look a little at what goes into something like that, but first some specs:

Case: 44mm
Lug to Lug: 48.4mm
Case Thickness: 15.45mm
Lug Width: 20mm
Weight w/Bracelet: 7.1oz (201 grams)

Fit

The Marinemaster, excluding everything else, is a big watch. It wears big and looks big. Big isn’t always bad, however. On the bracelet the MM sits low and well on the wrist. When you read other reviews about this watch this is a matter of some contention. This watch wears differently on different people. On my wrist the bracelet sits well, so the watch wears well. However, if your wrist is too narrow or to large it can make the bracelet fit poorly.

On me it’s comfortable and largely unobtrusive. The crown at 4 o’clock goes a long way to make this piece easier to wear for long periods of time. At work I spend a decent amount of time standing at counters or waist height tables, and I rest my hands palm down on them while talking to people. Normally, with a watch that has a 3 o’clock crown, it can start to press into the back of my hand and feel uncomfortable. The recessed 4 o’clock crown helps with this issue.

Movement

The MM300 uses a 8L35 Automatic movement. This is an undecorated/unregulated version of the Grand Seiko 9S55 movement. It’s the pinnacle of a sports watch mechanical movement, at least that Seiko uses. It’s built for reliability and robustness. My personal example is keeping +3.4s/day. Now a certified chronometer specs require a watch to keep an average daily rate of -4/+6 seconds per day. So… my SBDX017 is keeping “Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres” (COSC) Standard. In order for a watch to be officially certified as a chronometer the movement has to be sent to the observatory in Switzerland. Obviously, Seiko does not do that and that translates into a more affordable watch for you.

All of this being said, the 8L35 movement is unregulated. This means that after the movement was manufactured it was then cased, vs. adjusted manually before being put in a watch case. Long story short, MM300’s can have a spectrum of accuracies and it really depends on which example you get. Mine is excellent, but if you read online you’ll read stories of +15/-10s a day, which is what this movement is advertised to keep. Just something to keep in mind.

Case/Crown

The case of the Marinemaster 300 is really where it begins to take on some character of it’s own. This watch is cased in a Monoblock case. This means the entire contents of the watch are loaded via the front and sealed by the crystal. There’s no removable case back. That is something that is fairly unusual when it comes to watchmaking these days. Most watches have removable case backs. The intention behind Seiko’s design here is to remove one point of ingress for water.

Apart from the Monoblock case you are treated to Seiko’s excellent finishing; beautiful bevels and transitions, crisp lines and delicate touches. The steel case is coated with Seiko’s “Diashield,” coating. Diashield is essentially a scratch/wear resistant coating that goes a long way to repel normal wear marks that your watch might acquire throughout the day. I have found Diashield to be extremely effective, and frankly, a godsend in keeping a “tool” watch looking good. If you bang your watch hard enough you will still get a scratch or a ding, but Diashield will prevent the normal day-to-day knicks pretty well. The MM300’s case is one of the highlights of this watch. It oozes quality and reliability–exactly what you’d expect from a high end diver like this.

The Marinemaster’s crown is a simple signed crown placed at 4 o’clock. The winding action is smooooooth. I find it’s smoother than some of my Swiss pieces. It is a screwdown crown, as you’d expect from a diver’s watch. The most notable trait of the SBDX017’s crown is the placement. At 4 o’clock, as I mentioned earlier, it won’t dig into the back of your hand over time.

Dial, Crystal, & Bezel

The Marinemaster’s dial is a case study in legibility. The hour indices are applied and lumed. The 6 and 9 o’clock have rectangular markers, whereas the intermediate hours are round. The noon, is an angled double rectangle. All of these markers have large “dollops” of lume set in them and the same is true for the hands. Seiko’s lume is that of legends, glowing brightly even in broad daylight. This is one area I can promise you, that will not let you down about this watch. The borders of the hands and indices are polished steel which offers a nice dimension when you’re looking at the dial at an angle. The dial itself is matte black, with painted white text. It’s a wordy dial, but I guess that depends on your perspective. Personally, I think that the text lends itself to the MM300’s “tooly” appeal, whereas other’s would prefer a simple aesthetic. So that’s up to you.

The SBDX017 takes a lot of flack for their choice to continue using a hardlex crystal on a watch that sells for over $1500. I’ve had mixed experiences with it myself. I managed to scratch the Hardlex on my Seiko Sumo, but I suspect that was more my fault than the materials. That being said, there are sapphire aftermarket options available. I like how the hardlex looks in the light, and since the “Sumo incident” I haven’t had any marks or issues on the crystal of any of my other Seikos.

Bezels, ahh bezels… After all what is a good dive watch, without a good dive bezel? The Seiko’s is perfect. Large, extremely legible, and easily used. What you want from a diving bezel, in daily use, is something that is easily (not too easily) turned and set so that you can see elapsed time. When I am wearing a diving watch, I use the bezel for everything from keeping track of breaks to timing coffee french presses. The SBDX017 does this well.

Bracelet/Clasp

One thing Seiko does not do very well, in my opinion, are bracelets. You can get OEM bracelets for most Seiko divers. This includes everything from the SKX line to the SRP line and above. The lower end bracelets feel and are cheap. With that said, the SBDX017 bracelet is polarizing. IF it fits you, it fits you really well. The catch however is that the links of the SBDX bracelet are long and don’t articulate in the middle like some brands do. What this essentially means is that depending on how the watch drapes on your wrist the links may stick out abruptly. It fits my wrist very well, and that really makes or breaks this watch. Alternatively, a friend of mine has the exact same MM300 and a link juts out where the bracelet drapes over a wrist bone. So, it really depends on how the watch fits your specific case.

The clasp on this bracelet is interesting with it’s ratcheting diving extension. You activate this by pulling up on the fold over piece and then it slides out. This can happen often by accident, and I almost always do it when I am putting the watch on. The benefit to a clasp like this is if your wrist swells a bit during a warm day you can pop it out one click to keep it comfortable. Seiko’s solution is purely functional and does not look good when expanded. There are other brands like Rolex or Omega that do this much better and maintain the aesthetic of their bracelet while expanded.

Seiko Marinemaster 300 SBDX017 – Final Thoughts

A few months ago I was leeching wifi off of a hotel bar on the island of Bequia. Bequia is the second largest island in the Grenadines, a reasonably quiet place, but still one that focuses on tourism. Along the waterfront walk of Port Elizabeth there are a few dive shops that have been there forever. While I was waiting for my photos to upload and my next umbrellaed beverage to arrive, I noticed an older guy unloading air tanks from a dive boat and hauling them into one of the nearby dive shops. On his wrist was an old Seiko dive watch.

This is the legend isn’t it? In my mind I started telling a story of this dude arriving on the island when he was younger with a knapsack, regulator, and a dive watch; and he lived the island life. In my story, he settled into island life, opened a dive shop, and had adventures. That’s the dream isn’t it? Buying a tool watch, and then just…doing life with it, using it as intended.

The SBDX017 is the perfect piece for that. It’s robust, it’s durable, and it can take you anywhere. It also takes a big wrist to wear. Some people might have a little heartburn spending the money on a Seiko, but they are truly great. There are other diver’s from Seiko that you could go with, a Turtle or perhaps a Sumo, but the MM300 is top of the heap.

I recommend purchasing the Seiko Marinemaster 300 SBDX017 at Amazon. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.