Watch Reviews

I’ll never forget my first time walking into an Omega boutique and looking at all the shiny watches. A friend of mine, the one that initially introduced me to watches, took me there to admire his grail and ultimately discover a few of my own. Since that time I’ve had the privilege of owning and wearing several Omega watches and my buddy has attained (and daily wears) his grail Planet Ocean. In fact, my first ever “nice,” watch was an Omega Seamaster GMT 2534.50 that I wore for a long time, but ultimately sold for reasons that escape me now.

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Since then I’ve owned several versions of the classic wave dial Seamaster, numerous variations of the Speedmaster, and even a Planet Ocean but all of this to say… For some reason, I am drawn back to Omega, like a moth to the flame… That brings me to my most recent acquisition, the Omega Seamaster Diver 300 Ceramic. The most modern iteration of the Seamaster Professional series (although soon to be ousted by the new—new wave dial coming from Basel this last March). Before we get too far, let’s go over some specs:

(All Measurements are my personal measurements and may differ from manufacturers specs)

• Case Width: 41.5mm
• Case Thickness: 13.1mm
• Lug to Lug: 47.3mm
• Depth Rating: 30Bar (300m)
• Weight: 5.9oz on the bracelet
• Movement: Omega 2500D Co-Axial Movement
• Lug Width: 20mm

Fit

There are some watches that really feel like the manufacture nailed some sort of “golden-mean-symmetry” balance and created a watch that just works on the wrist. Other’s work fine, but have some minor comfort issues that you have to overlook like, the crown digging into your hand, or the lugs being overly long and overhanging your wrist… but the SMPc hits those special measurements.

This watch is a dream to wear, with lugs that gently drape over your wrist and a thickness that keeps the watch from getting in the way of your day to day life. I think this is what keeps pulling me back to the SMP series—they really are a joy on the wrist.

Movement

The Omega 2500 Co-Axial movement has been around since 1999 and was Omega’s first wide-scale implementation of using Co-Axial movements in their watches. The 2500 is also not without its flaws and issues. There are five generations of the 2500 starting with the 2500 itself and then progressing to the 2500A, B, C, and finally D.

Some of these earlier movements suffered from some rather serious performance issues. Instead of chronicling all the reporting that has been done on the generations of the 2500 movement, and opinions that have been spread around about whether the C generation is reliable, or if the D is the only one to buy, I’ll say this: I’ve owned a couple watches with movements that were derived from the same 2-level coaxial technology. One of them was an early on Co-Axial Speedmaster that DID have issues and needed to be serviced. All of the rest have been perfectly fine.

In addition to this, the SMPc’s were released after the 2500D movements were released, and they all feature the new, reliable design of this Co-Axial movement. So strictly speaking if you buy the newest ceramic bezeled version of the Co-Axial Seamaster, you’re getting the latest version of the movement, and there’s nothing to worry about. In addition to that, I can say that my watch is keeping phenomenal time, gaining roughly 1.5s/day. Hard to beat that.

Case and Crown

The SMPc’s case is pretty straightforward with nice brushing along the sides, and polished twisted bevels on the lugs. The thinness of this case is pretty remarkable, and as I said in the fit section above, really makes this watch a joy to wear. The case-back is also pretty good lookin’ featuring Omega’s trademark Hippocampus and the laser etched Omega logo along the side.

As for the crown, the Seamaster has two, one primary crown at 3 o’clock that you’d expect, and the one for the Helium Escape Valve at 10 o’clock. The crown is signed with an Omega logo and nicely textured to good grip when loosening it screwing down. The crown guards on these Omegas have always struck me as pretty interesting. They almost appear to rise off the side of the watch and gently hug the crown. There’s not much to say about the HEV crown at 10, except that you’ll never use it unless you want to fidget with something, and some people get some real heartburn over it being there at all. I’ll let you decide for yourself.

Dial, Bezel, and Crystal

As always, top-down: The domed sapphire crystal is very well executed on this watch. Omega does a great job with the AR coatings, and in the right light, it can look almost as if the crystal isn’t there. Also, while it is domed, it doesn’t stick up so much that it will be a “snag-hazard,” there’s nothing that’s gonna protrude on this watch.

The bezel is where the modernity of the new SMPc’s starts to show itself. As the “c” would suggest in the name, these bezels are ceramic with a sort of matte grey numeral all the way around. There is also a lume pip at the 60-min mark that generally sits at noon. This bezel looks gooooood. The ceramic matches the deep blue (or black if that’s your style) of the dial perfectly and shows a ton of complexity as the light plays across it. It’s also a 120-click rotating bezel that’s a joy to actuate, snapping into each half-minute position with positive authority. While I would have loved to see some additional lume on the bezel like the Pelagos has, it would largely be vestigial and I am pleased as-is.

And the dial; as you look at the watch you’ll begin to see some subtle changes from the older non-ceramic Seamasters, and really, you should as there are nearly 20-years that separate the designs. The hour indices are applied with beautifully polished (I assume) steel surrounds, filled to the brim with lume. The Omega logo just under the noon-double-indices is applied and polished, as is the “Omega” beneath that. The depth of the dial’s color is also quite something to behold as well. I’ve always liked the wave dials, but the deep glossy blue dial is superb.

The lume itself is worth remarking on, Omega always does a good job on lume. On the SMPc they’ve mixed lume colors, with the primary color being blue on the hour hand, and indices, but the minute hand and diving bezel pip’s lume is green. A cool touch if you ask me.

I wanted to specifically address the hands on this watch. The skeleton hands have been a hang-up for me, and probably been the biggest reason I’ve avoided buying this watch for years. I still do not like the skeleton hands from the older wave dialed versions of the SMP, but the newly updated handset on the SMPc are excellent. Polished, with amply applied lume they catch the light in the same way as the applied indices and Omega script/logo. All this to say, the SMPc has converted me to the skele-hands, at least somewhat.

Strap/Bracelet

Omega’s bracelets have always been excellent. They articulate nicely and drape well over the wrist. This bracelet is no different. It’s slightly dressier than the “Speedy Bracelet” the Speedmaster or 2254.50 comes on, but the varying brushed and polished surfaces are nice. Omega has also moved away from pin/collar construction for screw links. That’s always good. This watch will also be amazing with a NATO strap if you want to trend a bit more on the casual. side.

Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Ceramic Review – Final Thoughts

So, all of this to say, I am extremely impressed by the Omega Seamster 300M in Ceramic. Omega always does a good job, but it’s easy to see here why this model has remained a classic and has also remained largely unchanged in design for years. Omega has made some small improvements with each iteration, but no drastic changes. That being said, it’s worth looking into the newer version coming out later this year (2018) to see if perhaps you want to wait for that instead of grabbing one of these right now. Either way, you’re going to wind up with a watch that will serve you for years to come.

Omega Men's O21230412003001 Seamaster Analog Display Automatic Self-Wind silver-Tone Watch

• Round watch in stainless steel featuring blue dial with contrasting stick and dot markers
• 41 mm case with synthetic-sapphire dial window
• Automatic self-wind movement with analog display
• Stainless steel link bracelet with fold-over clasp
• Water resistant to 300 m (984 ft)

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Editor: I recommend purchasing the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M Ceramic at Amazon or Jomashop. Please consider that buying 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.

Also, if you like the watch reviews, here is a link to all our watch reviews.

If you don’t have a Casio G-Shock, you don’t have a complete watch collection. I sincerely believe that. Some people would tell you that you need an Omega Speedmaster or a Rolex Submariner, but let’s realistic about this – those are great watches, but I think one of the foundational cornerstones to any watch collection is a solar, atomic, G-Shock.

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In 1981 Kikuo Ibe set out to design a resilient watch after experiencing an unfortunate incident with a mechanical timepiece. Ibe wanted his watch to be thin, able to withstand impacts, and water resistant to a respectable depth. The first model of Casio G-Shock to come out was the DW-5000, and the watch we’re looking at today is roughly based on that watch. The GW-M5610BC-1JF is one of the classic “square G’s” with a couple special tweaks that we’ll get into later… First some specs:

(All Measurements are my personal measurements and may differ from manufacturers specs)

• Case Width: 43.2mm
• Case Thickness: 12.7mm
• Lug to Lug: 47.7mm
• Depth Rating: 20Bar (200m)
• Weight: 4.2oz on the Combi-Bracelet
• Movement: Casio 3159 Module
• Lug Width: N/A — I know some folks swap out the straps/bracelets on their G’s, I don’t and it looks hard to do.

Fit

I have previously reviewed one of Casio’s Master’s of G, which while very cool in terms of functionality and robustness, can often times require a compromise when it comes to comfort. That is not the case with the 5600 Series watches. They are very trim at 12.7mm thick, and all of the band options that Casio offers are quite comfortable.

These watches likely are some of the most worn timepieces in existence with their entry-level brethren being available from places like Target and Walmart for sub-$50 (See the DW-5600E-1V). I feel like a good amount of this success has to be due to their unobtrusiveness on the wrist. They really are the put-on-and-forget type watches.

Movement

The GW-5610BC has Casio’s module 3159 inside of it. As with all of the Casio modules, there is an enormous amount of functionality packed into this watch including but not limited to a world time view, 4-alarms, chronograph (stopwatch), and a countdown timer. All of these functions are powered by G-Shock’s solar technology meaning that the watch’s face acts like a solar cell and can charge the battery when exposed to light.

Lastly, my favorite feature of this particular watch, the atomic-syncing functionality. The 3159 receives time calibration radio signals syncing the time with the atomic clock once a day. Effectively making the timekeeping accuracy of the movement a moot point when you factor that any deviation would be corrected every 24-hours.

Case and Crown

If you’ve ever handled a G-shock you are probably familiar with their rubber/resin coated bodies, buttons on either side to use the features, and recessed flat dial. The 5610BC is no different, and has a result it retains of the biggest flaws present on the smaller G-Shocks; there are four buttons on either side of the watch that activate the features, cycle through modes, and turn on the backlight. On the 5610BC the buttons are fairly small and recessed, this keeps them safe from damage or accidental actuation, but it also makes them difficult to use. I generally have to press them with my fingernail, not a deal breaker but worth pointing out.

The case itself is very nice. Thin, not super big, wears much smaller than the numbers would suggest. The size, as I discussed in the fit section, is probably what makes this model so popular. The dial is nicely recessed and protected by a resin bezel. As with other G’s Casio has used a steel case-back as well. I would imagine this helps to ensure the water resistance (20Bar).

Dial, Bezel, & Crystal

Unlike most other watches this portion of a 5600 series G-Shock is pretty straightforward. The bezel is integrated into the case and really only serves to protect the crystal/display. On the display you have two primary pieces of information being communicated: In the top right you’ll see the day, month, and date. Then filling the lower half of the display is the time, or if you’re in another mode whatever salient piece of information you would expect at that point. At the very bottom you have a couple small indicators for the charge level of the solar battery, and then a notification of the alarm status (so you can see if an alarm is activated before heading into a movie or something).

The crystal is called “inorganic-glass,” which leads me to believe that it is likely a mineral glass crystal. This is fairly unremarkable, and I feel pretty confidently that if the crystal encountered anything with any real force it would mark or break. That being said, the G-Shock’s design excels at diverting damage away from the face of the watch, I’ve never had a problem with it.

Strap/Bracelet

Most G-Shock’s come on a perfectly acceptable rubber style bracelet that’s built more-or-less integrally into the case. The particular variant we are discussing today comes on Casio’s rather brilliantly designed Combi-Bracelet. As the name suggests, the bracelet is a combination of polymer and steel, the outer links being for former and the center links being the latter. Each link is held together by a set of small spring bars.

I haven’t seen a bracelet constructed in this manner before. I’m not positive on the strength of this construction, but the bracelet is comfortable to wear and easy to adjust. The biggest difference in my experience with this bracelet is, it really makes the G-Shock feel like a “real” watch. I’m not really sure how else to describe this sort of intangible, but there’s a different feeling with the bracelet compared to one without.

Casio GW-M5610BC Review – Final Thoughts

So, what’s the deal with the 5610BC? I think when it’s all said and done you’re getting one of Casio’s most capable G-Shock models, that includes their solar and atomic technology while also including a bracelet. This is my favorite iteration of the classic G-Shocks, and while they may be difficult to find, they are generally available on amazon.com or eBay. Everyone needs a G in their collection. I suggest this one.

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Editor: I recommend purchasing the Casio GW-M5610BC at Amazon or Jomashop. Please consider that buying 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.

Also, if you like the watch reviews, here is a link to all our watch reviews.

Something that comes up surprisingly infrequently when it comes to watches is the question, “What role does this item play in my life?” Timekeeping is the answer less often than I would anticipate. For me however, accuracy and reliability really are paramount. The advent of the quartz movement exemplified that accuracy did not always have to come at a great expense. Quartz watches primarily were coming out of Japan and the Swiss suffered as a result.

Buy the Longines Conqeust VHP at JomaShop

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During the panic of the Quartz Crisis during the 1970’s and 80’s Swiss watchmakers struggled to find a solution to the dwindling revenue and customer base. One of the most notable attempts came from Longines in 1984 in the form of the VHP movement (Very High Precision). This movement emphasized accuracy, shaving down the time keeping variation to fractions of a second per month. Ultimately, as mechanical watches rebounded, the Longines VHP’s were discontinued and the mantle of HAQ (High Accuracy Quartz) fell to others. But now they have returned. Longines announced the reintroduction of the VHP series in 2017 at Basel, and that’s what we’re looking at today, the Longines Conquest V.H.P. First off, some specs:

• Case Width: 41.45mm
• Case Thickness: 12.19mm
• Lug to Lug: 49.79mm
• Lug Width: 20mm
• Weight: 5.3oz (on bracelet)

Fit

The VHP is a fairly low-impact watch in your daily life. In a way, I suppose on the wrist the VHP is relatively unremarkable. When we’re discussing how a watch fits on the wrist; “unremarkable” is a good thing. The VHP is available in a 41mm case and a 43mm case. The 41 is pretty much perfect on my 7.25” wrist. You want a watch to fold itself into your day-to-day activities and wardrobe, not stick out and be conspicuous… at least not in respect to comfort. The VHP excels at this.

Movement

The caliber L288 Longines VHP Quartz movement was developed in partnership with Longines and ETA under the Swatch umbrella. This movement is what really sets the VHP apart in my eyes. Previous to this watch I have owned both a Breitling Aerospace (actually a couple of them) and an Omega X-33 both HAQ (high accuracy quartz) watches with a ton of value and functionality. Both the Omega and the Breitling movements are spec-ed to get +/- 10s variance per year. While this is already remarkable, Longines wanted to make the most accurate non-radio controlled watch available on the market. In their attempt, they achieved a movement that cut the previous annual variance in half. The Longines VHP’s average +/- 5s a year. That may seem like splitting hairs, but to my knowledge, they only have one other peer in the Citizen Chronomaster.

In addition to the timekeeping of the L288, Longines developed a couple other really great features. Firstly, the watch has a power saving mode. To access it you pull out the crown and leave it. After 1-2 minutes the hands will all snap to noon and remain there. While in this mode the watch continues to keep time, but the hands do not move, saving power. To exit power saving mode simply push the crown in and the second hand will snap to time, the minute/hour hands rotate and resume timekeeping, and the date window will also tick over to the correct date if it’s been longer than 24 hours since you last wore it.

The L288 also features an anti-magnetic/anti-shock protection system called GPD or “Gear Position Detection.” To, I’m sure, vastly over simplify how it works; the GPD remembers the position of the hands at all times. When the watch encounters a magnetic field or a shock from a drop the hands freeze till the interruption passes, then snap back to the correct position and resume timekeeping.

Lastly, setting the VHP is a unique experience unto itself. Longines makes use of what they call a “magic crown,” which allows you to adjust the minute’s hand in tiny increments, or with a fast turn, it will advance one entire hour at a time. When you pull the crown out and turn it, the second hand snaps to noon to allow you to easily sync the watch with atomic time when you’re setting it.

Case

The case on the VHP is pretty low key. You can tell that Longines really wanted to focus on the other elements of the watch and kept the case low key so as not to distract. I think if there’s one area I could critique this watch it would be the case. It seems unnecessarily thick. A friend of mine whom also bought a VHP said that it seemed as if Longines simply shoe-horned the VHP movement into the regular Conquest line’s case. I can agree with that, it seems overly large for a quartz watch.

Dial, Bezel, and Crystal

The bezel on the VHP is a polished steel bezel reminiscent of the Tudor Oysterdate’s or a Rolex Datejust. This is an element that I feel classes the watch up, but could also result in an area that could exhibit heavy wear. I generally prefer brushed finishes over polished.

The dial has a concentric circle pattern radiating out from the middle, making the black dial look almost grey-ish in certain light. I really like this touch. I think it classes up the watch a lot. It reminds me a bit of the wave dial on Omega SMPs. All of the hour markers and the Longines logo are applied with the noon and six o’clock marker being large polished numerals. The hands are polished sword hands with generous amounts of lume applied to them. The second hand is red tipped and lines up with the second markers on the dial perfectly with each tick.

Lume is also applied to the hour markers with the exception of the large numerals. All-in-all the lume is sufficient for practical use (telling the time during a movie) but not exceptional. Last little detail to pick out is the date window at 3. It has a small white outline, but the date wheel itself is black. (One cool detail on the date is after 31 and before 1 there is a Longines symbol that rolls passed.)

Lastly, let’s talk about the crystal. Flat sapphire with really, really nicely done AR making you think you can almost reach in and touch the dial itself. Not much else to say there. Well done Longines.

Strap/Bracelet

Okay, the VHP comes on a really nice steel bracelet that has a butterfly clasp and uses split pin construction for the links. On my wrist, the bracelet is nicely done, with a brushed finish and polished sides. The catch with this bracelet is, to my knowledge, Longines does not have half links available. My wrist fits fine with two links removed. However, my buddy’s wrist the bracelet is too big with two removed and too small with three, so he’s been exiled to NATOs only. That may be an issue for some of you. Apart from this potential issue, I love the bracelet.

Longines Conquest V.H.P. Review – Final Thoughts

To put a bow on this watch… I love it. I was extremely interested in the technology that Longines and ETA pioneered in this piece, but then I stayed for the aesthetic. It’s a sharp looking watch that would be equally at home in a dresser environment as it would with jeans and a t-shirt. The Longines VHP’s are available for around $1000 and come in two different sizes 41 and 43mm. There is also a VHP Chronograph available if that’s your bag.

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Editor: I recommend purchasing the Longines Conquest VHP at Amazon or Jomashop. Please consider that buying 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.

Also, if you like the watch reviews, here is a link to all our watch reviews.

Generally, when someone gets into watches one of the first places they’re going to go is either Seiko or Citizen. This will generally dictate your brand allegiance from the start and it may prove difficult for you to look elsewhere. Myself, the first watch I ever wore with serious intent was a Seiko SKX009 that I bought off my buddy Zach nearly 5 years ago. So, as the rule would go… I never really consider Citizen, until now.

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I actually sort of stumbled into this Citizen Promaster Diver as a trade for something else. I’ve always been a fan of the Seiko Tuna and figured this looked pretty similar. When it first arrived and I opened it, I laughed to myself, this watch is almost as-if Citizen wanted to create a parody of the Tuna, but also create a watch that would stand by itself as a dive watch. If that was in any way their intention, they succeeded. Anyway, specs first:

(All Measurements are my personal measurements and may differ from manufacturers specs)

• Case Width: 48mm
• Case Thickness: 18.6mm
• Lug to Lug: 54.5mm using the lug adaptors, otherwise, the rubber strap attaches directly to the case
• Weight: 6.6oz on the custom canvas strap I’m using
• Movement: Citizen Calibre B873 Eco-Drive Movement
• Lug Width: Using the adaptors it’s 24mm, without it’s proprietary

Fit

The Citizen Promaster Diver, or EcoZilla as it’s affectionately called, is a massive watch in every way. It’s tall, it’s wide, it’s chunky, but… similar to the Seiko Tuna it wears pretty trimly. I believe this is largely to do with how compact it is lug-to-lug. The strap descends immediately down from the lug (or lug adaptor) instead of arching across your wrist. In my experience this makes the watch wear smaller than it “should.”

The watch is also a “lefty,” in that the crown is on the left side of the case, so when worn on your left wrist it can’t dig into the back of your hand. This does require that you take the watch off to adjust it, but we’d do this anyway, right? I guess, the one downside to this watch is the height, there’s really no way around its 18mm-ness. It’s tall, it’s gonna get knocked into things, but in the end, it’s a no-nonsense tool watch and that’s what it lives for.

Movement

The Eco-Drive technology that Citizen uses is something that they have been developing for a long time. It’s part of their efforts to make watches that are powered strictly by the sun. In 2007 Citizen estimated that they have avoided the disposal of over 10m watch batteries by using the Eco-Drive movement, a remarkable feat if that figure is accurate.

The movement itself is pretty straightforward, quartz regulated, with a date complication. The Citizen Calibre B873 boasts an impressive 180-day power reserve, so… if the watch was exposed to bright sunlight it would take 11 hours to fully charge, on a cloudy day 40 hours, and 8” under a 30w fluorescent bulb 130 hours. Which seems like a lot until you realize that unless you lock it in a light-tight box, it will always be passively absorbing some energy. Anyway, very cool tech, and a good workhorse of a movement. According to the writing on the case-back, it’s anti-magnetic as well.

Case & Crown

The case is massive. If you, like me, measure watches in measurements of Oreos, this is solidly 1.5 double stuff Oreos on the wrist. As I said in the intro, it wears very much like a Seiko Tuna, the lug to lug is fairly diminutive on the wrist. It has a very solid build feel though, nothing rattles, the bezel is tight (but useable) and it just feels “monolithic,” on your arm.

The crown, however, is a little bit if a different story. It’s a bit fiddly, can be a little tough to catch the threads when you’re screwing it down, but I believe due to the quartz nature of the movement you shouldn’t be adjusting it that often. It’s unlikely that you’ll encounter these issues more than a couple times a year.

Dial, Bezel, and Crystal

Alrighty, top-down; the bezel is large and in charge (there’s a theme with this watch…) there are polished scallops on the bezel between the elapsed time indicators. Between the bezel and the crystal is a marked ring with indicators for the individual minutes. The bezel itself is a nice 60-clicker, works well, turns with just the right amount of force, it’s a good bezel.

The crystal is a flat mineral crystal not much to say there. The dial, well, it looks small compared to the case. The whole watch has a “cartoon-y” appearance to it; from the small dial to the large numbers on the bezel. It’s super legible, however, with the oversized hands and the orange minute hand. (These continue the cartoon-y theme in my opinion.) A note on the lume, it’s blue and pretty bright. Seiko is still the lume king, but the Citizen’s is perfectly adequate for your needs.

Strap Options

The Citizen Promaster Diver comes on a rubber strap that actually screws onto the case itself. I’ve tried on the Rubber strap, but almost immediately switched to using lug adaptors and a canvas strap. The watch does wear nicely on the wrist with either option. The OEM rubber is a nice vented strap with a substantial signed buckle and keeper. I just prefer the look and feel on canvas, and that would be my suggestion.

Citizen Promaster Diver BJ8050-08E Review – Final Thoughts

Alright, to wrap up my look at the Citizen Promaster Diver, I think it’s important to say that I’m not sure this watch is right for most people. I think it ‘could’ be right for anyone that’s looking for a supremely over engineered dive watch but, it’s going to wear large and look large so you need to be comfortable and ready for that. I am a fan, but admittedly it doesn’t see a ton of wrist time, I generally opt for slimmer pieces. They are very affordable though, so that’s a good plus. You can find them on Amazon new for just over $250, and used they generally go for $180ish.

Sale

Citizen Men's Eco-Drive Promaster Sea Dive Watch in Stainless Steel with Black Polyurethane strap, Black Dial (Model: BJ8050-08E)

• Iconic Promaster watches with advanced functions designed to venture to the deepest depths.
• 3 Hand, Date
• Silver-Tone Stainless Steel
• Luminous Hands and Markers and Anti-Reflective Mineral Crystal
• 300 Meters Water Resistant and 5 Year Limited Warranty

$404.95

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Editor: I recommend purchasing the Citizen Promaster Diver BJ8050-08E at Amazon or Jomashop. Please consider that buying 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.

Also, if you like the watch reviews, here is a link to all our watch reviews.

The internet is a terrible place. Sure, it’s led to countless advances, enabled markets that never would have existed otherwise, and allows us humans to keep in touch with each other in ways never seen before, but it also pushes me to make stupid decisions with my money on a regular basis. For example: if there were no internet, there’d be no 555Gear. If there were no 555Gear, I wouldn’t have stumbled across this video of the Seiko Alpinist. If I didn’t stumble across that video, I wouldn’t be typing this right now with a Seiko Alpinist on my wrist.

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Without the internet – or more specifically, the online watch community – it’s likely that the Alpinist would be relegated to obscurity outside of Japan. That’s not an indictment of the watch, mind. It’s just that the Alpinist doesn’t really have much name recognition to draw on prior to 1995. Versions older than that bear no resemblance to the modern SARB017, which was released in 2006 and has grown to be a hit among watch enthusiasts.

Fit

The Alpinist is a small watch by modern standards. At 38mm wide by 12mm tall, it’s an altogether different experience compared to my usual go-to, the Seiko Turtle. If the Turtle is the largest watch I can wear, the Alpinist is probably the smallest. The 38mm case doesn’t look undersized on my 7.25” wrist, but anyone with larger wrists should definitely try it on prior to purchase. Thankfully the case isn’t tall enough to attract the attention of nearby door knobs.

Movement

Ticking away inside the Alpinist is Seiko’s 6R15 movement, which is frequently found in middle and upper tier Seiko watches. Introduced in 2006, the 6R15 is a derivative of the venerable 7S26, though it adds hacking, handwinding, and a 50 hour power reserve. The product literature states that it shouldn’t gain more than 25 or lose more than 15 seconds per day, and my dalliance with a time tracking app indicates that the Alpinist is losing an average of 5.3 seconds a day – pretty good rate, all told. Resetting it once or twice a month has kept me on time, and doing so isn’t a hassle thanks to the hacking seconds hand. Additionally, the Alpinist’s movement features Seiko’s Diashock system, which allows the movement to better absorb impacts or falls.

Case and Crown

The case is stunning, if simple. Most of the surfaces have such a high polish that light runs across it like liquid. Yes, it will scratch easily: mine has picked up several already, despite all efforts to the contrary. They’re small enough that some polishing cloth could likely remove them, but for now they don’t detract from the aesthetics. As this is designed to be a mountaineering watch, it’s no surprise that the Alpinist doesn’t feature a display caseback, but instead has an engraved steel plate.

The Alpinist has a signed crown at 3 o’clock and a smaller, unsigned crown at 4 o’clock. The former is the primary crown, and is used to wind the watch and set the time and date, while the latter is used to rotate the internal compass bezel (which will be discussed below). Both crowns are expertly finished and feature large ridges instead of knurling or a similar pattern, although the ‘valleys’ between ridges on the primary crown are machined for a bit of extra grip. It’s a subtle touch, but appreciated.

Dial, Bezel, and Crystal

Of course, the true draw of the Alpinist is the sunburst green dial. It possesses an odd (and difficult to photograph) characteristic: the color and texture of the dial changes depending on the light. In shade, it’s darker, smoother, and softer, almost like mossy undergrowth; direct sunlight, on the other hand, brings out warm undertones and sharpens the slight texture on the dial. The golden hands, numerals, and indices work surprisingly well in both cases. Seiko’s choice of cathedral hands lends an elegance to the design, even if I can’t shake the feeling that they’d look perfectly at home in Middle Earth.

Given the dressy aesthetic of the dial and hands, one would expect some of the technical notes to detract from the cohesiveness of the design. Oddly enough, that isn’t the case. The interior of the hands are painted with Seiko’s Lumibrite, and there are lume pips on the dial just over (or under, depending on your perspective) each numeral and indice. They’re unobtrusive during the day, but sadly they’re also quite small, which means the luminance fades quickly, especially on the pips. The hands retain their glow – albeit faintly – for an hour or two.

As mentioned above, the Alpinist does have an internal rotating compass bezel, which can be used to approximate your bearing. It only works in the Northern Hemisphere, and you need to know the position of the sun to use it, but I suppose it’s a handy backup. I’d never forego a real compass because of this. Luckily, it works fine as a timer. It’s not as easy to use as the dive bezel on my Turtle, but I can still use it to time rest periods at the gym or flush cycles on the job. Regrettably, it wasn’t implemented all that well: when changing the bearing, it will, on occasion, derail from whatever track it’s on and shift a bit. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it is an annoyance.

Strap and Bracelet

If the Alpinist has a true Achilles heel, it’s the included strap. There is not a single positive thing to be said about it. The faux-alligator leather looks and feels plastic; it’s not even suitable for formal wear, which is what such a strap -should- be ideal for. What’s more, it’s not simply ugly: it’s uncomfortable to boot. The padding in the strap prevented the Alpinist from sitting comfortably on my wrist, and it never broke in to a noticeable extent.

Luckily, there are plenty of good aftermarket straps available for the 20mm lug width. I alternate between a Worn and Wound Model 2 and a ToxicNATOS Shiznit in jungle green, and those suit my needs well. The stainless steel OEM bracelet is spoken well of online, though I can’t personally vouch for it.

Seiko SARB017 ‘Alpinist’ Review – Final Thoughts

Ignore my grousing in the introduction. Yes, the purchase may have been ill-advised, but it’s certainly not one I regret. The Alpinist is a beautiful watch that I wear all the time. It’s flaws – the awful strap and the wiggly compass bezel – are easy to fix and ignore, respectively.

There’s not much in the way of competition for the Alpinist, as there aren’t any other watches that fill the same niche. There are other field watches, other dress watches, other casual watches, but none of them have the look or feel of the Alpinist. That’s not to say that other watches aren’t as beautiful, accurate, or well made as the Alpinist – far from it – but that the Alpinist is unique enough that finding competitors is difficult.

Those unique characteristics are also why I can freely recommend this watch to anyone that’s interested in it. It can be dressed up or down depending on your needs, and there’s honestly nothing else quite like it out there.

Next up: the Rike Thor4s.

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