Hi everyone,

With all these posts about watches I decided to check out Seiko models. They are supposed to be good analog watches and they are also good looking since I'm also interested in job interview survival and public reaction. And with nice features like sapphire crystal and all that, yet still at an affordable price (under $500). But I'd like to know which line you would rather go with. There's Perpetual Calendar, Kinetic, Automatic or a simple Sports model with no date and less expensive. I know the Kinetic collection never needs a battery but if the mechanism is going to break after 4 years as it happened to Frenchy, I'd rather change the battery than send it for repair.

Thank you
Frankie

I've never owned a high end Seiko, but I have a self winding Omega that was made in 1962, and is going strong. It has been cleaned & regulated perhaps 3 or 4 times in its life. I have had Rolex, but I persoanlly think they are ugly, and currently very, very over priced. I made money when it was stolen.

If you want a quartz watch you might check out the solar powered one available. My wife wears a Citizen solar as a “dress” watch and has had good luck with it so far (5 years or so). We both wear automatic watches day to day because we both have had rather poor luck with a watch running properly after a battery change. My buddies Seiko automatic dive watch is still going after 15-20 years of hard service and I expect to tire of my Automatic Citizen and my wife’s automatic Seiko before they ever quit keeping time.

I have 2 Seiko's, and 1 is 20ish years old and its still going strong. It was Gold, and dressy style, but it looks more silver these days. I replaced it with a Gold Pilot Watch, with the Flight computer around the Bezel (basically a round slide rule) and 2nd time zone, alarm and stop watch. 3 years old.

Both are excellent watches.

I was looking at a Chase Durer Pilot watch as well, and it actually uses the Seiko mechanism.
I also looked at the Citizen Pilot watches, but they dont handle the time zone I live in. They do have a good reputation from others that use them, and some are solar powered.

I wont buy a Kinetic, they have apparently fixed there probs, but I still wouldnt trust it.

I have a russian POLJOT chronograph that was gifted to me by a soviet ship captain.The 3133 mechanical movement is like a russian tank and very accurate. Poljots can be had for $125 for simple 17 jewel mchanicals to $300 for the 3133. Avoid Poljot international, they are not POLJOT factory made and inferior. Anything much over $300 USD is for style and prestige and not timekeeping. There is a flood of counterfeit watches euphemistically called replicas and countless 'german' watches with real pretty cosmetics. Both have awfull chicom movements that fall apart about 3 minutes ( if you have another timepiece) after the 12 month warranty expires. Even the famed swiss watches only require 10% of the parts or materials to be swiss made to be called swiss. There are numerous Horological forums with members that take watches apart with more zeal than our knife threads <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> take the time to join one and learn.

Yeah that's what I thought. I said to myself there must be similar forums to bladeforums but about horology that might be worth checking out.

Thanks for the reply Chris, which BTW are always informative and SheepDog, I wouldn't have thought that a watch wouldn't properly run after a battery change. I'll keep that in mind.

Frankie

My last watch was a Seiko (Wave? fairly basic, but with a day/date window) and lasted 18 years ... so when it finally died, I replaced it with another Seiko and I'm still happy with the quality & durability.

I have had several memorable experiences with wristwatches.

I have a very attractive Bulova automatic that requires substantial servicing every 1-2 years.

I also have a moderately expensive Sieko digital which needed only a new battery every 1-2 years until its computer went haywire at the age of only nine years. On the other hand, my wife’s 15 year old Sieko analog has required nothing but a new battery every year or so.

And finally, I bought a Casio digital for about $20. It worked flawlessly without even requiring a replacement of its battery for 15 years! We’ll see how long the second battery lasts.

Guess which watch I like best.

John

Here's one example.

http://forums.watchuseek.com/

We were loading cattle at the Fort Worth Fair stockyards. I was wearing a stainless Rolex. A big heifer kicked at me, and missed everthing except my watch, which went sailing off my wrist into another pen of cattle.

We waited until that pen had been emptied, and found my watch. It had obviously been stepped on a lot, but except for the broken band pin, it was mechanically perfect.

Rolex - hmmm - cowboying must pay pretty good these days <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

It was them days, not these days, and registered cattle paid real good -- for a while. Oh well -- prior lives

All you ever needed...
Poor Man's Watch Shop and the companion Poor Man's Watch Forum
I personally recommend the Scuba Diver's 200M rated watches (automatic of course). The only negative is that you will buy one, strap it on and won't need anything else.

Guess that leaves more money for ETS stuff.

BTW you should NOT need to spend over $299 to find a Seiko that will last a lifetime.