SEIKOSNZG09K1 Men's Automatic Analogue Watch with Fabric Strap, Green/Green, 42 mm, Strap
K**O
Love, Love LOVE...
Fantastic time-piece. Although I was given a very nice Wenger Swiss watch years ago, and have owned several cheap Casio Illuminators' (which are awesome, btw), this is my first self-purchased nice watch. After a few months of researching, I settled on this beaut and couldn't be happier.Watch: Automatic (self-winding) with attractive see-thru back so you can see all of its internal glory. Matte-like bead-blasted; finish for the dial that gives it a rugged, handsome look. Large twelve hour numbers on outer ring with smaller military time numbers on inner ring. Day/Date at the 3 o'clock position in English and French (many people guess Spanish or Italian, but the Saturday/Sunday abbreviations give it away, as only French has Samedi/SAM (Saturday) and Dimanche/DIM (Sunday)). As other have pointed out, this watch's automatic engine is a twenty-four hour cycle (vice a twelve hour engine), meaning if it "rolls" to the other language at noon, you're twelve hours off. Just roll it back exactly twelve hours to get back on track, and minimize adjusting from between about 8pm and 4am (this is when the inner mechanism starts rolling the day on its own). The face of the watch is an attractive dark green. The lume is excellent; almost too bright if coming from outside to a darkish room. It really, really pops. Seiko states its good for 100 meters underwater (~300 feet), but without a screw-down crown I would not feel comfortable going that deep with this watch. Perfectly suited for swimming and water sports, though. Lastly, it is a bit on the larger side, but "wears it's well. Many watchmakers are creating ridiculous sun-dial sized time-pieces. This watch, for me, is large enough to be both attractive and functional in low-light field conditions, without being obnoxious.Band: A lot of reviews give this band guff, but it is a nice, durable band that should withstand normal to moderate use. It has a leather reinforcement along the fastener-holes so the band doesn't start pulling apart there. They also melted or sealed the end of the band to prevent fraying. If you like some other fancy watch band, that's fine, but this strap is perfectly usable and should last for years. Yes, when it reaches the end of its life I'll probably get a G10/NATO replacement, but I'll wager that five to ten years in the future.Summary: I'm notoriously, um, frugal, although I understand the concept of a good value, vice simply buying the cheapest thing and then regretting how it doesn't quite meet your needs. Seiko does have a cheaper automatic watch in same color scheme at about two-thirds the price, but its size and water resistance weren't up to snuff for me. Several brands make budget automatic watches, but quality appears very sketchy. This is a reliable, accurate, affordable and practical watch from one of the most trusted names in horology. It might not have the most up to date, hackable movement, but instead packs a quarter-century proven movement that I prefer to less well-proven designs./*Two month update: I set the time on this watch when I first got it, and have been wearing it almost continuously, even at night. I pretty much only take it off for showers and working out/yardwork. Being non-hackable, it is tough to set exact, millisecond-level precision, but over the past two-months my watch is now ~3 to ~5 seconds fast. I continue to be super impressed. (05NOV2018) */
R**A
Great Military Watch!
As a lover of mechanical military and pilots watches as well as divers watches the Seiko SNZG09 is an excellent choice and extreme value. Dexclusive is the seller and it is fulfilled by Amazon. One note is the warranty is not valid through Seiko and only covers the movement. That being said if the watch proves not to be defective after the return period it is doubtful you will ever need the warranty service.Now to the watch. This watch has a very no nonsense tactical look. It is not a fancy watch but it oozes quality. I have had german, russian, and swiss pilots or military watches and the build quality and fit and finish is on equal par with watches costing hundreds of dollars more. Most higher end pilots watches will use sapphire crystals but most still use mineral and I think hardlex is certainly better than most standard mineral crystals. The case finish is a bead blasted look that the whole watch has including the crown. On the caseback and inner lugs it is high polished. I wish the inner lugs were blasted as well. Having a blasted crown is a nice touch. The dial is extremely legible and easy to read the time at a glance. The dark olive green dial looks almost black in most conditions. The printing on the dial is very well done. The hands and markers including the triangle at 12 o'clock all glow very brightly with lumibrite. The dial is easily legible all night and into the early morning with a good charge before bed. The 7S36C movement seems very accurate so far. The red tipped seconds hand is a nice detail but the lume on the seconds hand is really not very useful. The caseback displays the mechanical movement. This version does not have "made in japan" printed on the dial. All of the non JDM watches are not made in Japan. Even the JDM watches have cases made in China and movements assembled in Malaysia depending on the cost of the watch and movement it uses. The watches that have made in japan are for the arabic market and their laws make them put country of origin on the dial. Both k and j variants are made exactly the same with the same components they just have a different distribution channel. Just an fyi for those that think it is important.To sum up for $90 this watch is an extreme value. There is a new model that has a newer movement and smaller case which is probably why these ate going for such a low price. The new movement has hacking and hand winding functions and the new model costs about the same as thus model. The lume is very different and this model has incredible lume,42mm case, which in my book is a plus. The 7S36C series movements are extremely robust and reliable. They may not hack or hand wind but they run great with no problems for many years. Finally the band has been mentioned by some as being cheap or not big enough. I find the band to be very well made and extremely durable. For the cost I think it is a great band. All in all if you like military watches with an easy to read dial, excellent night time lume, great case and build quality you simply can't go wrong. I wish they had a black dial model like this one for the same price. I would get that too.
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