SEIKOMen's SNK375K Automatic Stainless Steel Watch

I own a book called "Celebrity Watches." It is essentially glorified advertising, but it is replete with great photographs of watches and some of the people who made them famous. The usual suspects are there--Rolex, IWC, etc.... Each chapter gives you a brief history of the watchmakers, how their watches are made, how they have evolved. It's a good coffee-table book.I don't know when it was exactly that I realized that I liked my Seiko 5 "Speed Racer" more than any of those in the photographs, but I did. (Yeah, yeah--my budget maybe helped, but still...)So many timepieces these days are all about the bling, and even the high-end brands make vulgar clunkers. Instead, the Seiko 5 has, thank God, eschewed this pompous aesthetic: its dial clocks in at 39 mm. Not too big, not too small. Similarly, the watch has weight, but it is very comfortable. I know some guys prefer leather bands, but I prefer the metal bracelets, and this one is really nice: again, comfortable, easy to adjust. It manages to call just enough attention to be noticed, but not enough to be flashy. The deployment clasp is solid and, unlike some, easily snaps on or off without ever irritating the skin on your wrist.There is a subtle elegance to this watch that is really only noticeable in the details. For example, I see that Hamilton makes a similar looking watch: black dial, close in size, steel bracelet... but the crown of the Hamilton is at the 3 o'clock position. The Seiko's crown is low and tucked in at 4 o'clock. This makes it extremely comfortable for people like me who wear a watch on their left hand; the crown never digs into the back of your hand.Some watches are hard to read in sunlight because of the glare, but the markings on this watch stand out from the black dial, and the hands are readily visible. I especially like the sweeping red second hand.I wash dishes with the watch on, and so it has gotten wet, and I have never had any problems with it. It should actually be waterproof, but I don't swim much, and I probably would not take a metal watch into a pool anyway.From the pictures you can see that the underside of the watch allows you to see the actual mechanism, which is a great feature. Before this watch, I had always owned quartz/battery driven watches. I wasn't sure if I would like having a mechanical watch. Yeah, no need to replace batteries is nice, but I was worried about sacrificing precision. Having read other reviews, I took a chance. My experience has been similar to that of others: this watch is within 3-4 seconds per day. Moreover, sometimes it gains those few seconds, sometimes it loses them. So, in the end, I never have to adjust the time. In fact, I haven't reset the watch since I received it.So all of this got me to thinking about the book, the famous luxury brands, etc., and I am convinced that the only reason the Seiko 5 is not to be found in the book is its price. Seiko makes an excellent, dependable and aesthetically superior product, and it is spurned only because it is within the reach of most people.Sadly, this is the only reason I can think of for not including this watch in the book, or for buying it. This watch is sharp, sporty and reliable. I love it, and if you like what you see in the pictures, then purchase it. It is even better in hand.

I have to say, I feel that my money was well spent on this watch. It looks good, and it functions good. A tad smaller than what I expected but it has a nice look to it, especially with the red/grey streak.When I received the box, the case it came in was pretty messed up, but the watch itself was fine. Upon looking at the watch, I was impressed with its movement, which is not as nice as my Invicta but does the job. I have to note also that the rotar for the watch is a tad noisy if you're in a dead quite room; but nothing too noticeable besides that. It keeps pretty good time too if worn daily.The band...how to start...was a serious pain to deal with as I didn't want to take it to a jeweler and I didn't have the right tools. If you buy this watch and want to adjust the band for yourself, look at the bottom of this link and it will explain how:[..]One of the features I live the most is the lume on this baby. It is by far better than most of my watches as it requires so little light exposure for it to last all night. It was really I pleasant surprise.Overall though, the watch is a worth while investment if your simply want a work watch or something like that. It's casual and goes pretty much with everything. Just in case the price changes, I paid $56.99 for it if you want to know.

Seiko 5 watches are fussy little things. It seems like there are hundreds of varieties, some very similar to others. After you finally decide on a certain watch, good luck in finding it! Then, when you finally have it, good luck again on getting forty hours of reserve out of it. I wake up, and immediately put on this watch. Then I make breakfast, go on a forty-five minute walk, attend to some mail, drive the car into town for some errands, come home and use the Swiffer and the vacuum cleaner, play the drums for two hours, make the evening meal, then cut the grass, and I'm still lucky if the watch will stay running through the night and still be ticking the next morning. I have three Seiko 5s and they're all like this. I think it's their devious little way to make sure that they're worn more often than their steadier quartz brothers.Despite these things, this watch still gets four stars because it keeps great time and is beautiful. Seiko sure knows how to make a dial for a watch. The deep black face with the intense red stripe from 12 to 4 is simply wonderful. The little hour hand is shaped like a pointed arrow, and the sweeping second hand is red. A white or silver hand might be more visible, but it just wouldn't look as good, would it? Seiko 5s are bashed (sometimes unfairly, I think) for their bracelets, but this one seems sturdy and is attractive. Also, Seiko's Hardlex Crystal, made in-house by them, doesn't get much love, but I have hit this crystal hard a number of times and have not been able to scratch it. I wear this watch a lot, to keep it running, as I mentioned, and in accuracy, it keeps up with the quartz watches. I guess it wouldn't be such a big deal if I just let it run down, but Seiko insists that all Seiko 5s have the day/date complication. So you can't just set the time and go, you also have to set the day and date every time it runs down.If you have several Seiko 5s this gets to be a bit annoying.But only a bit. After everything is said, this is a great looking, high quality, yet inexpensive watch. It really is a little jewel. At 37mm, I wish it was just slightly bigger. But then it wouldn't be a little jewel, would it? -T.A.