Seiko Men's SNK809 "Seiko 5" Automatic Watch with Black Canvas Strap

Took a few tries and two different vendors to finally get my hands on 2 that are keepers. Two of four sent to me had cosmetic flaws-one blemished face, inside the glass, the other a blemished case, but once you get a cosmetically "good" one sent to you, this watch is simply beautiful. Very happy with both. Japanese eye for detail amazes me, especially for a watch this inexpensive. I'll consider the two blem. watches flukes and just concentrate on the two "good" ones. Build quality is excellent. Does my heart glad to know at least some companies still have their minds focused on quality at all price levels. After a week, neither has lost a minute. Second hand is tricky to sync, but even a few seconds behind my radio-synchronized wall clock, both keep good time. Like I said, glad I bought two. It's easy wearing and as light as a similar sized quartz watch. I bought this as a daily wearer in place of a much heavier swiss stainless mechanical monster I own. The time adjustment knob is a little small for my fingers, but that's not special to this watch. Had the same trouble with other brands too. I expect to enjoy many happy years with these watches. I'de heard of Seiko, but never heard of Seiko 5 before this, glad I came across the watch. The return process on the blems was painless, to Amazon's credit. Heard rumors that there are a lot of fakes being sold on the internet so I did some research. (Who fakes a $60 watch?!? geez..) Apparently this watch is grey market in the US, so any one you buy will have a warranty card that is not filled out because it was not sold by an authorized Seiko dealer, so be warned. I don't expect warranty trouble, so I am not very worried. If I do, I'll take it to Seiko and pay the cash, or just buy another if repairs cost more than ~$40.00. Going by the tag on the band, Seiko's suggested retail price for this watch is $185.00 so Amazon's quite a bargain. In the future, I will buy directly from amazon, not one of their storefront vendors. The first order I placed was from an amazon vendor who had the watch to me strangely fast, but with no paperwork and in a generic plastic box, not the blue Seiko box. Watch was a blem so I sent it back, but the swapmeet style packaging and lack of papers disappointed me. I associate that with Ebay and stay away from Ebay for that exact reason. I also have reason to believe that the watch was not as new as the seller claimed- after all, where was the original packing that a "new" watch comes in? How would it go missing? That was the only watch of the 4 that came packed that way. All others had the blue box and all docs included. So if someone out there has watch #141073 (case ser.#) then you got MY old one.. at least one that was sent to me and returned, never worn, as a blem. That vendor also charged a new price for something that smelled a bit fishy. To my mind, new-looking watch, minus factory packing, minus factory docs, does not equal the going price minus two bucks. Need to drive the cheezeball vendors back to ebay from whence they came. Ate the shipping on that one. Amazon did hold up their end honorably in all cases. No complaints there. And I do love the watches at the end of the day. If you are on the fence about this watch, then buy it. Great bang for the buck, near swiss attention to detail & fit and finish, well above and beyond the call of duty for a watch at this price. Keep up the good work Seiko. The quality is of the band is good, considering the price range. Seen worse, but not many better. When this band wears out, I will buy another just like it from Seiko. Let that be the final judgement on my views of the quality of the band. Heard some say the watch is a bit small for big manly wrists. On that point, I dunno. I think it's sized to look normal on the wrists of 95% of men. Some guys have big wrists.. ok, maybe not the watch for you if you are in that 5%. We also live in an era where absurdly large watches have become the norm, so that may be skewing attitudes and perceptions a bit. I find the size of the face "just right" and I consider my wrists normal for a 6' + tall caucasian adult male.

After reading all the Amazon and internet reviews on this watch I finally pulled the trigger and purchased it for $63 from Amazon. I've had the watch for four weeks and would like to share my personal thoughts and experiences on the 809. This is a great looking watch. I wish there was a nicer picture, since it does not do any justice to the looks. Some folks aren't crazy about the minute markings (5, 10, 15) on the dial, but I like it because it's different than others that have the typical 24 hour (13, 14, 15) markings. The fabric strap is a definite weakness of the watch. It felt rather itchy to me to wear. After two weeks of wearing it, I broke down and bought a brown leather alligator style strap. The brown strap contrasts with the black dial really dresses up this watch pop. Now it looks like I spent hundreds of dollars on this watch. I think a black leather strap and even a NATO style strap with black and a grey stripe would complement this watch as well. This is my first automatic watch. I purchased it knowing full well that automatic watches are not for everyone. I also realize that automatics require more care and feeding than a quartz watch and most people will still prefer a quartz movement. Accuracy of automatics is always a discussion topic and the 809 is no exception. I typically wear this watch for about 12 hours and lose 4 seconds during this period; so theoretically, it loses 8 seconds/day. This is not bad for a watch that's not certified by the COSC since COSC certified watches are only good for -4/+6 seconds day. I think some people fail to remember that there are 86,400 seconds in a day and relatively speaking a watch that is off as much as plus or minus 15 seconds a day is still pretty accurate. If you are still concerned about the watch being fast or slow, I also found a way to regulate this watch. Since this watch tends to lose time for me, I place it on my dresser, either dial side up or dial side down depending on how much time I need it to speed up. By doing this I can gain 2-4 seconds overnight. If you want to slow down your watch you can place it vertically (using the watch band to support it) with either the crown up or down or even with the crown on the left side if you need to lose more seconds. You can experiment with these different positions and see what works best for you. Power reserve is another topic that is often discussed about this watch. Depending on what you read, the 7S26 movement has a power reserve of 38-42 hours. While you cannot manually wind this watch with the crown, you can still do it by holding the watch horizontally with your thumb and fore finger and make a flicking action with your wrist like you are dealing a deck of cards. The motion doesn't have to be very hard, but should be strong enough that you either hear or feel a whirring motion. You cannot over wind automatic watches. For me, if I do this for five minutes, the watch is fully wound. I also find that winding the watch in this manner for 5 minutes can also speed it up by as much as 8 seconds. I did check the power reserve on this watch. After fully winding it and leaving it on my dresser, it worked for 45 hours and 23 minutes! That's pretty awesome with this watch. If you are getting less than the 38-42 hour power reserve, the watch has not been fully wound or you have a defective watch. So far I feel extremely lucky that I got a good working 809. I am thoroughly enjoying it and will definitely keep it. It's been an inexpensive way to experience owning an automatic watch. I highly recommend buying this watch!

I bought this watch one year and half ago and I am still very happy with it. I will not repeat the other reviews how great this watch is. This watch definitely looks better in person than photos. Expect to replace the cheap looking strap. This watch looks great with a leather strap. If you still prefer a nylon mil-spec strap, Maratac nylon straps are the best but only sold at CountyComm website and $15 shipping :( The size of this watch is great for my thin wrist. Large watches to me are passing fad and they are just not comfortable to wear. The reasons for my 4 stars instead of 5 are: 1. The case of the watch between the lugs is polished finished instead of sand blasted. It’s a bit odd but probably no one around you will notice it. 2. The dial design is a bit too understated. I think it will have a better visual balance if the font of the numbers was a bit bolder. This is just my taste. 3. The case back is see through glass instead of stainless steal. Of course this is a personal preference. For a military styled watch, it’s a bit odd to have glass on the back since it's not durable as steel. It makes it look more like a lady’s fashion watch. I understand they want to show off the mechanical movement and it’s probably a good move in today’s watch market, but seiko 5 movement is not that glorious looking anyways, so I don’t really care to see it. I compared this watch against Citizen’s Eco drive: From what I read Eco drive uses capacitor to store the electricity charged by solar panel. The capacitor degrades around in 5 to 10 years. So it eventually require capacitor replacement. This capacitor is Citizen’s proprietary parts. So the longevity of an Eco drive watch depends on how long the capacitor lasts and how long Citizen will keep stocking the particular capacitor replacement. On the other hand, Seiko 5 is a fully mechanical watch. Normally this means it requires regular cleanings by a watch smith at least every 5 years to keep it running properly. But the cost of such service is more than cost of brand new Seiko 5. But Seiko 5 has been around since 1960s and known to run reliably over 10 years and sometimes even 20 years without any servicing. I picked Seiko 5 over Eco-drive or any other solar powered watch since I will be able to enjoy a pleasure of owning a mechanical watch which I can expect to run reliably for next 10 or 15 years without any replacement or servicing. This is definitely a great entry mechanical watch. Plus, there is a Seiko 5 modding subculture community on the internet. Apparently, you can swap the dials with other Seiko 5 models since they are standardized. There is also a website that shows the step by step process of servicing Seiko 5 movement yourself. The low cost makes this a perfect guinea pig watch. This watch may be your portal to the horological rabbit hole… Google the funny but informative article by WatchSnob “The Cheapest High End Watch” on askmen website. This article makes you proud of owning a Seiko 5!

Review of the Seiko 5 SNK809: TOO LONG DIDN'T READ: This watch is great. It runs perfectly 2 years later (I wore it daily for 1 year) and has no issues. It has an accurate movement and is durable. If I were you, I'd go ahead and buy it now. The only downsides of purchasing this watch is that its lume fades pretty fast and the strap is a bit uncomfortable but it's easily resolved by buying a new strap. Info on photos: The strap pictured was purchased for 5 dollars from Sears a few weeks after purchasing the watch. It’s a major upgrade and I urge you to purchase a new strap for the watch since the one it comes with isnt low quality at all but it was slightly uncomfortable and I wanted the watch to look more formal. I purchased this watch on July 21, 2018. It arrived in three days and there are other reviews saying this watch gets delivered extremely fast. Hence I doubt you should pay extra for fast shipping, just go with the free shipping that comes with this watch. Before I start this review I want you to keep a few things in mind: 1. This watch costs 64 dollars from an unauthorized dealer (like Amazon) but it will cost you 195 dollars to buy this watch from an Authorized dealer (like Macy’s or Jcpenney). 2. This watch has the 7s26c automatic movement from Seiko 3. This watch is made in Malaysia 4. This watch is 37 mm in diameter 5. This watch doesn’t have hacking or hand winding I will now start the review: INTRO: Let me tell you. This watch is perfect on the exterior. I have scoured every crevice and curve in this watch and not found a single manufacturing defect. This watch has a bead blasted finish on the visible portions when wearing the watch but has a polished finish to the area between the lugs and the case back. This watch is the best automatic watch under 100 dollars that you can trust. If you are looking for a Winner watch. Please do not buy that cheap stuff. The only reason I could see someone buying a Winner watch is to take out the movement to play with. Buy at least a Timex. Although if you really want an automatic watch this one of the best choices under 200 dollars easily. WHAT ELSE I WANTED I really wanted a Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic 38mm watch before buying this watch. Eventually I decided against spending the 575 dollars the Swiss Hamilton would set me back by and bought this watch. It was because I did not think I would enjoy wearing the Hamilton every day. It being a 575 dollar watch I would look after it too much. I would not wear it while doing stuff outside because of the possibility it could get scratched. It would be no fun to buy a watch you can't even wear without worry. That is what this watch IS. This is a watch that you can wear everywhere. This watch has Seiko’s Incabloc shock protection on the balance wheel so you do not need to worry about the ruggedness. MOVEMENT: How is the movement you ask? The movement on the Seiko SNK809 is the Seiko 7s26C. There may be people complaining about the quality of the movement, but let me tell you: this movement is a very rugged trustable movement. Seiko says this watch has a functioning accuracy of -20 to +40 seconds. I have had my watch for almost a week and my current accuracy on this movement is +1.8 seconds. +1.8 seconds is even within Rolex’s “Superlative Chronometer Status” (+/- 2 seconds per day). As for shock resistance and ruggedness I have rode my bike on mountain trails whilst having this watch in my wrist and it hasn't stopped. (To check the accuracy of your watch what I would recommend you do is go to Toolwatch.io or download their app. It is a free tool that will let you check the accuracy of your watch.) LUME: The lume on this watch will fade very fast. TWO YEAR OWNERSHIP UPDATE (May 24 2020) I kinda gave up on writing a super detailed review but what I can tell you is this watch still runs with the same accuracy it did two years ago (+2.1 sec/day) and its date and day functions all work perfectly. Quick date setting works great too. I purchased a more comfortable leather strap for the watch (It needs an 18mm sized one) and I have 0 complaints. This was the first mechanical watch for my collection back in 2018 and now I have expanded my collection to vintage watches and more higher end timepieces. This watch performs perfectly and is impeccable quality. I wore it daily for the first year of ownership and it never let me down. Its movement may not be pretty but it's really accurate and a workhorse. It's one of my favorite watches in my collection still and I wear it multiple times a week. You cannot go wrong with this watch for the price. It was 64 dollars when I bought it and if its price was 100 I'd still buy it. If you're still considering buying this watch, go for it. The seller has fast shipping and the watchbox came in perfect condition. Good luck!

I am very pleased with this watch. I prefer watches with the minute numbers emphasized around the edge, and this one has the hour numbers in smaller print on an interior ring as well. The quality and finish of the watch are better than I expected. It looks like a watch that is much more expensive. A few comments on some of the other remarks I read when researching this watch: The watch is mechanical, as opposed to a quartz watch, and does not keep time as exactly as a quartz watch. In fact, a cheap digital watch will keep time more accurately than this watch. My watch gains around 50 seconds a week, which I find is more than close enough. If I don't remember to correct the time over a month, I show up places about 4 minutes early... not enough time to worry about. Despite not being as accurate as a quartz watch, there are advantages to having a mechanical watch. First, there is no battery to change, especially important if you find yourself traveling to countries where batteries are not readily available. Second, the winding mechanism automatically winds the watch throughout the day using your arm's motion, which is cool. If the watch ever needs to be wound after not being worn for a couple of day, you just shake it for a bit and it is ready to go. Third, I think a mechanical watch is just cool, its a good piece of engineering. The watch is smaller than the massive fashion watches you see around (which I expected from the description), and the band was a bit thinner than I expected. I have smaller wrists, and it looks fine.. just be aware. I have had no issues with the watch running out of power. I give it a couple of shakes in the morning, then put it on. I take it off in the evening, and give it a couple of shakes before I set it down. The next morning, its still ticking away. I wear it every day, and it has not yet run out of power once (even on work days when I find myself sitting at a desk most of the day). The second hand does not stop when you pull out the crown to set the time. But, if you rotate the crown so the minute hand moves backwards in time, pressure is applied to the second hand to cause it to stop. If you do this, and hold a little rotational pressure on the crown, the second hand will stay in place until you release the pressure. I don't know if this puts excess stress on the movement, but it allows you to sync up the second hand with another time source. rotating the minute hand forward in time does not affect the second hand. So, when I want to sync it perfectly, i set the watch back a couple of minutes, then do the second hand trick until the second hand is synced, then I move the minute hand forward to where it need to be.

When I saw this watch, I could not believe its price. I was looking for an everyday watch which did not cost too much, but I never thought I could get a Seiko for around USD 55. This watch is a little small if compared to the sizes currently in the market but since I do not have a big wrist, that was nothing to worry about (and again, for that price...). Moreover, I have to say that I hate to look as if I have a Vick's Vaporub ointment case tied to my wrist (no offense to anyone) instead of a watch. Thus, I bought it expecting the Seiko quality at an unbelievable price, but nothing else. And I got both, albeit the strap is definitely not worthwhile (although it is a decent strap, it is something that you should consider to change). Nevertheless, as time has been passing I have been increasingly falling in love with the watch. It has a discrete military look, it is impeccably crafted and above all, the movement is Seiko's longtime proven battlehorse: The legendary 7S26. That mechanism has been one of the most durable automatic movements ever produced. It has gained a high level of respect even among the luxury Swiss watches aficionados, because of its durability and ruggedness. Over time, that little movement has become a symbol of Seiko's quality and today is truly a legend in horlogery. There are a lot of stories about how those mechanisms have NOT BEEN TAKEN TO A SERVICE CENTER for up to 15 years and they still work without problems. Furthermore, the service cost for that movement is normally one of the cheapest. The only real issue here is the precision. Yes, the watch is not as precise as some more expensive Swiss, German or Japanese watches. That means that it will be a couple minutes behind the "real" time at the end of a period of time of say, 2 weeks. But if you compare that with its price and its durability... for me it is definitely a worthwhile issue. Moreover, I have heard that such problem can be substantially reduced if you take it to a good watch expert, in order to get some adjustments to increase its precision. I tend to think about it as a Honda Civic or a Toyota Corolla: A relatively small piece, that does not deliver the best results in terms of power, speed, precision, style and that does not scream the big amount of money you paid for it; but that is always there for you, that is very trustworthy, that lasts a lot and that does cost very little to mantain. Now, the reason why I give it 5 stars despite the lesser quality of the strap and its less than optimal precision is that in all fairness, the strap is not a problem about the watch itself and can be replaced, and on the other hand, it seems the precision can be improved. Even if we consider the strap to be a problem of the watch and its precision could not be improved, the price is so low, that in my opinion, makes the whole deal worth 5 stars.

Seiko makes great watches, generally. This Malaysian made model is intended for sale in the far east. It's a genuine article, and a terrific value at this price. They make this watch to compete with the lowest pricing in the world. The 7S26C movement isn't elegant, but has a solid reputation. No battery required, ever. In general, it can be expected to give ten years of service without any maintenance. My watch arrived quickly and in good order, although the strap had been installed with the buckle side down (at 6 instead of 12), but that was easy to fix. After setting, I've checked against a WWV adjusted clock. It runs -2 sec/day when worn 24 hours. If left flat on its back, it gains about 6-10 seconds overnight. After seeing this, I now take it off every few days and let it catch up. After 26 days of use, it is +1 second this morning. Note, this watch is "non hacking", so when you pull the stem out to adjust, the second hand keeps moving. This is actually a benefit if you need to change time zones for a few days. To stop the second hand, you need to apply slight torque on the stem. Tricky, but you can get the second hand to stop, without moving the minute hand if careful. "Chronograph" certified Swiss watches are required to meet -2/+6 seconds per day, so my watch would meet that testing. I recall once waiting for a table outside a restaurant, a well dressed man asked me to give him the time. As he adjusted his expensive looking watch, he smirked and asked "do you know how to tell the difference between a real Rolex and a fake?" and the comeback was "the fake is the one with the right time". The accuracy of even very expensive mechanical watches is not as good as a cheap plastic quartz movement, but this type of watch can perform quite well if you pay regular attention to how it runs and wear it daily. It's the only mechanical watch I own, but I am glad to own this one. Google searches on this model number will show you - it has a very well regarded mechanical movement, comparable in accuracy to just about any on the market. Not a piece of jewelry, but it is nevertheless stylish and good looking in a retro/classic way. The band is comfortable - woven to allow some softness. The thickness of the watch is actually 10.5 mm. The 37 mm case diameter is moderately sized, not as large as the chunky discs in current style. If you have thick wrists, you may want another model. There are larger variants with the same movement. There are a great variety of 18 mm "NATO" straps that can easily be exchanged. I typically don't rate anything a 5, but I'll do it here. I'm totally satisfied.

UPDATE - 07-22-2020 Within a couple hours after updating my last review, I DID get my pre-printed return label from Amazon. I took pics & vids of the perfect condition of the watch, that it was still working (but, STOPS whenever it feels like it!) and sent it back to Amazon. To Amazon's credit, they already put the money back into my account towards another watch AND the extended warranty I bought with the watch is being replaced. I still wanted to stay with a name-brand and have decided on the "Citizen Corso Eco-Drive Men's Watch". It's got good reviews, but, IMHO, doesn't look like the one I sent back AFA specs goes. But, hey...it looks nice...good reviews and, if it's as accurate and solid as the reviews say it is, I'll give it a try. Seems like every single watch that 'fits all my desired requirements are in the $$300+ range. I would really like to be able to pass this watch down to my son/s. My dad's Timex was all scratched and didn't work. He didn't have it for very long, either...so, it didn't have that 'longevity' like Atticus Finch's watch in TKaM. As they say, "They don't make them like they used to!" ~Mr. Q.A.~ PS...more kudos to that sweet girl that spent all that time on the phone with me making sure everything went smoothly!!! UPDATE - 07-20-2020 After spending over 2 hours with a very polite and helpful woman named, Debbie, she told me that since I don't own a printer and the only place to get printing done around here is the Public Library (which is closed due to CV19)...she would arrange for a PRE-PRINTED RETURN LABEL to be SENT TO ME. so I could return the defective Seiko watch to Amazon so I could choose a different watch...that HOPEFULLY will work just fine. It's been NEARLY 2 WEEKS and NO LABEL has been sent to me and I'm getting very frustrated!!! ~Mr. Q.A.~ ************************ I spent HOURS over 2 or 3 days searching for a watch that met my requirements and settled on this one because.... - NAME BRAND Got really tired of buying a watch every 3-6 months because the battery died and they couldn't replace it The stem simply fell off someplace (no replacement) Display scratches too easily Display not easy to read Band breaks (etc) I bought this Seiko watch because it was self-winding (wouldn't have to replace batteries, if I could find them), it was stainless steel so sweating wouldn't rust it during the summer, it's display was pretty readable (although, I would put the MINUTE NUMBERS on the outside and larger), it was classy looking....AND, as I said before..*IT'S a SEIKO!!!* and it wasn't cheap. It should've lasted a good 5+ years! MY EXPERIENCE : It's been a few weeks since I got this. I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right. After making sure everything was there and reading the directions, I moved the watch back & forth to 'get it started' and went about my business. It seemed to be working until I checked the time against my phone and other clocks. It had lost 3.5 minutes in less than 8 hours. SO, I figured that it never got fully wound. Before bed, I took it off, rotated it back & forth for at least 5 to 10 minutes. The next morning, it was still running and I went about my business. I didn't realize that it was 6 hours SLOW until hours later because I had been using my phone for the time! I tried everything...winding it one direction, then the opposite direction, then both directions, then in circles on occasion. It would work for a day and only be off by 1/4 hour (which is a LOT) and I thought that the more I wore it, the closer it was getting to keeping time! FINALLY....I decided that there was no reason in the world why a relatively expensive watch would have to 'warm-up' to keep time correctly. My cheaper watches (like Timex, Casio, Armitron, and others) worked fine from the start...BUT, would fall apart or die within a few months and I was SO TIRED of having to get used to a new watch every few months. What ever happened to the days when a father could give his child his STILL WORKING WATCH when he passed??? - Reviews I read on this watch were 'VERY GOOD' with only a few describing the EXACT problems I had. I *NEVER* bought a watch (even a cheap one) that was SO INACCURATE in my entire life (over many decades) and was never SO DISAPPOINTED!!! I spent so much TIME researching this watch. AND, counting the WASTED TIME I spent trying to make it actually work that I FEEL CHEATED! That's TIME I'll never get back!!! THIS...will be my VERY FIRST RETURN to Amazon. I bought the 'extended warranty', too. But, this should be covered BY AMAZON as the original warranty hasn't even expired yet. IF I buy another watch through Amazon, the warranty SHOULD be extended to the 'new watch'....assuming I find another that fits my requirements. I will POST my 'RETURN EXPERIENCE' with Amazon. IMHO...I shouldn't have to do ANY out-of-pocket expense in order to RETURN this OVER-PRICED, DEFECTIVE time piece. I've been an Amazon customer since pre-2008...when Amazon was barely known. I've spent *THOUSANDS* here and brought a LOT of other customers along with me. THIS has been a very depressing experience SO FAR!!! ~Mr Q.A.~