Seiko Men's SNA765 Chronograph Black Ion Watch

Are you curious that all the other reviews say "under $200" and the price is closer to $400? That's because ALL the vendors are now running out of this watch, including Amazon, and STUPID SEIKO (great quality company otherwise) has decided to permanently discontinue this awesome watch!There are two reasons to select a watch: good price for great function and good price for "sizzle" value. If you are 100% pragmatic, go for the Timex. If you have even the least bit of desire for sizzle-- this IS the one!I confess that I've mostly been the Timex type, not the Swiss watch afficiando, or collector. My $20 watch died, and I was attracted to this one for two reasons (you will laugh): 1. Good size for small wrists in Seiko quality and a "sports" look and 2. Ease of adjusting the links yourself. Well, was I in for a surprise. I had no concept of how many people would say "WHAT IS that?" "WHERE did you get that?" Wow, now I get why people like the sizzle side. Whether you're in grubs or dress mode, it fits in-- you don't need one for sports/ leisure and one for business with this design. I've never had so many people comment on a watch, partly because mine have been so ho-hum, but mostly because this is an incredible look, with the contrasting mirror-like band spine and the contrasting grey/black face with red and white accents. I looked at over 30 other Seikos before deciding on this one-- save yourself all that surfing! Don't fault me for being obsessive, this is a lot to spend!I also found that the "fix it" scratch repair pen seen on TV (by simoniz) works great for covering tiny nicks on the band. This is a permanent "ink" cover up, and I've also read that a simple permanent metal "magic marker" inks also work. Only one warning: these will eventually run out of stock, will not be made again, and as the supply dwindles, MSR, now over 500, will likely make these $450 plus, if you can get them at all. That's a LOT of money for a Timex guy! This is a big admission: for the first watch I ever bought that's over $300, I have no regrets! It's got a real look of class and success in a time when it's tough to achieve either. If you get this for your guy, I GUARANTEE he'll be blown away, even if he doesn't consider himself a "watch look" person.Quick tips: 1. If you have a small wrist, the band will be very large, however, it's quite easy to remove links (between 4 and 5 will need to go), and the face, once on, looks awesome even with a small wrist. To remove the links, get a safety pin, and look at both sides of the pins in the band. One side will have a little score mark that looks like a screw, the other will have just a tiny rounded dot. Push in on the pin with your safety pin FROM the side with the dot NOT the "screw" looking (scored) side (otherwise you'll break the pin trying to take it completely out). If you have to remove 5, take two links from one side and three from the other.2. When you first take the watch out of the box, if it seems like the clasp is IMPOSSIBLE to open (as in way too tight) do NOT try to force it open! This clasp has two little rectangular safety button catches you simply push in to pop the band clasp open! This prevents the band from becoming bent and eventually popping open all the time and is a quality feature, but if you've never had a watch with one of these, you might start trying to pry too hard and ruin the band. Once you see the little side buttons, it opens with ease.3. ONE WARNING: Since these have been in stock for 2 to 3 years now, the battery life is VERY limited! It's likely that your battery will only last a few months from other feedback we've seen, and ours only lasted a month. Amazon will give you a credit for the battery-- but since you can get 5 for $7, that's not the issue, it's the $50 a jeweler will charge you to open and seal a dive worthy watch! You CAN replace the battery yourself (it is a SR927W), BUT you'll need a case back opener. The best case back opener and batteries are both available here on Amazon-- see the product links that follow. You should use the ROUND bits that come with the opener (7 to 15 bucks) for any Seiko product. On this particular watch, you'll also have to remove the band, or the caseback opending tool (shaped like a little ratchet wrench) won't turn. The nice thing if you pick up these supplies is that you can change virtually any watch battery afterwards, saving big bucks and lots of trips to the jeweler. Product links:  Watch Opener Screw Back Remover Wrench , battery:  Energizer 399BP Watch Battery

Despite claims that this watch is discontinued, I was still able to order one as of 8/11/2010. However, it is hard to find outside of Amazon, especially at this price.Also, the user's photo showing this as silver/dark silver are incorrect. The watch is black! Even under intense light it never looks silver. Seiko may have changed the way they darkened the watch though since 2007, or J Lee may have received a different watch variation. But I'm happy with the darkness as it looks exactly like (if not darker than) the Amazon product image which is what I was looking for. The best way I can describe it is as a very dark charcoal gray.Some things to keep in mind:- The face of the watch has black dots- The alarm is single use only and must be set again after it goes off.- The alarm rings for 20 secs then stops (unless you push a button of course)- The alarm can only be set in a time frame 12 hours from the current time. So if you wanted to set an alarm for 8 AM you'd have to do so after 8 PM.- The glow-in-the-dark elements aren't the strongest. My older Seiko from 2001 has a stronger glow.I wanted to have a persistent alarm, and it wasn't clear from the description that this was a single-use alarm, thus the one star detraction. However, everything else about the watch is fantastic, and I absolutely love the way it looks.I have thin wrists, but after removing several links the watch fits and stays snug.

The color started wearing off the band with very little use..First problem ever with a seiko watch (20 years)..love the seiko product!

The watch is fine, delivered on time. Packaging was satisfactory.I bought this watch for 346 and change a few weeks ago, that's a 91$ difference.Not happy about it.Guess there's nothing I can do about it now.But still, not happy about it.

PROS:- Outstanding design and color.- Easy to use and read.- Extra features (date, alarm, tachymeter)- Stopwatch [1/5 of a sec increments, up to 60 min] (elapsed time & split time measurements)- 100 m water resistant (33 ft)- Titanium wrist band- SEIKO Quality (Japanese Quartz)CONS:- The case itself is steel. (If you're looking for a super light titanium watch, that's not it.)- Runs on battery.- scratch-resistant crystal glass is not scratch-proof.More Details:Alarm rings for a maximum of 20 seconds and is pretty weak if you are wrongly planning on using it as an alarm clock. While its hour- and minute hand glows in the dark for a while, the watch itself does not have a light button. Remarkably, in dark conditions you are still able to see the white hands on the black background. The color of the watch is not as pitch black as shown in the advertised picture, but rather a dark dark gray that looks black in dark conditions and dark silverish in bright conditions. The line in the middle of the wrist band is polished and reflects light just like chrome (or a mirror). In contrast, both edges of the wrist band are a FLAT dark gray. The whole watch looks very expensive.This Chronograph watch has a nice design and does its job. You will have to adjust the date about every 2 months. It could be used as a every-day watch, but I wear it mostly for formal occasions. I could not find any other watch where the wrist band integrates so well with the watch face!Purchased it in 2007 on Amazon for under $200. It seems the price went up considerably since then and it's becoming rarer. Hopefully mine won't stop running anytime soon.