Seiko Premier Automatic

[bluest2]

I've not posted in the watches bit before but I have lurked for ages, I probably read it more than the car stuff these days. Why is it so easy to start obsessing over watches? Anyway, it was this forum that led to the purchase of my first proper watch, after someone suggested this model ages ago. Got it on-line for a fraction of the high street price and I'm over the moon with it (even though I've only had it a day).

[Don1]

That's actually really nice! What price (if you don't mind people prying).

[bluest2]

It was £361 including delivery. That was from a uk dealer, there are cheaper ones still from the US or Hong Kong but I didn't want to worry about import duty etc. I think the high street price is nudging towards £700.

[nurburgring1]

That really is a cracking looking watch. I assume it is wound up by wrist movement, keep it topped up

[bluest2]

Oh yes, a carefully practiced wrist movement, but apparently you can't overwind it so I'm ok

Anyway, stop wasting time bothering me, you should be plotting our 'ring trip.

[pastrana72]

That is really nice, can you post where you picked this up from?

Looks great value, love seiko, and that is classic.
:

[Funk]

I'd be very interested to know where you got that from as well please...!

I have a Seiko Kinetic at the moment that I'm very pleased with, but that's a great looking watch and I'd like one as well!

[bluest2]

Glad you like it, thanks for the complements. For the money it really stands out, I had up to £500 to spend to spend but I couldn't find anything I liked more. I did consider a Sinn, which are really nice, but a bit too military looking in this application (my wedding). The downside is I had to return £140 to the keeper of the purse strings, never to be seen again

I got it from http://stores.ebay.co.uk/South-Devon-Watch-Sales

There are a couple of others sellers on ebay too, one called RK Watchhouse I think.

[Funk]

They've got the Arctura Kinetic that I have - for about £200 less than I paid! Also has my Citizen Eco-Drive (another favourite) for less than I bought it for. Thanks for the link, I have no doubt I shall be making a couple of purchases from him or her..

I know Seikos and Citizens aren't up with the 'elite' of the the watch world, but I really like the way they look and for me that's more important than the badge or exclusivity..

[sjwb]

Citizen and Seiko not up with the elite? Have a look at the Citizen Campanola range or Credor Sonnerie. As good as anyhting that the Swiss, et al, have ever come up with.
http://www.timezone.com/library/rdnotebook/2007022...

[fieldl]

I have one of these too. Lovely watch and it was the one that started my automatic collection. Slippery slope from here I'm afraid.

[Funk]

sjwb said:

Citizen and Seiko not up with the elite? Have a look at the Citizen Campanola range or Credor Sonnerie. As good as anyhting that the Swiss, et al, have ever come up with.
http://www.timezone.com/library/rdnotebook/2007022...

Hmm, that's a lovely looking watch. I just meant that Seikos and Citizens aren't normally mentioned in the same breath as the likes of IWC, Panerai, Patek Philippe, Omega etc.

I always considered them to be 'budget' interpretations of the top watches. As it happens, I actually prefer a lot of them to the more expensive timepieces.

I have this Citizen Eco-Drive:



and this Arctura Kinetic:



I like both a lot, but actually prefer the cheaper Citizen over the dearer Seiko. I'd been looking at buying a watch with a decent leather strap rather than a metal one - I think it looks a lot better with a suit. The Premier Automatic seems to fit the bill perfectly, it's a beautiful watch.

This also caught my eye:



as did this:

Edited by Funk on Thursday 17th January 20:58

[Wadeski]

if you like your Seiko and Citizen watches, you will like this site:

http://www.seiyajapan.com/

the new 6R15 automatic Seikos are incredible value - about £200!

Edited by Wadeski on Thursday 17th January 22:41

[kiwisr]

Gorgeous watch.

http://www.seiyajapan.com/product/S-SBGA003/New_Gr...

[Winton]

Interestingly, Seiko are of the few (very few) manufacturers who make every single component for their watches themselves. I believe Rolex do the same but even Patek buy in some parts for some of their watches.

In Japan, there is also the Grand Seiko line and these can cost in excess of £2500 but the level of finish on these are exceptional and they are certainly not interpretations of other classics.

[uktrailmonster]

Nice watch and great value for money too. Some of those expensive Seiko divers watches are top class and compare favourably against the likes of Rolex etc. Seiko tends to be considered a budget brand because of all their lower priced models. Many people are totally unaware of their high end products.

[bluest2]

Thanks for all the favourable comments. I've had it nearly a week now and I'm desperate to wear it out but I'm under strict instructions to save it for the wedding in August.

Following some of the comments on another thread about the accuracy of automatics I did a little test over the last couple of days. it seems to gain about 5-6 seconds a day which is more than satisfactory for me.

[nurburgring1]

If you are not wearing it at the moment, how are you keeping it wound up to conduct your test?

[bluest2]

nurburgring1 said:

If you are not wearing it at the moment, how are you keeping it wound up to conduct your test?

The really clever part is that, despite being automatic, you can manually wind too, and it runs for nearly two days between 'winds'.

[Wadeski]

does it do the "rev counter" thing with the power reserve guage to show how much juice you are winding into it, or is that just on the Direct Drive Kinetics?

its a neat trick, it revs up an down, zeroes, then shows you the new power level post-wind.