Seiko Kenitic

clv101

clv101

clv101

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Bristol
I've been in half a mind to buy a new watch for the last two years since the battery ran out in my old Casio - yeah it wasn't top of my to do list! After looking in a shop the other day I really like the Seiko Titanium ones that are quite flat with very flexible bracelets, not the really chunky ones that are more than 10mm thick with quite rigid bracelets.

Something like this (SNA221) ~£200:
Seiko_SNA221.jpg


or this (SGEB11) ~£100:
Seiko_SGEB11.jpg


It seems that when looking at the Seiko Titanium range, very roughly, chronograph functionality adds around £100 and Kinetic power adds around £100. (Battery titanium chronograph =£200, battery titanium non-chronograph =£100, kinetic titanium non-chronograph =£200, kinetic titanium chronograph =£lots)

My question is... how important is Kinetic? I know what it is, how it works etc although I also hear that the battery or capacitor (different mechanism use either?) don't last forever and need Seiko servicing to change after 5+ years. How long to batteries last with regular use, alarm a few times a week etc? Does the chronograph suck the batteries dry quickly? How much of a hassle is it to change the batteries on a 10bar titanium Seiko? Still waterproof? I've never owned a chronograph - are they actually any good for timing the Sunday roast or are they more for show than function?

Lots of questions... thanks for any opinions!
 
Visage said:
My Seiko kinetic needed a service after about 4 years - it pretty much died, and even when showing as fully charged would run down after an houur. Cost about 90 quid for a service which fixed it.

Still, for a 350 quid watch, a 90 quid service every 4 years isnt bad i suppose....
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Feek said:
Funnily enough there are reports of a lot of Seiko Kinetics needing a replacement capacitor after 7 or 8 years and that's quite an expensive job to do.

K.
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That is what's put me off spending an extra £100 on kinetic - I'm thinking I might as well just get a regular battery. How often to batteries last in this kind of watches though?
 
Selekt0r said:
I've had a regular non-kinetic Seiko for 16 years :eek: - still working perfectly, and I've only had to have the battery replaced twice in that time.

Given this fact, and the potential unreliability of the kinetic mechanisms I know which one I'd go for if buying another.
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I think I'm going to get a regular non-kinetic titanium one - like the one's pictured above. I guess the only question is whether to get the chronograph version or not. I've never had a chronograph watch before, are they just a gimmick, there for fashion reasons or are they actually practical and easy to use to time things?
 
Gamefreak501 said:
Sorry to hijack...but what do people think of automatic Seiko watches?
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+/- 30 sec per day kind of defeats the point of a watch in my opinion! You'd have to set reset it every week just to keep it on the right minute.
 
I've been watching ebay for the last few weeks and I don't think it's that much cheaper than the cheapest on-line shops for titanium Seikos.
 
Sorry, +/- 25 sec per day not 30. Still hopeless compared to +/-15 per month.

Q: How accurate should my watch be?

A: Seiko Watches (Including Kinetic, Quartz and Solar) +/-15 seconds per month

Seiko Perpetual Calendar watches +/- 20 seconds per year

Seiko Mechanical Watches +/- 25 seconds per day

Pulsar Watches +/- 20 seconds per month

Lorus Watches +/- 30 seconds per month

Seiko Clocks +/- 30 seconds per month

http://www.seiko.co.uk/html/supportfaq.php
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Think I've made a decission:

The SGG605:
sgg605.jpg


Seems like it can be had for around £100. Only question is I can't find out which movement it uses... Is there a database somewhere that lists which movement each Seiko watch uses? I expect it's the 7N42 since it looks identical to this one on ebay but that one has a different model number.
 
I mean which quartz movement.

"got a lot cheaper" That company doesn't ship to the UK and anyway it's not much cheaper. $144 = £81 and that's before shipping and tax. It's available in the UK for under £100 inc VAT and delivery.
 
pugster said:
my point is that it took me all of 20 seconds to find that cheaper site using yahoo search engine...
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...but it's not cheaper than the "around £100" I said... or even available in the UK from there. :confused:
 
My budget is as little as will get the job done... the job being a titanium watch with gold colour details that isn't really chunky. That's the ergonomic side, on the time keeping side accuracy is important since I have quite a tight schedule and wouldn't like a watch that could be a minute or more off unless I reset it every few days. I certainly admire automatics from an engineering point of view but I don't like the idea of paying more for less accuracy, they also need services every few years?.

Regarding Kinetic again I admire the technology and it has certain coolness... but there is quite a premium with the watches I'm looking at here and there's a question mark over long term viability and expensive service costs.
 
clv101 said:
That's more like it but I'll see your £89.99 and raise (lower?) you a £75 from here:
http://www.watches2watches.co.uk/seiko_watches_details/Seiko_Titanium_2_Tone_Watch/8/

:)

So... anything wrong with these companies selling so much cheaper than elsewhere?
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Just to let you know the watch turned up today, perfect condition, all original box, Seiko guarantee card etc. Fantastic value, I'd highly recommend this little company (I have absolutely nothing to do with them!).
 
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