SEIKOMen's SNK809 5 Automatic Stainless Steel 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 someresearch. (Who fakes a $60 watch?!? geez..) Apparently this watch is grey market in the US, so anyone 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 sentit 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 watchesat 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 itfrom 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 maybe 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.

I am new to automatic and mechanical wind wristwatches, so, after purchasing a rather expensive battery operated quartz movement over a year before this Seiko the battery went dead and that was a huge disappointment for me. The battery operated quarts movement watch that I owned was supposed to have a 5 year life but died much sooner. I took the watch to a jeweler to have the battery replaced and the cost for the replacement battery was through the roof. Not only was it expensive to have the battery replaced but the Jeweler ruined the water resistance 'integrity' of the watch by smashing the o-ring that seals the back of my watch. Well, it didn't take long for my battery operated watch to become totally destroyed by water intrusion. Almost immediately after my battery watch failed that's when I decided that I was no longer going to buy 'ANYMORE' battery operated wristwatches so, the search began for a new mechanical or automatic watch. It took a long while, I was shopping almost everyday for over a month but most of the wristwatches were overly expensive and had features I wasn't really excited about. After about 2 months of shopping I accidentally stumbled upon these Seiko's. I sure am glad I waited and found them. I AM VERY PLEASED!When I received my new Seiko automatic wristwatch I could see right of way it was no piece of junk. It was heavy and felt good in my hands. The dial was easy to read even without my eyeglasses. I am a 54 year old man with extremely poor vision so I need high contrast to see the time and daily calendar. Although some reviewers may have complained it's smaller then what they had expected, I think it's a very appropriate size for both males and females. Perhaps for some people and I guess depending on your taste in fashion and social statement perhaps it may be to small for some men. I am a 6 foot man at 260 pounds and I think it's a perfect size and I am very picky. Just so everyone knows, most of the watches I currently own are the Invicta Russian Divers and they're huge timepieces, I really love those large watches however, this smaller Seiko watch was refreshing. What I mean by refreshing: I am always worried about ruining my other expensive watches, I don't wear them everyday but this Seiko is a watch I can wear everyday and not worry about banging it around since they are cheap enough to actually purchase several others.These Seiko's are perfect for everyday wear. I usually only wear my Invicta's when I go to dinner or some other social gathering but these Seiko's are actually very pretty and masculine enough to go out for dinner or other social occasions. Really, it's not that small and it's also not an ugly watch. This Seiko wristwatch probably won't get noticed as much as perhaps another more expensive wristwatch but if you take it off and show it to someone I know they are going to like it. I think what matters most to myself is knowing that I have a brand new 'name brand' Seiko quality wristwatch and never have to worry about a battery ever again or accidentally breaking it. I'm usually pretty careful so I am not really worried about breaking it although, this Seiko feels really tough so I think it can take a good beating.Let me tell you what I like about my new Seiko wristwatch. First, It keeps perfect time. After just a few days it's still accurate...I like the size of this watch, large watches get bumped a quite a bit however this watch has a lower profile so it's not likely to easily bump into things as you perform your daily chores... I like the stem at the 4 O'clock position because it makes it much easier to adjust without having to remove the watch from my arm...The brushed steel finish is absolutely beautiful... The crystal is flat making the watch face easy to read at any angle... I truly like the high contrast of the hands against the dial... The calendar is very large and very easy to see with ample contrast even without my eyeglasses... Pulling the stem out one click sets the calendar without stopping the watch, turn the stem clockwise for the day and counter clockwise for the date... I like that the watch movement does not stop operating when the stem is pulled all the way out to adjust the time, you can however stop the watch from ticking if you put some slight counterclockwise pressure on the stem, this allows for more accurate time setting. A little more counterclockwise pressure also makes the watch run backwards for even more accurate time setting... I happen to like the watch band and buckle, too... What I really like are the luminescent hands and markers. I noticed just this morning after 5 hours of compete darkness the hands and markers were still view-able although, the luminescence wasn't overly bright but there was just enough to see the time in complete darkness... I like that the watch is not overly complicated with sub-dials. Everything I need to know about the time and date is supplied with this Seiko... I like that it's water resistant... Finally, I really like that's it's a Seiko but more importantly it's the perfect wristwatch with all the perfect features for the perfect price... This watch has all the features I was looking for in a in a new watch... I have to say, "I am so very happy with this new watch so I just purchased two more in different colors, the tan and the blue. Soon I will buy a green and another black.I think you'll truly enjoy this Seiko wristwatch! I am not disappointed whatsoever so, I highly recommend the purchase of this watch. For this kind of money, it's absolutely PERFECT!Thank you for reading :).