Tell me about Seiko 5's

[gunman]

I've been looking at Seiko 5's on ebay etc and for what the are they seem very cheap and I was just wondering why?

Is it because there are so many of them on the market, they aren't popular or are the of poor quality?

I'm looking for a daily beater and these could be an option. I've only ever seen 1 up close and it looks decent enough watch to me and I quite liked the style. I realise there are loads of different Seiko 5 models out there to choose from. Please remember here that don't have a great knowledge of watches yet and what seems good enough to me may not be the best at all.

Thanks all.

[Possu]

The price is so low because the movements are very plain and simple – as are the watches – and they are mass produced in huge quantities and do not require much manual labour.

They are not the best at all, but they are IMO very decent quality for the price. In fact they are almost unbeatable in the pricerange. One thing you must realize before buying, is that they ar not the most accurate timekeepers. If you don't mind setting the time a couple of times a week, no problem. They can keep better time than that, but it's not something to rely on, when making a decision.

[Michael 38]

I was looking at one ages ago dirt cheap but pretty much throw away if they need servicing or repairs as a basic independant service seems to be about £100 now

[mr.chef]

I've just brought this one

[mr.chef]

And my dad has had this since the 70's

[Papa Hotel]

Worthy enough things for factory workers and the like, but the aspirational working man would be better off with an Omega or Rolex on credit. 0% is easy to get at any of the high street chains.

[Daffy]

I have one, it's been all over the world with me as my 'away' watch in some pretty hostile locations and never been anything other than rock solid.

As to timekeeping I don't find it too bad, after a few weeks I notice it's not totally accurate but it's not been an issue.

I think it's a great beater for a great price and would recommend one for the above reasons.

[893bet]

Well 3 months later I finally got around to putting the strap on that Barryw kindly sent!

[barryw]

Well 3 months later I finally got around to putting the strap on that Barryw kindly sent!

Perfect mate, pleased I could help.

[Papa Hotel]

Well 3 months later I finally got around to putting the strap on that Barryw kindly sent!

That works! What's the crystal on the old models? If acrylic you can make it look infinitely better with a only a few minutes elbow grease and a dab of toothpaste.

[Possu]

Worthy enough things for factory workers and the like, but the aspirational working man would be better off with an Omega or Rolex on credit. 0% is easy to get at any of the high street chains.

So, you are slummin' it in the UK? Here's a pic I secretly snapped at a gas station. An Estonian construction roustabout:

[TakesALickin]

As a daily beater they can't be beat. As mentioned the movements are mass manufactured and basic - they don't hack or hand wind - and they often don't come adjusted very well from the factory. They can be off by as much as thirty seconds per day right out of the box. But they can be adjusted to run much better than that. I have a project watch (pictured) made from a number of Seiko 5 parts (movement included) that I currently have running at -4 sec/day. That means I can set the watch 30 seconds fast and fifteen days later it'll be thirty seconds slow. My Rolex doesn't run that well. So for a watch that can be had for under $200 (£120), and sometimes for less that $100 (£60), I'd say the Seiko 5 does pretty well.

[Montybaber]

Worthy enough things for factory workers and the like, but the aspirational working man would be better off with an Omega or Rolex on credit. 0% is easy to get at any of the high street chains.

Speechless

[M4tt]

Speechless

Speechless, meet clueless. Clueless, meet speechless.

That's the introductions done.

[gunman]

Speechless

I read it as a wind up so ignored it.

Seems they may be decent bang for buck. Not sure what I'll go for, been looking at some of the Citizen eco-drive as well. I have my eye on some more "luxury" watches but that will be some time off, I've got 3 kids and a mortgage so spending big on a watch will take a bit of planning\saving I'm afraid.

[Montybaber]

I read it as a wind up so ignored it.

Seems they may be decent bang for buck. Not sure what I'll go for, been looking at some of the Citizen eco-drive as well. I have my eye on some more "luxury" watches but that will be some time off, I've got 3 kids and a mortgage so spending big on a watch will take a bit of planning\saving I'm afraid.

You don't have to spend a fortune to own nice quality watches, i am enjoying building a small budget collection that i can enjoy for a while before any 'big' purchases

My thinking is the more time i spend wearing various styles, sizes etc will hopefully lead me to be better informed when its time to take the plunge

It also means i can wear a different watch everyday and enjoy them rather than being scared of damaging them

[seikopath]

Speechless

Unfortunately , there are alot of people that think like that on TZ these days .

[snowman]

They're also good/fun to modify!





M

[ETCHY]

Worthy enough things for factory workers and the like, but the aspirational working man would be better off with an Omega or Rolex on credit. 0% is easy to get at any of the high street chains.

To be honest, i'll take a Seiko I actually own instead of a Rolex or Omega on the "drip" any day.

[Papa Hotel]

To be honest, i'll take a Seiko I actually own instead of a Rolex or Omega on the "drip" any day.

No real venom in any of the replies, but fishing is fun.

<------ Look at my profile pic.

[snowman]

Worthy enough things for factory workers and the like, but the aspirational working man would be better off with an Omega or Rolex on credit. 0% is easy to get at any of the high street chains.

You're a Tory MP and I claim my £500 prize (have your man give it to me as I'm sure you'd never carry anything as common as a £500 note or cash )

M

[Papa Hotel]

You're a Tory MP and I claim my £500 prize (have your man give it to me as I'm sure you'd never carry anything as common as a £500 note or cash )

M

I shall send my man Rupert post haste! He doesn't mind handling the dirty commoner denominations like "fifties". It hurt me to use that colloquialism.

[itsgotournameonit]

Like all watch brands their are models you will like and some you wont.Seiko watches are no different.I don't like all the 5 models but saw one of these on the show your Seiko thread and ordered one the very next day.

[mr.chef]

My dad retired early form the oil industry and it was good enough for him.

[Eamon]

Fantastic value for money.
I think sometimes they would be rated much higher if they were more expensive and produced in smaller volumes...

[M4tt]

Seiko simply don't make a bad watch. The movements in these are basic but robust. The metallurgy is as good as anything else and they are precisely as good as they look. They are fully serviceable, but most people treat them as disposable. They appear to last a couple of decades before wearing out, which is probably as good as anything else on the planet. An old Omega or Rolex is more likely to have been serviced for obvious reasons, but I'll happily pick up a good looking old one on ebay and am rarely disappointing.

In use, the only real difference you will notice is they don't hand wind and they don't hack. They do however start with pretty well any movement and can be reverse hacked with care. (you set the time precisely and then apply a tiny bot of counter clockwise pressure to the crown stopping the movement. It's a bit of an acquired technique, but easy enough to master.
They also tend not to be regulated to a standard that takes advantage of their stability so often benefit from regulation. Mind you, that's true of most watches these days.

[gunman]

Seiko simply don't make a bad watch. The movements in these are basic but robust. The metallurgy is as good as anything else and they are precisely as good as they look. They are fully serviceable, but most people treat them as disposable. They appear to last a couple of decades before wearing out, which is probably as good as anything else on the planet. An old Omega or Rolex is more likely to have been serviced for obvious reasons, but I'll happily pick up a good looking old one on ebay and am rarely disappointing.

In use, the only real difference you will notice is they don't hand wind and they don't hack. They do however start with pretty well any movement and can be reverse hacked with care. (you set the time precisely and then apply a tiny bot of counter clockwise pressure to the crown stopping the movement. It's a bit of an acquired technique, but easy enough to master.
They also tend not to be regulated to a standard that takes advantage of their stability so often benefit from regulation. Mind you, that's true of most watches these days.

Ok, stupid question time, what do you mean "hack"? I realise I may be making a fool of myself here

[Possu]

Ok, stupid question time, what do you mean "hack"? I realise I may be making a fool of myself here

Not hacking means that the second hand doesn't stop when you pull the crown for time adjustment.

Edit. No stupid questions, just stupid answers.

[Cirrus]

One of my favorite watches is a S5... cost me less than 10 quid delivered and it hasn't missed a beat in the nearly two years I have owned it.

Can't find a photo of it, but do have a scan of it. I must have been bored :)

[IMG]www.5280.org.uk/Seiko5.png[/IMG]

[EtherealShade]

One of my favorite watches is a S5... cost me less than 10 quid delivered and it hasn't missed a beat in the nearly two years I have owned it.

Same here. I'm on the my second SNK809, but only because I ruined the first one trying to fix the hairspring after magnetising it at work. Luckily for me my second one came with the most recent 7S26C movement, and is fantastically accurate. You really can't go wrong, and using the savings over another watch on a collection of different straps will increase its wear-ability a thousand fold.

[ArghZombies]

A word of caution with buying Seiko 5s off ebay - avoid sellers from India. There are a ton of them and they're notorious for selling frankenwatches (watches cobbled together from parts of other watches and then clumsily 'serviced' by just having the movement squirted with WD-40.

They're not all like that, and I've bought some other watches from Indian sellers with no issue, but Seiko 5s seem to be a magnet for such practices out of India.

[barryw]

As said great value and lots of styles to choose from, check out Amazon and Creation watches, as there's some great models and prices.
Regarding the budget watch market, there's some great makes to choose from and great fun, take a look at Orient watches, one of their best budget watches is the Bambino.Don't forget the Russian military watches the Vostok Amphibians and Kommanderskies they have a cult following and can be easily modded.
Choose wisely and once you decide to move on you'll lose very little money.

[CardShark]

The "5" represents five functions or features of the watch, and all Seiko 5s conform to this. IIRC it's shockproof, waterproof/resistant, automatic and day and date displays.

[ballin]

I like the Mini Monsters in the 5 lineup

[Richmondmike]

I love my Seikos, best bang for your buck out there.

[chester]

My Five can hold its own against any of the more expensive watches in my collection. The only thing that lets it down is that it didn't leave such a big hole in my wallet as the others.

[number2]

Seiko 5s are a range of budget watches made by Seiko.

[mattlad]

I use this one when I am travelling through the valley of the shadow.



46 quid from Amazon it's by a long shot my cheapest watch and funnily enough, one of my favourites........ Go figure!

[Papa Hotel]

I use this one when I am travelling through the valley of the shadow.



46 quid from Amazon it's by a long shot my cheapest watch and funnily enough, one of my favourites........ Go figure!

I've the green one, I wear it on brown leather, a brilliant little thing.

[Velorum]

Good range of custom dials and hands available for them

[893bet]

Funny enough I found one of these I'm my dads house today in an old drawer. Picture an old farm house that hasn't been cleared out since the famine and you can imagine the last time this saw daylight.

One quick shake and of it went!

January 1975 it dates from.

[Papa Hotel]

Funny enough I found one of these I'm my dads house today in an old drawer. Picture an old farm house that hasn't been cleared out since the famine and you can imagine the last time this saw daylight.

One quick shake and of it went!

January 1975 it dates from.

Don't leave us hanging chap, get some snaps up.

[893bet]

Don't leave us hanging chap, get some snaps up.

As requested. Need to try trace where it came from as my dad is not into watches in anyway. I am hoping there is a little bit of history to it! Bracelet is pretty much wrecked with stretch.

[barryw]

I have a brand new Seiko 5 strap which I removed straight away when I got mine, slightly different link pattern but I'm sure it would fit yours.
It's yours if you want it, just send me a pm with address and I'll pop it in the post :)

[893bet]

I have a brand new Seiko 5 strap which I removed straight away when I got mine, slightly different link pattern but I'm sure it would fit yours.
It's yours if you want it, just send me a pm with address and I'll pop it in the post :)

That would be suberb!

[charlesnevers]

Well, I think they are really fair quality for the price

[midgetda]

I also have the one on the right in the picture above and despite it being the cheapest watch I own, it gets worn more than any of the others. Great watch for the price.