Reply With QuoteThat's some reduction for a watch that's only been out for a few weeks.
Shows how out of touch Seiko were with the pricing here
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That's some reduction for a watch that's only been out for a few weeks.
It’s still crazy money for a prospex X branded watch. Gotta be barmy buying one, get a mint original 6138 panda for half that.
To be honest it looks like a £300 watch, tops
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I disagree. It is a fine watch.But pricing is very ambitious- a bit like Omega.Originally Posted by PatrickJ
Why put up prices that market can’t bear?
I've not handled one but I admit at first glance it doesn't look like anything close to its price point.
Aren't most of the Prospex range sort of in the £500 to £1,000 bracket. Obviously a bit more for the limited editions or those with extras like bracelets. The original pricing on this is ambitious, but Seiko does have a good collector fan base so I'm sure some will sell. I did see one guy posting wrist shots on the day of release so someone is buying.
Grand seiko and Seiko/prospex are a great brand and the watches superb.However the market cannot decide on their secondary worth when you can buy a seiko for £300.
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I’m guessing most people on here would say that’s a £500 -£800 watch every day...
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The illustrations do it absolutely no favours, I assume it will look a lot nicer in the flesh, that said it does, at a casual glance, look very like the sort of thing you would find gathering dust in H Samuel.
The Prospex X is a big mistake, it cheapens just about any dial it appears on.
Is that the same movement as the Smiths Vanguard?
Seiko catalogue and advertising renderings are always very "flat". No idea why this is, as it does the watches no favours at all. They are always far nicer in the flesh.
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My Seiko collection has grown significantly recently, but I’m not a fan of this at all.
It looks well below the standard of a Grand Seiko, but for a similar outlay.
If I wanted to spend this kind of money I would definitely be looking at ‘better’ brands, and getting a much nicer looking watch.
Grand Seiko are making their big push upwards. In Asia they increased their RRP by 22% overnight, new models in the UK are coming out where the point of entry for a 3 hander in SS is £6k and they will continue the price push upwards until they are in the same price bracket as AP (maybe a bit below but above JLC). It is a strategic initiative on the part of the brand to create value through exclusivity and in return some more complex dial and case manufacturing can clearly be seen. When you could get an SBGE001 for £3.5k everyone was saying that they were great value and a thinking man's watch but others said they would never pay that for a Seiko even though it is good value. Now that they will be priced above Rolex etc psychoplogically it is generating more buying desire as the value piece goes out the window to be replaced by exclusivity. I don't even think people associate Grand Seiko with Seiko as much any more and that they are instead perceived as 2 different companies. All backed up with a big marketing push.
Last edited by ryanb741; 24th December 2019 at 10:58.
A slightly better picture, but still not for me.
Wonder what the presentation is like with a RRP of £3290......
It looks on first appearance cheap and I would not buy it, I am sure it’s a great watch, but I would every time choose a JLC or a AP.
For £2700??
It is all fine and dandy but wake me up when people outside Japan start buying them in significant numbers at those prices. Anyway good for them but they might be overestimating the demand or they might have set their sight low in term of expected numbers.
Both Seiko and Grand Seiko fascinate me as brands I have to admit. I have a couple of cheap Seikos and think they are great watches and I enjoy wearing them a lot. But this one... I definitely had it at a £500 watch max. I really need to visit a Seiko boutique and check out some of these high-end GS models
The watch looks cheap; it certainly does not look £2700 retail. I have no issue in spending money on what I like if it is what I like.
I agree the pricing is out and I am an avid Seiko fan. The Presage SRQ031 55 year anniversary models looks more interesting. Price high thought around the £3k Mark. But probably matches the usual Swiss suspects at this price point. The problem Seiko face is a brand which straddles so many price points. For the average punter, if they have spent their hard earned cash on a watch, £ thousands, they want people to know it. With Seiko it can be difficult to know at which end of the spectrum the watch falls.
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The Seiko Prospex Professional range with the Spring Drive versions of Diver, Land and Air pushed prices up further. Not seen any discounts on those either, so Seiko getting better at controlling supply as well.
The point is nobody will buy them in significant numbers as they won't make them in significant numbers. They will go the way of Patek and AP and provide a very exclusive experience where the volumes are low.
But as FYI I know that GS are doing extremely well in the US and the ADs who stock them are saying theya re their 3rd most popular line behind Rolex and Omega. They have overtaken Panerai and IWC for sales as an example in that Ad network. But they make something like 30k watches a year so it isn't a volume play
I've heard the same about their performance Stateside, the brand strategy has worked a treat. I wonder how much the Hodinkee love/advertising has helped them?
Mate have you seen this watch in person? The dial, the hands, the finishing is absolutely superb. The pricing I agree though was a tad high, but Im not sure what it should have been priced at. An equivalent Omega or Tag Heuer with an inhouse movement would probably cost 3K plus. So Its not easy.
I've just been googling this, so I hope I've got it correct. In the Smiths is the NE88 which is basically a 8R39. In this Seiko chrono is a 8R48, which, it seems, has more parts and appears in more expensive watches, despite having similar specs. I've also seen slightly contradictory information, so take that with a pinch of salt. I'm a bit more confident that the 8R48 in this Prospex has a column wheel and vertical clutch. Whether the NE88 also does, search me.
From Eddie's timefactor page on the Smiths "Step in the Seiko Instruments NE88 (Seiko 8R28), a column wheel chronograph with vertical clutch for smooth operation and the chronograph can be left running for extended periods of time without fear of undue wear to gear teeth."
This lines up with my understanding of the NE88 as well. I genuinely don't know what the difference between the two movements are.
The 8R28 / 8R39 was the contradiction I came across, I guess I went with the wrong choice!
The only thing I can think of is the movement has better finishing or it is what they designate the movements which are sold individually versus what Seiko use themselves?
better images
https://timeandtidewatches.com/seiko...rsary-srq029j/
Seiko certainly can't compete with Rolex as far as "Box and Papers" are concerned
I've lost the exact numbers already, but the 8R48 has about 310 parts and the ....other one (ahem) has about 290. My understanding of chronos gets me about as far as saying, ooh look, a higher number.
The NE- prefix is for outside Seiko use; the 8R- for within Seiko.
I can't work out which, if any, of the various online databases is the best.
Exclusivity comes when demand outstrips supply.
Low numbers doesn’t make something exclusive.
The day all 30,000 are snapped up and people are screaming for more it will become exclusive.
Till then it is just uncommon/less frequently seen/rare etc.
From what I can further deduce, the difference between the 8R48 and 8R28 is better impact resistance. Nothing else.
One thing I had forgotten about (and realised while snooping online) - the 8Rxx is not an integrated chronograph movement, but a modular one. The integrated movement is the 6Sxx (37 I think). I had assumed for the price we'd have an integrated chronograph movement (though I can't see anything recent using the 6S37 movement). A bit cheeky Seiko.
Looks like decent finishing on case and dial from YouTube, although very thick at 16mm and the seiko and GS price overlap is confusing even for WIS, with GS starting at 2k and this going for 3.2k retail.
I get your point, and the GS chrono is a cracking watch. This is actually ok value when compared with Tudor heritage chrono.
Pricing is not the question here, it looks cheap that’s my point and I would not buy it regardless of the price. If I wanted another JLC or AP pricing is not the issue; I generally buy what I like. Price is not my primary motivation for watch purchasing.
In defence of Seiko (and I am the OP berating them for this price point) their official photographer needs to be shot. Seiko's photography team would somehow make a Patek Minute Repeater look like a Michael Kors and I really cannot fathom why they do such a bad job. As someone who has handled this particular chrono I would say it is a solid £1.5k watch in feel and quality, on par with the higher end of the Presage range. I do feel the pricing is somewhat 'lively' and even at £2.7k they won't shift many as at that price point I'd be either getting a Tudor or sticking another £1k in and having a choice of some superb watches elsewhere
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surely the comparison on technical, finish and price would be against what the Swatch Group produces for £3k
I have not seen one "in the flesh" but if you look at quality images it is not bad, albeit with maybe something "missing" from the model it "copies"
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