Seiko Men's SKX007K Diver's Automatic Watch Review

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(More customer reviews)My uncle had been wearing the Seiko SKX007 (although his may be a different model number) since the early 80s. I was a little kid back then and I may not have consciously noticed his watch, But his watch must have left some impact, because I've always been partial to divers watches, and currently own several. These include two quartz Bulovas, one quartz Swatch, and most recently an automatic Omega Seamaster Professional (the James Bond model). The Bulovas were OK, the Swatch is a piece of garbage, and the Omega is just a delight to own.
And yet, none of these ever seemed to match my mind's idealized image of what a divers watch should be.
A short time after buying the Omega, I came across the Seiko on some watch aficionado website. I recognized it as the watch my uncle has worn all these years and was surprised to realize that this very watch was the image against which I judged all other diver watches. I wanted it badly. But having just spent a bundle on a watch I couldn't justify the purchase.
Until the end of December. Out of nowhere, my not-a-year-old Omega started gaining close to an hour a day!! A bizarre circumstance followed by an immediate delivery to the local Omega authorized dealer. It would take nearly a month until my watch was repaired and returned.
What's a guy to do? I knew .... I went to Amazon and bought the Seiko I always wanted. An automatic and the less expensive model; the pricier model has square number markers, not circles.
Always the pessimist, I prepared myself for disappointment. I hadn't seen my uncle's watch for some time and just expected a let down of some sort. I was concerned the face would just look radically different from what I hoped for, and I'd be stuck with a watch I didn't want to wear. And despite my fears, I kept heading to the window all morning on the day the watch was scheduled to arrive.
Finally, the UPS truck pulled up in front of my house and sure enough, he was holding my new "replacement" watch. I opened the box and out came the watch I always wanted --- looking and feeling exactly as I had wished.
Now I regularly alternate between my $2000 Omega and my $200 Seiko. It keeps perfect time! It is aesthetically fantastic! And it just feels great on my wrist! It is big, and the rubber band is not elegant. But 'not elegant' in the sense that it looks out of place when I wear it with a suit. But in any other situation, it looks just right.
Here are some observations: The face is beautiful. The band is thick and rugged, the antithesis of cheap or flimsy. The luminescence stays luminescent for hours into the dark. The automatic second hand sweep is graceful and solid. The case is unbrushed steel, substantial in weight, and heavy-duty like industrial strength machinery. The top of the lugs are brushed steel and the contrast only enhances the watch's natural good looks. The screw-down crown is BIG and has deep grooves, which makes it easy to screw and unscrew, not to mention set.
The bezel is my favorite feature because the grooves on the side are designed for serious use. If you want to turn that unidirectional bezel, be assured -- it will not slip. The watch is so solid that you can only conclude that conventional opinion, at least someone still makes it like they used to.
For balance, I'll mention the one and only aspect of the watch that I would prefer were different. You cannot stop the second hand. Even as you're setting the time, the second hand continues to move, making it impossible to perfectly synchronize the watch with an atomic clock. Then again, hopefully not everyone is like me, and has to have a perfectly synchronized watch.
To conclude, obviously I highly, highly recommend the Seiko SKX007. Keep in mind: if hard-core diver watches are NOT your thing, you may quickly realize that this watch is way too much watch to handle. But if you're a diver watch lover like me -- even if, like me, you've never worn a wet suit in your life -- this watch is as much the real deal as you'll ever get.

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Black rubber strap;Stainless steel case;Black dial;Luminous hands and hour markers;Black unidirectional elapsed time bezel;Sweep second hand;Scuba diver's;Water resistant to 200 meters;Date and day display at 3:00;Hardlex crystal;Japan automatic movement;

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Citizen Men's BN0000-04H Eco-Drive Professional Diver Black Rubber Strap Watch Review

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(More customer reviews)Pros:
Citizen's BN0000-04H has something unique. It may not carry the weight of a TAG Heuer, Omega, Rolex, or other sport-dive watch (in cold hard $, "prestige", or actual literal heaviness for sure), but it really has charm.
With this watch you get the superior time-keeping qualities of a high-grade japanese quartz movement (quartz always runs on a battery - yes, there is a specially-engineered titanium-manganese battery in there) but without the need for any battery change, ever (at least 20 years by Citizen engineers' estimates). This movement blows automatics out of the water in time-keeping. It doesn't have the fluid sweep of an automatic's second hand (it ticks in 1-second intervals), but for me keeping time is what counts in a watch, right?
This is a set-it-and-forget-it watch. It will keep on trucking about 6-months in total darkness from a full charge. And if it does stop, it'll come out of it to full accurate time-keeping with just 15 minutes in the summer sunshine. It will run a whole 24 hour time-cycle with only 4 minutes of light exposure. Eco-Drive is the new deal in watch movement. [EDIT: Not to mention the battery inside is specially made non-toxic. It's a green machine.]
As to its pedigree, it's a real ISO-rated dive watch. There's an easy way to tell with Citizens: if there's an M after the depth rating on the face, it's ISO-rated. This isn't just my theory, this is from Citizen's own product info. This watch wants to see dive time.
The watch face, which some call cramped, feels to me like looking through a porthole in a submarine or something. It's a little deep. I can tell the time just fine. The hour dots are legible in all kinds of light situations. The lume is about as good as Seiko's lumibrite, which is to say, pretty darn good. But it's no Luminox to be sure. [EDIT: The lume, in my tests, lasts well over a 12 hour cycle in total darkness from just 15 seconds of direct charging with a flashlight. Don't think it's bright at all after those 12 hours, though. But it does have a really nice greenish glow when charged.]
The mineral-crystal is domed, but you can see the time even at a pretty sharp angle. I like the dome, goes with the porthole feel. The face also bears a really nicely done little pyramid-shaped grid pattern. That might be the solar cell, but either way, it's beautiful the way it picks up light.
With the hands, some say they're "phallic" but I think they look more like lit candles. Haven't seen hands like them anywhere, and I get bored with all the pointed-arrow and straight-line designs. And they're nice, fat and visible in the dark. Furthermore, everything's outlined in chrome. Has the look of quality engineering.
[EDIT: The second hand lines up almost perfect with the little markers on the beveled inside edge. It's perfect, spot-on precise 50-59 seconds out of a minute on mine, but it isn't perfect every single time. And it varies from minute to minute which 1-10 markers it misses (but it always nails 30-60 for some reason). You'd never notice, however, unless you put the watch right up to your face and stare at it like a crazy person like I did before writing this. That's a very small amount of play in the movement, and for this price, is impressive. You get the same movement in even the more expensive Eco-Drive divers, by the way (for example, the one with the bright blue face, and the famed "Eco-Zilla"). The minute and hour hands, however, are exact on this, every time.]
As to the date window, I like it small. Generally I know what day it is. I don't need that information taking up half of my watch face. But I even like the font used on it. Looks like it could be used on a Navy decompression table.
The bezel is 60-clicks, compared with Seiko's 120, so it feels a little rough. But I like having it at 60. It's more precise. I'm not going to need to time a half-minute of anything with the rotating bezel, ever. [EDIT: I make perfect pasta by using the bezel, by the way. Impresses the girlfriend. Thumbs up here. Also times parking meters. No more tickets for me. Furthermore, the bezel "breaks-in" after a little while and the spring doesn't feel so choppy.]
The band is really soft. It's not hard or stiff, like others say. It feels like high-grade dive rubber. But I have smaller wrists, it could press into some bigger guys'. The watch looks great on smaller wrists, by the way, due to it's smaller size. Doesn't make me look like a wuss. Big plus there. [EDIT: And due to the friction grid-pattern on the back of the band, it doesn't move around on the wrist at all. It's planted on there now.]
And did I mention the case IS ONE SOLID PIECE OF STAINLESS STEEL? I can't get over that. I haven't seen that on any watch in any price-range. [EDIT: The case is specially cast in a mold from molten steel, not machined.] Just cool. Citizen is so confident in their engineering, they make it that much harder to open. And for water to get in, remember, 300M = 1,000 ft.
Cons:
The screw-down crown. Don't get me wrong, it has a quality feel (doesn't wobble when pulled out) and does it's job. But I'm not going to lie, it's hard to get it screwed down and hard to get it unscrewed because of the steel lip that surrounds it. Seiko's design on the classic SKX007K, for example, is better. However, remember that quartz movement? You'll only need to unscrew that crown about 5 times a year, to set the date for the months without 31 days.
The bezel has printed numbers. These seem pretty durable, whatever they're made of, and I haven't scuffed them yet even after some direct hits. But how much harder would it have been to have the numbers pressed into the bezel?
The crystal is not recessed in the bezel much at all. It'll pick up dings/surface scratches. But hey, it's an affordable watch. It deserves some character. Do not get that crystal anywhere near a brilo-pad though, say, when washing dishes. You'll regret it. It ain't sapphire. [EDIT: And it ain't 2K so who's complaining?]
Summmary:
All in all, great watch with a lot of character. Keeps great time. Comfortable = Not one sharp edge on the thing. Not heavy = forget it's even there. No battery change! One piece of steel! Eco-Drive is fail-safe technology. This watch will give you at least 20 years of maintainence-free time-keeping. And look good doing it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Citizen Men's BN0000-04H Eco-Drive Professional Diver Black Rubber Strap Watch

The men's Eco-Drive Professional Diver contains a screw-down crown on a solid one-piece case, for a fantastic water resistance of 300 meters. Enjoy the use of a one-way rotating elapsed-time bezel, luminous hands and markers, and date display, all on a comfortable black polyurethane strap.

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His & Her Watch Gift Sets Review

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(More customer reviews)Don't expect too much from this set for it is quite flimsy and cheap looking, although it can be given as a gift, remember that the quality of this item is equivalent to its price.

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These watch sets are brand new and come in an elegant designer hard display / retail case and an outer white cardboard protective sleeve. These watches have stainless steel backs and have quartz crystal which guards against scratches and breakage, Japanese movement and are water resistant

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Armitron Men's 201437GRN Chronograph Analog-Digital Instalite Black Sport Watch Review

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(More customer reviews)This watch is one of the most durable, most reliable watches I have ever seen! To be honest I was very surprised at how long this thing lasted. I'm a Marine, and I bought this watch almost two years ago, and since buying it the watch has been through Marine Combat Training, hot and cold climate conditions, Mojave Viper training exercises a full tour in Iraq and a deployment to Bangladesh.
As a Combat Engineer and working hard, long hours of construction on all my deployments I can tell you hands down that this watch has taken a hell of a beating. It has out-performed so many other watches, that I am reluctant to get rid of it and get a new one. For the $25 you would pay for this watch you will get a product that will last you through hell and back. I will say though that some features were not up to par, thus why I rated it at 4 stars and not five.
The following are the only minor indiscretions I have with the watch. For one, like another review stated, the analog knob for adjusting time fell out one day when I went to adjust the time. I was able to put it back in though, and it still held up its water resistance up until the present. I can attest to this, having just completed a swim qualification and the fact that I wear it in the shower everyday. That was all fine and dandy, but about a month after my deployment to Iraq, the analog function stopped working completely. Everything was still good, as the digital time on the watch still functions perfectly and that's all I need. The only other thing that failed on me, and this is the big one, is the rubber that holds that band in place. This broke a couple days ago, and it broke my heart. This was a great watch, and to be honest I just put electrical tape on it to hold the band to the case, but I think I'll bite the bullet here and just get a new watch.
Hats off to Armitron for making one of the most durable, long lasting watches I have ever seen. I would highly recommend this watch as an inexpensive watch for someone in any lines of work involving hard labor, long hours and low pay. Great deal, it will last you long time, and definitely some serious bang for your buck.
Max-

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This sporty analog/digital watch is packed with features, including a chronograph, lap timer, alarm, and hourly chime. Day and date are displayed digitally, and luminous hands and markers make the dial readable even in low light conditions. Clearly marked function buttons, positioned on the bezel, make the watch easy to use. The sturdy plastic case and nylon strap are lightweight, durable, and water resistant..
About Armitron Billed as the best priced quality watch in America, Armitron is a brand known for its dedication to value and for its wide range of styles. From classic dress watches for men and women, to energetic sport watches, to fun character watches for kids and grown-ups alike, Armitron has a style to suit every person's needs and tastes.

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