As you may have noticed, I don't have many analog quartz watches. (I'll admit, after looking through my previous blog posts, I do have more than I realized.) They simply don't hold the same appeal for me as mechanical watches. Occasionally, I do find one that is hard to resist. Today I'm wearing one such watch, a Seiko SNDA67 chronograph. I was mainly drawn to this by its functional looks, very reminiscent of some Sinn/Bell & Ross dials as well as other military-style watches. It's highly legible with thick hands and big hour and minute markers. The chronograph function measures to 1/20 of a second which is a nice feature (and watching the 1/20 sec. hand spin through its 20 clicks once a second is temporarily entertaining.) The case is a good size, about 44mm diameter, but lower profile than most of my automatic chronographs. Overall finish is excellent, typical of Seiko, and while the bracelet isn't up to that of a Seiko Monster, it's still nicer than many. The crystal is Hardlex, Seiko's proprietary hardened mineral crystal, so it should be pretty resistant to scratches. The crystal doesn't have any anti-reflective coating, so glare could be a factor depending on the scenario. This watch has an MSRP of $295, but is readily available for less than half that. It's definitely a solid package at a nice price.
As I mentioned when I wore my Seiko Orange Monster, it was strange that I didn't have a Black Monster, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet. Well, last week I saw a deal on the SKX779 on the rubber strap that was too good to pass up. I'm not sure if I would have preferred the bracelet, but I already have the bracelet on my Orange Monster so I could always switch them. I do think if I had to have either one on the black rubber, I would prefer the Black Monster since it matches better. I might even get a black leather strap for it, like the Di-Modell Chronissimo which looks really great on it. Amazingly, after seeing hundreds, if not thousands of pictures of Black Monsters on both PMWF and other forums, I never realized that the hands were light tan in color. I guess they are pretty close to the color of the luminous material, close enough to appear the same in photographs. For some reason I just always assumed they were white like the printing on the dial. Like the Orange Monster, it's a great looking watch. The brushed and polished finishes work great together, and the black dial gives it a more subdued look, but it's still not a watch that will be inconspicuous.
Today I'm wearing my Seiko "Orange Monster" diver. This is one of the most popular Seikos among watch lovers. Lots of information and reviews can be found on the net. In a nutshell, it's a large, good-looking, reliable watch that is not overly flashy, but does stand out because it's pretty unique. The quality of the case and bracelet, as well as the combination of brushed and polished details really makes it look more expensive than it really is. I only have the orange version of the monster, although it also comes in a black-dialed version, and has been issued in limited editions with yellow, blue and red dials. More recently a version has been released with a black PVD case and bracelet that is available with either an orange or black dial. Except for the basic black-dialed or orange-dialed versions, all the other versions have higher prices, and the yellow-dialed limited edition might be the most rare. Considering my penchant for collecting, it's a little strange I don't at least have a black monster, if not one of the other models, but I guess I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
Ok, so not a very original or imaginative choice today, but definitely one of my favorite watches. Don't ask me who came up with the "Knight" nickname for this series of watches, I guess the same people who named the "Monster". There are a number of models that share the "Knight" designation, including black, silver and orange dials and quartz, Kinetic and automatic movements. The SKXA51, or Orange Knight, that I'm wearing today is an automatic and only available with the rubber strap. I believe all the other Knights come on stainless bracelets, as did the White Knight that is also in my collection. The strap is somewhat different than normal Seiko dive straps (like the Z-20 or Z-22) because the Knight watches all share a 15mm lug width (where the bracelet or strap attaches to the watch.) This makes for a bracelet that is more well integrated into the case itself, but if you attached a normal 15mm wide strap it would look silly. The rubber Knight strap has more normal strap width, but is narrower between the lugs to fit the Knight case. I have also seen people cut down 22mm leather straps to fit the same way and sometimes it looks quite nice. It's another great Seiko diver that's always a joy to wear, somewhat less chunky than an SKX173 or the like, and dressier looking, or at least more mainstream looking, especially the black or silver dial models on the bracelet.
As I mentioned in my SKX007 diver post, this style of Seiko diver comes in a number of model numbers with only minor cosmetic differences. Today's watch, the Seiko SKX173, has a different dial than the SKX007 but is otherwise identical. So, everything that I said about the 007 holds true for this one. Also, if you compare this watch to my bead-blasted 007 you can see how the highly polished case and bezel give the watch a different look.
I bought my SKX173 secondhand (from Australia, actually, when the American dollar was worth a little more down there) and wore it a number of times on the included Seiko rubber strap. It actually was more like plastic when I got it, probably due to its age, and eventually it just broke. I'm wearing it now on a grey nylon NATO strap which coordinates nicely with the silver hour markers on the dial and is very comfortable. I think I'll have to pick some oddball watches for the rest of the week. Most of the watches I've posted so far have been ones I wear pretty frequently, and I have a bunch I never wear, so maybe I should dig into those before I run out of my favorites.
As you may have noticed, I don't have many analog quartz watches. (I'll admit, after looking through my previous blog posts, I do have more than I realized.) They simply don't hold the same appeal for me as mechanical watches. Occasionally, I do find one that is hard to resist. Today I'm wearing one such watch, a Seiko SNDA67 chronograph. I was mainly drawn to this by its functional looks, very reminiscent of some Sinn/Bell & Ross dials as well as other military-style watches. It's highly legible with thick hands and big hour and minute markers. The chronograph function measures to 1/20 of a second which is a nice feature (and watching the 1/20 sec. hand spin through its 20 clicks once a second is temporarily entertaining.) The case is a good size, about 44mm diameter, but lower profile than most of my automatic chronographs. Overall finish is excellent, typical of Seiko, and while the bracelet isn't up to that of a Seiko Monster, it's still nicer than many. The crystal is Hardlex, Seiko's proprietary hardened mineral crystal, so it should be pretty resistant to scratches. The crystal doesn't have any anti-reflective coating, so glare could be a factor depending on the scenario. This watch has an MSRP of $295, but is readily available for less than half that. It's definitely a solid package at a nice price.
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