[Closed] PSA: Watch fans. Cheap Seiko 5 Automatics.

Hmmmm, now we're talking.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B002SSUQFG/ref=pd_aw_sim_watches_10?refRID=1HN2P0DXABEK55A00AK3

37mm cases. Bit small for my tastes (am more 40-42mm).

The 5 is certainly a classic.

I have girls' wrists So they suit me.

Blimey, that SNXS77 midlife posted is a steal at that price! Nice classic style, that.
I have too many watches already, but I'm really tempted by that. Worth buying as a future special pressy for someone.

That first one is truly Anchorman meets 70's Basildon.

Always liked the 5. Proper classic.

Couldn't resist. Fast delivery.
Bit smaller than I thought and the braclet is a bit cheap/tinney but a leather strap would suit it well
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Nice n' simple, it tells the time/day/date clearly and legibly which is what a watch should do.

Very nice.

sometimes, but very rarely, I think it would be nice to wear a watch. But I dont. I hate wearing them.

But if I did, I'd wear something like this.
[img] [/img]

^ I have one like that, but in green. I wasn't really a watch wearer, but was looking at getting a Seiko 5, so my wife bought me one in July for my birthday.

It looses a minute or so a week (not too bad for a cheap auto), but so far has just worked. I love it.

Must resist buying another...

I wear a watch 3-4 times a year. My watch died* a couple of weeks ago so I bought a seiko 5. Amazing for the money, if a little small.

[img] [/img]

*My old watch magically started working again when the new one arrived.

It looses a minute or so a week (not too bad for a cheap auto), but so far has just worked. I love it.

It's not too difficult to regulate it yourself, you just have to be careful and make very tiny adjustments of the regulator.
Should be pretty easy to pop the back off a 5, I had to buy a case opening tool to do my SPORK, which was gaining about the same. Asked a mate who's a goldsmith to have a go, but it first went fast at a minute a day, then slow by the same.
At that point he suggested I get the tool from Maplins and do it myself! 😀
Took a couple of goes, the amount you move the little lever is microscopic, the last time was a fluke, I nudged it a bit further than I'd intended, then just gave it a tiny push back, and left it to see how it went.
Just checked it against my phone clock, which I set it against when the clocks went back, and it's currently 50 seconds fast.
Which I think is pretty acceptable after nearly four months.

I don't get Seiko 5, but miffed elephant's up there is quite lovely for casual attire.

Are they auto as in winds a spring, or like my Pulsar (a Seiko sub brand) work watch where the swinging weight charges a battery?

No battery, waggling your arm about winds a spring.

Ok thanks

5thElefant - Member
No battery, waggling your arm about winds a spring.

This^
An automatic is a purely mechanical movement with a rotating weight that winds the spring as you wear it; on the 5 series, some, if not all, have a window on the rear where you can see it happening.
A Kinetic charges a capacitor that keeps the movement going, but the capacitors can/will need replacing eventually, just like a Quartz movement.
An Auto never needs this, just wearing.
My SPORK has a 55-hour reserve when not being worn, my purely mechanical Yema runs down after around 12-24 hours.
Not sure if 5's have a reserve.

I take my 5 off overnight every night, it lasts about 12-24 hours unworn I think. However, after about 9 months of ownership, it now gains almost a minute a day. May have a look for this adjustment tool from Maplins, can anyone post a link?

Wearing watches looks so outdated, pointless and old fashioned now, IMO!

It's not too difficult to regulate it yourself, you just have to be careful and make very tiny adjustments of the regulator.
Should be pretty easy to pop the back off a 5, I had to buy a case opening tool to do my SPORK, which was gaining about the same. Asked a mate who's a goldsmith to have a go, but it first went fast at a minute a day, then slow by the same.
At that point he suggested I get the tool from Maplins and do it myself!
Took a couple of goes, the amount you move the little lever is microscopic, the last time was a fluke, I nudged it a bit further than I'd intended, then just gave it a tiny push back, and left it to see how it went.
Just checked it against my phone clock, which I set it against when the clocks went back, and it's currently 50 seconds fast.
Which I think is pretty acceptable after nearly four months.

I had heard it was easy to adjust, as I briefly looked in to it when I first got it. Is it easy for a novice to do or would you recommend taking it to a pro?

I don't mind tinkering with things but as this was a present I would rather not F it up for the sake of adjusting it once a week. I'm not sure how much it would cost to take it to a pro either, would it be cost effective bearing in mind the low value of Seiko 5's?

Pointless. Just get a cheap Casio. Battery lasts 10 years and the watch looks better.

STW members love shite shit a lot of the time.

How can it be considered [i]pointless[/i] if it gives the user pleasure either through function in use or by the form/design?, what I consider [i]pointless[/i] is using up your precious and declining time (get it?...nah, I didn't think so) left alive to comment on a thread that you have no interest in.

Does anyone reckon the tale of land rover defenders rattling mechanical watches to death due to the gearstick shaking violently (as they do) at tickover when the watch is worn on the left wrist? Only asking as I own a Defender but not a mechanical watch!

I wear my Seiko 5 whilst riding a rigid mtb and on my road bike, not had an issue yet?....saying that I bet it it will explode on my wrist tmorn.

Does anyone reckon the tale of land rover defenders rattling mechanical watches to death due to the gearstick shaking violently (as they do) at tickover when the watch is worn on the left wrist? Only asking as I own a Defender but not a mechanical watch!

I guess it depends if you drive holding the gearstick all the time. FWIW my 5s have put up with most stuff, apart from being dropped off a high shelf onto a marble floor. But I guess that'd kill most mechanical watches.

Never thought of putting a green-faced military 5 onto a tan strap like 5thElefant's but that looks great.

Watch threads on here always remind me of something my chain smoking, Farah wearing uncle might have worn in the 70's 😕

Not aimed at 5thElephant btw

Farah's 😀

Does anyone reckon the tale of land rover defenders rattling mechanical watches to death due to the gearstick shaking violently (as they do) at tickover when the watch is worn on the left wrist? Only asking as I own a Defender but not a mechanical watch!

When I worked as a engineer at Sky I used to wear a Seiko 5 as my work watch, spent half the day drilling holes into masonry with a SDS hammer drill, or banging cable clips into walls, never seemed to affect it.

Its sat in the cupboard now and if given a few shakes will start running again no problem.

However current daily is a nice Braun watch, or a Precista, or a Poljot, or my dads old gold Olma, and occasionally my Rolex or a original early Swatch.

I like watches 😀

I guess the current alternative to wearing a watch is using your phone to tell the time. Which you keep in a pocket, so you have to take it out to tell the time.
Like a pocket watch. Look what happened to them.

Very nice, but I got a Hawker Hurricane for Christmas from my better half and I can't really afford another nice watch.

All my watches are automatic or kinetic, my Pulsar I use on a daily basis has been brilliant over 10 years of drilling battering and general abuse.