Buy Now, Pay Later
As low as
/ mo
Learn more
- – Up to 36-month term if approved
- – No impact on credit to apply
- – Instant approval decision
- – Secure and straightforward checkout
Ready to go? Add this product to your cart and select a plan during checkout.
Payment plans are offered through our trusted finance partners Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, Zip, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. No-credit-needed leasing options through Acima may also be available at checkout.
Learn more about financing & leasing here.
Free shipping on this product
30-day returns
Learn more
FREE 30-day refund/replacement
To qualify for a full refund, items must be returned in their original, unused condition. If an item is returned in a used, damaged, or materially different state, you may be granted a partial refund.
To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.
View our full returns policy here.
Availability:
Only 1 left in stock, order soon!
Arrives
Tuesday, Aug 4
Recently Viewed
Description
Black dial. Silver-tone stainless steel case with a black canvas band. Automatic movement. 30 meters / 100 feet water resistance. Fixed bezel. Tang clasp. Case size 37 mm x 11 mm. Seiko SNK809 Seiko 5 Watch. The Seiko 5 Men's Automatic Black Strap Black Dial Watch is a stylish timepiece with the convenience of automatic movement. A uniquely designed, black dial features white Arabic numbers marking the hours on an inner circle and the minutes on an outer circle, while small, bar indexes encircle the dial on an outside minute track. Silver-tone hands with luminous fill make it easy to tell time day or night, and the slim second hand is detailed with a red accent. For added convenience, a day and date display are set at three o'clock. The polished stainless steel case extends to meet the black nylon strap, which wraps comfortably around the wrist and fastens with a traditional buckle. Water resistant to 30 feet (100 meters), this high-performance watch is perfect for everyday wear.This is an automatic mechanical watch. Automatic watches do not operate on batteries, instead, they are powered automatically by the movement of the wearer’s arm. If the main spring in your automatic watch is not wound sufficiently, timekeeping may become less accurate. In order to maintain accuracy, wear the watch for 8 hours or more per day, or manually wind the main spring by turning the crown. When not in use, automatic watches may be kept charged with an automatic watch winder – a watch storage unit which may be purchased separately.
Product Dimensions : 5.91 x 5.91 x 5.91 inches; 2.12 ounces
Item model number : SNK809
Department : mens
Batteries : 1 CR2 batteries required. (included)
Date First Available : July 19, 2004
Manufacturer : Seiko
Product Warranty: For warranty information about this product, please click here
Best Sellers Rank: #582,326 in Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry (See Top 100 in Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry) #2,660 in Men's Wrist Watches
#2,660 in Men's Wrist Watches:
Display: Analog
Watch Movement Type: Automatic
Additional Features: Water Resistant
Power Source: Automatic
Strap Type: Two Piece Strap
Water Resistance Depth: 30 meters
Sport Type: Walking
Clasp Type: Buckle
Water Resistance Level: Water Resistant
Embellishment Feature: Crystal
Closure Type: Buckle
Style Name: Dress
Shape: Casual
Band Color: Black
Dial Color: Black
Theme: Sports
Pattern: Linen
Face Style: Linen
Bezel Color: Silver
Brand Name: SEIKO
Model Name: SNK809
Included Components: Black Canvas Strap, Nylon Strap
Model Number: SNK809
Series Number: 809
Item Weight: 60 g
Manufacturer: Seiko
UPC: 029665152664
Manufacturer Part Number: SNK809
Band Material Type: Nylon
Case Material Type: Stainless Steel
Crystal: hardlex
Case Diameter: 37 millimeters
Band Width: 17 millimeters
Case Thickness: 11 millimeters
Band Length: 9.5 inches
Bands: 1
Warranty Type: Manufacturer
Frequently asked questions
If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is:
Tuesday, Aug 4
Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.
To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.
View our full returns policy here.
To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.
View our full returns policy here.
- Klarna Financing
- Affirm Pay in 4
- Affirm Financing
- Afterpay Financing
- Zip Pay in 4
- Financing through Apple Pay
- Financing through Google Pay
Learn more about financing & leasing here.
Similar Products
![Apple Watch Ultra [GPS + Cellular 49mm] Titanium Case with Midnight Ocean Band, One Size (Renewed)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/810JR81LIsL._AC_US500_.jpg)
![Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2024) 47mm LTE AI Smartwatch w/Energy Score, Wellness Tips, Heart Rate Tracking, Sleep Monitor, Fitness Tracker, GPS,Titanium Silver [US Version, 1Yr Manufacturer Warranty]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/817QHxxq34L._AC_US500_.jpg)
![Apple Watch Ultra 2 [GPS + Cellular, 49mm] - Titanium Case with Blue Ocean Band, One Size (Renewed)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/6165pya85SL._AC_US500_.jpg)
![Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2024) 47mm LTE AI Smartwatch w/Energy Score, Wellness Tips, Heart Rate Tracking, Sleep Monitor, Fitness Tracker, GPS, Titanium Gray [US Version, 1Yr Manufacturer Warranty]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81UQDoHG7pL._AC_US500_.jpg)
![Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2024) 47mm LTE AI Smartwatch w/Energy Score, Wellness Tips, Heart Rate Tracking, Sleep Monitor, Fitness Tracker, GPS, Titanium White [US Version, 1Yr Manufacturer Warranty]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81rbj+RbISL._AC_US500_.jpg)
![Apple Watch Ultra [GPS + Cellular 49mm] Titanium Case with Green Alpine Loop, Large (Renewed)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/916acEhBkcL._AC_US500_.jpg)
Top Amazon Reviews
Many reviews provide a detailed review of this watch, so I'll keep this pretty general. I've had mine a week now, and it's averaging +12 seconds/day, which is respectable for this price point. I expect it to slow down a bit more over the next 3 months as it gets worn in, hopefully settling on something within 10 seconds/day. Took the watch camping and have wore it all week, it has no scratches anywhere, still looks new. Lum is great, as I can easily still see the time at 4:30 in the morning without any special effort to "charge" the watch face. It should be noted that the lum is not very apparent if there's sufficent ambient light, but once in the dark it's very easy to read. Others have stated that the watch face is small, I disagree. The watch looks to be standard size to me (~37mm), but if you think a dive watch is normal size, then this probably is not going to be right for you. My biggest concerns with this watch are the 30 meters water resistence(this rating does not mean you can swim down to 30 meters, it's recommended that you don't swim with the watch at all), and the fact that I have to wear it everyday or it runs out of juice (but that's automatics for you, nothing unusual about this). Overall I'm happy with this watch considering it's price point. If I paid a little more, I might still be happy. Recommended if you like how it looks, are ok with a normal sized watch, understand that automatics aren't super accurate (but you still want one anyway because they're just cool), don't plan to swim or shower with it on, and you plan to wear it daily. If you just like how it looks, but want something more accurate with better water resistence and with less worry about it running out of power, look into the Citizen Eco-drive line of watches. There's one very similar looking to this one, at a moderately higher price. I considered the Citizen, but liked the idea of an automatic. Edited to add: I've had this watch for a few months now, and I'm still happy with my purchase. No scratches on the watch at all yet. I reset it each month, setting it ~2 minutes slow, but the end of the month it's usually ~2 minutes fast. It's seems to run run about 8 seconds fast per day, which is great for an auto this inexpensive. Overall, I'm still very happy with this watch. I've really come to appreciate the fact that the lum lasts throughout the evening. And even though I've taken it off for 12+ hours at a time, I've not yet had it stop on me as some reviewers have indicated has happened to them. Edited to add (11/28/12): I've had this watch for ~8 months now and I've been wearing it nearly everyday. I have a single light scratch on the face, but nothing horrible, the rest of the watch still looks perfect. I did take the watch off for a 24 hour period, and it did end up stopping on me, but other than that one time it hasn't been an issue. I'm still amazed by how bright the dial glows at 3 AM in the morning (and having just had a kid, I am up at that time frequently). I've also noticed that I've only had to reset the watch a couple times over the last couple months to keep it within two minutes of the actual time. When comparing the watch to the offical US time, it appears I'm gaining about 5 seconds per day (based on a 3-day average), which is about as good as anyone can ask for from an auto. Overall I'm still very happy. ETA (10/28/13): Still love this watch. The face seems to be very good at resisting scratches. So far I have not had any additional scratches on the face of the watch, although I do have a few scratches on the case now. Nothing I can't live with, I could even clean those out by buffing the entire case with a dremel, but that would ultimately remove the bead blasted finish (still would look great though, might do that in another year or so). I haven't been tracking the time keeping ability of the watch recently, but I almost never have to reset the time, it's close enough to perfect that the only times I can remember changing it recently were when I was resetting the date at the beginning of the month. Still very happy with this watch. ETA (7/7/14): The watch continues to perform well. I've worn it daily since receiving it, and it still looks pretty good. No significant wear since my last update, face still looks very good and case has some minor scratches. The time keeping hasn't remained as good as I had hoped, but it's not bad. It runs about 5 minutes fast every two weeks. I just set it 2 minutes slow each time, and I'm never more than a few minutes off over the course of the 2 weeks. ETA (11/6/17): The watch still functions, but has taken a backseat to a newer citizen eco-drive of similar style. It still looks great, but the time keeping started slipping a bit, sometimes with wild fluctuations. I still wear it from time to time, but it'll never be my primary watch again. Had a really good run though, and I continue to recommend.
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2012 by D. Connally
Took a few tries and two different vendors to finally get my hands on 2 that are keepers. Two of four sent to me had cosmetic flaws-one blemished face, inside the glass, the other a blemished case, but once you get a cosmetically "good" one sent to you, this watch is simply beautiful. Very happy with both. Japanese eye for detail amazes me, especially for a watch this inexpensive. I'll consider the two blem. watches flukes and just concentrate on the two "good" ones. Build quality is excellent. Does my heart glad to know at least some companies still have their minds focused on quality at all price levels. After a week, neither has lost a minute. Second hand is tricky to sync, but even a few seconds behind my radio-synchronized wall clock, both keep good time. Like I said, glad I bought two. It's easy wearing and as light as a similar sized quartz watch. I bought this as a daily wearer in place of a much heavier swiss stainless mechanical monster I own. The time adjustment knob is a little small for my fingers, but that's not special to this watch. Had the same trouble with other brands too. I expect to enjoy many happy years with these watches. I'de heard of Seiko, but never heard of Seiko 5 before this, glad I came across the watch. The return process on the blems was painless, to Amazon's credit. Heard rumors that there are a lot of fakes being sold on the internet so I did some research. (Who fakes a $60 watch?!? geez..) Apparently this watch is grey market in the US, so any one you buy will have a warranty card that is not filled out because it was not sold by an authorized Seiko dealer, so be warned. I don't expect warranty trouble, so I am not very worried. If I do, I'll take it to Seiko and pay the cash, or just buy another if repairs cost more than ~$40.00. Going by the tag on the band, Seiko's suggested retail price for this watch is $185.00 so Amazon's quite a bargain. In the future, I will buy directly from amazon, not one of their storefront vendors. The first order I placed was from an amazon vendor who had the watch to me strangely fast, but with no paperwork and in a generic plastic box, not the blue Seiko box. Watch was a blem so I sent it back, but the swapmeet style packaging and lack of papers disappointed me. I associate that with Ebay and stay away from Ebay for that exact reason. I also have reason to believe that the watch was not as new as the seller claimed- after all, where was the original packing that a "new" watch comes in? How would it go missing? That was the only watch of the 4 that came packed that way. All others had the blue box and all docs included. So if someone out there has watch #141073 (case ser.#) then you got MY old one.. at least one that was sent to me and returned, never worn, as a blem. That vendor also charged a new price for something that smelled a bit fishy. To my mind, new-looking watch, minus factory packing, minus factory docs, does not equal the going price minus two bucks. Need to drive the cheezeball vendors back to ebay from whence they came. Ate the shipping on that one. Amazon did hold up their end honorably in all cases. No complaints there. And I do love the watches at the end of the day. If you are on the fence about this watch, then buy it. Great bang for the buck, near swiss attention to detail & fit and finish, well above and beyond the call of duty for a watch at this price. Keep up the good work Seiko. The quality is of the band is good, considering the price range. Seen worse, but not many better. When this band wears out, I will buy another just like it from Seiko. Let that be the final judgement on my views of the quality of the band. Heard some say the watch is a bit small for big manly wrists. On that point, I dunno. I think it's sized to look normal on the wrists of 95% of men. Some guys have big wrists.. ok, maybe not the watch for you if you are in that 5%. We also live in an era where absurdly large watches have become the norm, so that may be skewing attitudes and perceptions a bit. I find the size of the face "just right" and I consider my wrists normal for a 6' + tall caucasian adult male.
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2012 by watchermeanbyit
I bought this watch one year and half ago and I am still very happy with it. I will not repeat the other reviews how great this watch is. This watch definitely looks better in person than photos. Expect to replace the cheap looking strap. This watch looks great with a leather strap. If you still prefer a nylon mil-spec strap, Maratac nylon straps are the best but only sold at CountyComm website and $15 shipping :( The size of this watch is great for my thin wrist. Large watches to me are passing fad and they are just not comfortable to wear. The reasons for my 4 stars instead of 5 are: 1. The case of the watch between the lugs is polished finished instead of sand blasted. It’s a bit odd but probably no one around you will notice it. 2. The dial design is a bit too understated. I think it will have a better visual balance if the font of the numbers was a bit bolder. This is just my taste. 3. The case back is see through glass instead of stainless steal. Of course this is a personal preference. For a military styled watch, it’s a bit odd to have glass on the back since it's not durable as steel. It makes it look more like a lady’s fashion watch. I understand they want to show off the mechanical movement and it’s probably a good move in today’s watch market, but seiko 5 movement is not that glorious looking anyways, so I don’t really care to see it. I compared this watch against Citizen’s Eco drive: From what I read Eco drive uses capacitor to store the electricity charged by solar panel. The capacitor degrades around in 5 to 10 years. So it eventually require capacitor replacement. This capacitor is Citizen’s proprietary parts. So the longevity of an Eco drive watch depends on how long the capacitor lasts and how long Citizen will keep stocking the particular capacitor replacement. On the other hand, Seiko 5 is a fully mechanical watch. Normally this means it requires regular cleanings by a watch smith at least every 5 years to keep it running properly. But the cost of such service is more than cost of brand new Seiko 5. But Seiko 5 has been around since 1960s and known to run reliably over 10 years and sometimes even 20 years without any servicing. I picked Seiko 5 over Eco-drive or any other solar powered watch since I will be able to enjoy a pleasure of owning a mechanical watch which I can expect to run reliably for next 10 or 15 years without any replacement or servicing. This is definitely a great entry mechanical watch. Plus, there is a Seiko 5 modding subculture community on the internet. Apparently, you can swap the dials with other Seiko 5 models since they are standardized. There is also a website that shows the step by step process of servicing Seiko 5 movement yourself. The low cost makes this a perfect guinea pig watch. This watch may be your portal to the horological rabbit hole… Google the funny but informative article by WatchSnob “The Cheapest High End Watch” on askmen website. This article makes you proud of owning a Seiko 5!
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2015 by greenT
When I saw this watch, I could not believe its price. I was looking for an everyday watch which did not cost too much, but I never thought I could get a Seiko for around USD 55. This watch is a little small if compared to the sizes currently in the market but since I do not have a big wrist, that was nothing to worry about (and again, for that price...). Moreover, I have to say that I hate to look as if I have a Vick's Vaporub ointment case tied to my wrist (no offense to anyone) instead of a watch. Thus, I bought it expecting the Seiko quality at an unbelievable price, but nothing else. And I got both, albeit the strap is definitely not worthwhile (although it is a decent strap, it is something that you should consider to change). Nevertheless, as time has been passing I have been increasingly falling in love with the watch. It has a discrete military look, it is impeccably crafted and above all, the movement is Seiko's longtime proven battlehorse: The legendary 7S26. That mechanism has been one of the most durable automatic movements ever produced. It has gained a high level of respect even among the luxury Swiss watches aficionados, because of its durability and ruggedness. Over time, that little movement has become a symbol of Seiko's quality and today is truly a legend in horlogery. There are a lot of stories about how those mechanisms have NOT BEEN TAKEN TO A SERVICE CENTER for up to 15 years and they still work without problems. Furthermore, the service cost for that movement is normally one of the cheapest. The only real issue here is the precision. Yes, the watch is not as precise as some more expensive Swiss, German or Japanese watches. That means that it will be a couple minutes behind the "real" time at the end of a period of time of say, 2 weeks. But if you compare that with its price and its durability... for me it is definitely a worthwhile issue. Moreover, I have heard that such problem can be substantially reduced if you take it to a good watch expert, in order to get some adjustments to increase its precision. I tend to think about it as a Honda Civic or a Toyota Corolla: A relatively small piece, that does not deliver the best results in terms of power, speed, precision, style and that does not scream the big amount of money you paid for it; but that is always there for you, that is very trustworthy, that lasts a lot and that does cost very little to mantain. Now, the reason why I give it 5 stars despite the lesser quality of the strap and its less than optimal precision is that in all fairness, the strap is not a problem about the watch itself and can be replaced, and on the other hand, it seems the precision can be improved. Even if we consider the strap to be a problem of the watch and its precision could not be improved, the price is so low, that in my opinion, makes the whole deal worth 5 stars.
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2016 by ROG
Review of the Seiko 5 SNK809: TOO LONG DIDN'T READ: This watch is great. It runs perfectly 2 years later (I wore it daily for 1 year) and has no issues. It has an accurate movement and is durable. If I were you, I'd go ahead and buy it now. The only downsides of purchasing this watch is that its lume fades pretty fast and the strap is a bit uncomfortable but it's easily resolved by buying a new strap. Info on photos: The strap pictured was purchased for 5 dollars from Sears a few weeks after purchasing the watch. It’s a major upgrade and I urge you to purchase a new strap for the watch since the one it comes with isnt low quality at all but it was slightly uncomfortable and I wanted the watch to look more formal. I purchased this watch on July 21, 2018. It arrived in three days and there are other reviews saying this watch gets delivered extremely fast. Hence I doubt you should pay extra for fast shipping, just go with the free shipping that comes with this watch. Before I start this review I want you to keep a few things in mind: 1. This watch costs 64 dollars from an unauthorized dealer (like Amazon) but it will cost you 195 dollars to buy this watch from an Authorized dealer (like Macy’s or Jcpenney). 2. This watch has the 7s26c automatic movement from Seiko 3. This watch is made in Malaysia 4. This watch is 37 mm in diameter 5. This watch doesn’t have hacking or hand winding I will now start the review: INTRO: Let me tell you. This watch is perfect on the exterior. I have scoured every crevice and curve in this watch and not found a single manufacturing defect. This watch has a bead blasted finish on the visible portions when wearing the watch but has a polished finish to the area between the lugs and the case back. This watch is the best automatic watch under 100 dollars that you can trust. If you are looking for a Winner watch. Please do not buy that cheap stuff. The only reason I could see someone buying a Winner watch is to take out the movement to play with. Buy at least a Timex. Although if you really want an automatic watch this one of the best choices under 200 dollars easily. WHAT ELSE I WANTED I really wanted a Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic 38mm watch before buying this watch. Eventually I decided against spending the 575 dollars the Swiss Hamilton would set me back by and bought this watch. It was because I did not think I would enjoy wearing the Hamilton every day. It being a 575 dollar watch I would look after it too much. I would not wear it while doing stuff outside because of the possibility it could get scratched. It would be no fun to buy a watch you can't even wear without worry. That is what this watch IS. This is a watch that you can wear everywhere. This watch has Seiko’s Incabloc shock protection on the balance wheel so you do not need to worry about the ruggedness. MOVEMENT: How is the movement you ask? The movement on the Seiko SNK809 is the Seiko 7s26C. There may be people complaining about the quality of the movement, but let me tell you: this movement is a very rugged trustable movement. Seiko says this watch has a functioning accuracy of -20 to +40 seconds. I have had my watch for almost a week and my current accuracy on this movement is +1.8 seconds. +1.8 seconds is even within Rolex’s “Superlative Chronometer Status” (+/- 2 seconds per day). As for shock resistance and ruggedness I have rode my bike on mountain trails whilst having this watch in my wrist and it hasn't stopped. (To check the accuracy of your watch what I would recommend you do is go to Toolwatch.io or download their app. It is a free tool that will let you check the accuracy of your watch.) LUME: The lume on this watch will fade very fast. TWO YEAR OWNERSHIP UPDATE (May 24 2020) I kinda gave up on writing a super detailed review but what I can tell you is this watch still runs with the same accuracy it did two years ago (+2.1 sec/day) and its date and day functions all work perfectly. Quick date setting works great too. I purchased a more comfortable leather strap for the watch (It needs an 18mm sized one) and I have 0 complaints. This was the first mechanical watch for my collection back in 2018 and now I have expanded my collection to vintage watches and more higher end timepieces. This watch performs perfectly and is impeccable quality. I wore it daily for the first year of ownership and it never let me down. Its movement may not be pretty but it's really accurate and a workhorse. It's one of my favorite watches in my collection still and I wear it multiple times a week. You cannot go wrong with this watch for the price. It was 64 dollars when I bought it and if its price was 100 I'd still buy it. If you're still considering buying this watch, go for it. The seller has fast shipping and the watchbox came in perfect condition. Good luck!
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2020 by Sanjay Bhargava
I bought the black and blue versions of this fine watch. They serve as my day-to-day watch. As noted in other reviews, a self-winding watch is more accurate than a mechanical watch but far less accurate than a quartz watch. Quartz watches are off by about 2-3 seconds/month, compared to atomic clocks. Self-winding watches are off by about 7 minutes/month. I've found the difference to be negative not positive. Sieko says about 5 minutes/month. But, here's one advantage: you won't have to wind it, just wear it. That makes it the best watch available in the future ahead. It's getting harder to get my battery replaced on quartz watches and it will likely become impossible in future. It only takes about 39 hours for the battery to run down so it helps to rotate it (to wind) about 2-3 minutes a day. I can usually wind it in a commercial break. The drawbacks with the black model: * harder to keep clean; * the day and date diasl are harder to read because the face is black and so are the letters. All in all, it's a great watch. If this review was helpful, please add your vote. ____________________________________________________________ My review of the blue watch: Xbar 107 seconds/week (runs fast) (7 min./month compared to 2-4 sec./month quart watch) St DEV 27 sec. N = 7 95% CI 2.447 using Student's t m+ = 136 seconds/week m- = 78 seconds/week Summary: Good points: * Beautiful with dark blue face, white symbols, functional medium blue nylon band; * Easy to read, even in the dark; * Easy to use with uncomplicated settings similar to other watches; * Compact design; * Measurement consistency is excellent compared to quartz mechanism. Bad points: * Difficult to set time (see instruction below); * Gains 10 seconds a day (consistency); and * Does not have a manual wind stem. Discussion This watch looks great. Unlike other self-winding or kinetic watches, this one is compact. In the best tradition of Japanese product development they thought hard on how this watch should function and say about the wearer. The hands are easy to reading, even for those of use with failing eyesight. The second sweep hand has a red tip allowing easy setting of the time. Unlike some Japanese product, they provided a short, simple instruction on winding the watch. Here, I am comparing them to Citizen's ecco-drive watch, which I also own. Just gently work your arm back and forth for three minutes and the self-wind watch will charge; or, you could wear it for a day. Okay, now for the negatives. First, this is not your quartz watch. The original self-winding mechanism was invented, according to Wikipedia, by a Swiss watchmaker in 1770. Since then it has gone through several improvements but is not as accurate as the quartz mechanism popularized starting in the 1970's. Sieko warns that this watch could be off by as much as 10 seconds a day. One days use indicates that my watch runs about 10 seconds fast. The great watchmaker Harrison, who invented the first chronometer accurate enough to track longitude, said that consistency is more important than accuracy. (A poor copy of one of Harrison's chronometers was carried by Captain Cook on his circumnavigation of the globe. He had nothing but good things to say about it.) I have another self-winding watch, an Armitron, which runs consistently 15 seconds fast on days that I wear it. From my measurements of quartz watches, their accuracy, while dazzling when compared to old hand-wound watches, are less accurate than my old German pendulum clock. So I am told, the longer the arm, the more stable the swing and the more accurate the timepiece. I compare everything to atomic time. And, because the quartz mechanism is battery-driven, it seems to suffer from inconsistency. I carefully measured my collection of six quartz watches over a 2 year period. While the battery was new, the error was consistent. As the battery burned out, the error became difficult to predict. Sometimes a positive error (adding time) would become a negative error (losing time) as the battery died. This dying period was also hard to predict. The accuracy of the quartz mechanism is not as good as my pendulum clock. They all lost or gained approximately 2-3 seconds, on average, per month. Based on a week of measurements with the Armitron, I would say that it is shockingly inaccurate but consistently so. Assuming that the Sieko error continues to be consistently 10 seconds fast this will mean that I will have to reset it every week. This is a small price to pay for an otherwise beautifully crafted and honestly-priced handiwork. Setting time The date and day are fairly easy. I suggest turning the watch arms until the click past a day so you won't be twelve hours off. Setting the time is another matter. What works best is to set the hour and minute hands, then gently hold the second hand. It should pulse a little as it tries to force itself forward. Once the seconds are accurate, release and the second hand should be accurate. It takes a little practice at first and don't set the time until you pump the watch 3 minutes to charge the spring. Time to unwind It takes about 39 hours (1 test) to unwind.
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2010 by Dirk J. Willard
I've had this watch for about three weeks, and find only one significant flaw -- the complaints that it doesn't retain enough energy to keep going when not worn, or even when worn but not subject to regular movement are valid. Depending on your circumstances, this may be a trivial point or a significant drawback. My recommendation is that this be purchased as a weekend watch, a good choice for casual style, but not to be confused with a true field watch. The watch is good looking, solidly made, evidently inspired by the military watches that were common during and after World War II. In the United States, military watches were largely made by Hamilton, although other watchmakers were also busy with similar designs. The watches were durable stem winders, with a focus on durability rather than accuracy. In most instances, the face was white, and the second hand was separate rather than a sweep second hand. There was no day or date function. This watch is a reminder of that style, but considerably larger, with day and date, an automatic movement which cannot be wound by the stem, sweep second hand, and a clear back. While it has much of the simple functionality of the military design, it is not a reproduction of the classic style of the 1940s. My experience with the accuracy has been favorable, although I have not tested it as rigorously as other reviewers have. I've set it to the time on my cable television box, which doesn't offer seconds, After 3 days without resettine the watch was no more than 1 minute off. I have not tried to monitor it for a longer period. The strap is nylon with leather or leatherette reinforcement, and appears to be durable. The look seem appropriate for the style of the watch. The one flaw I've found is that the watch does not retain enough energy to get through a full night without running down. On those occasions when I was able to measure its accuracy after three days, I had a series of awakenings and did not sleep for more than 4 hours at a stretch. On those occasions, having read the other reviews, I shook the watch to build up an energy reserve. On nights when I was not disturbed, I found that the watch had run down by morning. The extent of the annoyance this imposes is subjective. Automatic winders are widely marketed which will shake watches to keep the automatic movement wound, but these devices are more expensive than this wristwatch and seem like overkill. Since the day and date are quite easy to set, and accurate time sources are readily available, this may seem trivial. Older readers may recall making a telephone call to get the correct time, but today, with computers synchronized to highly accurate clocks, as well as clocks on cable boxes and cellular telephones, there's no difficulty finding a reference source to reset a wristwatch. Those who have several watches and may want to change over as a matter of style will find this flaw perfectly acceptable -- but for those people who want an automatic wristwatch as an alternative to battery powered watches, this may be a fatal flaw. Better automatic watches will hasve enough reserve power after a day of wear to run for 36 - 48 hours without movement. SUMMARY -- this is a good example of style over substance. Accepted for what it is, a good watch to wear with faded jeans to go pumpkin picking in the autumn or browsing antique stores in the spring, it's an excellent value. It is not a rugged field watch for hunters nor is it a luxury timepiece at a bargain price. Enjoy it for what it is. UPDATE 1/20/22 -- I've read my initial review, written in 2011, and I might note that I'm wearing the Seiko now, although there are two other wristwatches sitting on my desk. Both have a quartz movement and keep impeccable time. One is powered by light, which seemed to mean it would run until -- well I'll be gone by then. Both are large, as befits the current fashion, neither is terribly expensive. The battery powered one recently had a battery replacement, which meant that it was out of commission for a week before I could get the battery replaced. The light powered one is fine -- no complaints except that it's really too big for my wrist. That's a personal thing but it's the reason I keep going back to the Seiko, and appreciate the fact that it's waiting for me to pick it up again -- and after an hour of swinging my arm is giving a very good approximation of the correct time. It fits, it looks good, and has held up for all these years. I've never had it serviced (I read somewhere that Seiko 5s can go for 10 or 20 years without being serviced and I'll vouch for the 10) and I still have the original strap (both of the other two had to have their straps replaced). And that's about it -- after 10 years I'd like to apologize for the original review and raise my rating to 5 stars if only for a deacde of loyal service. It's the little engine that could, and still can.
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2011 by Sam Uretsky
After reading all the Amazon and internet reviews on this watch I finally pulled the trigger and purchased it for $63 from Amazon. I've had the watch for four weeks and would like to share my personal thoughts and experiences on the 809. This is a great looking watch. I wish there was a nicer picture, since it does not do any justice to the looks. Some folks aren't crazy about the minute markings (5, 10, 15) on the dial, but I like it because it's different than others that have the typical 24 hour (13, 14, 15) markings. The fabric strap is a definite weakness of the watch. It felt rather itchy to me to wear. After two weeks of wearing it, I broke down and bought a brown leather alligator style strap. The brown strap contrasts with the black dial really dresses up this watch pop. Now it looks like I spent hundreds of dollars on this watch. I think a black leather strap and even a NATO style strap with black and a grey stripe would complement this watch as well. This is my first automatic watch. I purchased it knowing full well that automatic watches are not for everyone. I also realize that automatics require more care and feeding than a quartz watch and most people will still prefer a quartz movement. Accuracy of automatics is always a discussion topic and the 809 is no exception. I typically wear this watch for about 12 hours and lose 4 seconds during this period; so theoretically, it loses 8 seconds/day. This is not bad for a watch that's not certified by the COSC since COSC certified watches are only good for -4/+6 seconds day. I think some people fail to remember that there are 86,400 seconds in a day and relatively speaking a watch that is off as much as plus or minus 15 seconds a day is still pretty accurate. If you are still concerned about the watch being fast or slow, I also found a way to regulate this watch. Since this watch tends to lose time for me, I place it on my dresser, either dial side up or dial side down depending on how much time I need it to speed up. By doing this I can gain 2-4 seconds overnight. If you want to slow down your watch you can place it vertically (using the watch band to support it) with either the crown up or down or even with the crown on the left side if you need to lose more seconds. You can experiment with these different positions and see what works best for you. Power reserve is another topic that is often discussed about this watch. Depending on what you read, the 7S26 movement has a power reserve of 38-42 hours. While you cannot manually wind this watch with the crown, you can still do it by holding the watch horizontally with your thumb and fore finger and make a flicking action with your wrist like you are dealing a deck of cards. The motion doesn't have to be very hard, but should be strong enough that you either hear or feel a whirring motion. You cannot over wind automatic watches. For me, if I do this for five minutes, the watch is fully wound. I also find that winding the watch in this manner for 5 minutes can also speed it up by as much as 8 seconds. I did check the power reserve on this watch. After fully winding it and leaving it on my dresser, it worked for 45 hours and 23 minutes! That's pretty awesome with this watch. If you are getting less than the 38-42 hour power reserve, the watch has not been fully wound or you have a defective watch. So far I feel extremely lucky that I got a good working 809. I am thoroughly enjoying it and will definitely keep it. It's been an inexpensive way to experience owning an automatic watch. I highly recommend buying this watch!
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2012 by SOD45