SEIKOMen's SNK809 5 Automatic Stainless Steel Watch with Black Canvas Strap

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 someresearch. (Who fakes a $60 watch?!? geez..) Apparently this watch is grey market in the US, so anyone 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 sentit 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 watchesat 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 itfrom 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 maybe 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.

I was floored to see an automatic watch - let alone a Seiko - for a price under $100. I found out the Seiko 5 has been in production over 50 years, so the tooling has long been paid off. The new ones (like this one) also say the movement is made/assembled in Malaysia, not Japan, so that may also explain the lower price. The model I bought is the SNK809.I have a Seiko 5 automatic that I received for a graduation in the 1980's. It still runs like a champ and has never been serviced (it's not a daily wearer, though, either). Based on my experience with that watch and other Seikos (a battery quartz and a solar quartz) I was more than comfortable making this purchase.The watch looks great and has a reasonable 37mm case. I'm not a fan of the gargantuan dishplate-sized watches that are in vogue today. This watch is the perfect size in my opinion.Some might consider the dial a bit busy and harder to read, but I like the look. The brushed metal finish is nice too. It can be worn as a casual watch up to a dressier business casual watch.It has a black dial and came with a black 'canvas' strap, which I actually think is nylon. It's a bit stiff and a bit thick, but definitely seems durable and reliable. It has a nice Seiko buckle that has a finish that matches the watch. I replaced the original band, though, with a few Nato-style bands. The watch - being an automatic - is a bit tall (thick) so I'd recommend a band with thinner material if you go Nato, like a BluShark Original. It looks good with a solid black band, or a band with stripes of black and gray or black, gray, and blue (Bond style).I've had the watch for 3+ weeks. It's worked fine. I haven't worn it daily - maybe three or 4 days at a time, and then I wear a different one for a few days. It keeps reliable time - although it may lose almost a minute every 3 days or so which I consider ok for a mechanical watch, especially one at this price. If you want precision time, get a quartz watch, but you lose the craftsman ship of a mechanical watch.Seems like a nice watch from a reliable manufacturer at a great price.August 2022 update: a year and a half later, the watch works fine with no problems. Not my daily wearer. It may lose or gain a few seconds a day, but that's always been pretty common with all the other wind up or automatic watches I've owned.