Seiko Kinetic Technology

breadmonkey

Do Seiko's Kinetic watches work well? Is the technology reliable? I'm considering buying one, mainly because I like the idea of never needing a battery.

This is the one I'm thinking of buying. Yay or nay? 'Sekio Kinetic Titanium SKA333P1'
sorry the page is in german

I'm in Vietnam at the moment. The watch itself is E193 in the shop I found it in here. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I've found cheaper and more expensive prices for it when googling.

EDIT: another page, no real stats though

breadmonkey

I don't want a watch that will lose track of time overnight. I don't want to keep waking up not knowing what time it is! But I REALLY like this watch.

art

breadmonkey wrote:

I don't want a watch that will lose track of time overnight. I don't want to keep waking up not knowing what time it is! But I REALLY like this watch.

I have the seiko arctura chronograph, absolutely fabulous watch and great time keeper. I also have a second watch though so there are days on end that I don't wear the Seiko yet it does not run out of charge.

For the initial charging up, I gave it a quick rotate for a count of about 200 or so and have never seen it run down since over the course of about the last eight months. It also will warn you when it is running low yet, just to emphasise this, even after not wearing it for a few days it still isn't warning me of a low charge...

highly recommended.

Mine's a variation on this: http://www.seikowatches.com/arctura/chronograph.asp

mikedragon32

I've had an Arctura for over two years now. Use the chronograph on it regularly and never have to "shake" it. Great watch.

I had a Pulsar kinetic watch (same technology) for about 18 months before that and again, no problems.

Wertz

My mother has one of the older types of automatic watches that don't have the quartz movement...she's had it for over 35 years and for the most part it keeps very good time even now.
It's been playing up lately and she asked in a jewellers how much it would be to have it fixed (assuming there's something even wrong with it)...she was told that it would cos ~€150 just to have it "looked at" (not fixed!)

art

Wertz wrote:

My mother has one of the older types of automatic watches that don't have the quartz movement...she's had it for over 35 years and for the most part it keeps very good time even now.
It's been playing up lately and she asked in a jewellers how much it would be to have it fixed (assuming there's something even wrong with it)...she was told that it would cos ~€150 just to have it "looked at" (not fixed!)

Think that might depend a bit on the jeweler - as far as I can gather, an automatic watch is more difficult to deal with than a regular one so they basically don't want the business. However, I had an early 1970s watch fully serviced just a few months ago (in Dublin, from the specialist watch repair place in Dawson Street) and the cost was in the region of 120 euros. Watch was playing up a bit too prior to that but came back cleaned and looking beautiful plus working better than ever.

Hydromonkey

I've got the Arctura auto-relay: http://www.seikowatches.com/arctura/auto_relay.asp

Great watch, plus really cool when you wake it up

MiCr0

i've got two of them - one of the premiers kinetic's and one of the sportura kinetics

i've had them for over a year - and not a single problem or loss of date

the sportura i wear every day - the premier occasionally
as was mentioned above, the premier will stop when not moved for 72 hours. but when you move it again, the hands/date move forward to the correct time - very cool to see

Creamy Goodness

first off automatic watches are the way watches should be. i recently found this out when i invested in a omega seamaster automatic watch.

seiko kinetic watches look great to me and they give you the quality of an automatic watch without breaking the bank.

general day to day movement will keep the mechanism inside the watch ticking over. i'm not sure about seiko kinetics but most automatic watches have a self winding mechanism (you can wind the watch yourself basically by turning the crown).

wertz wrote:

My mother has one of the older types of automatic watches that don't have the quartz movement...she's had it for over 35 years and for the most part it keeps very good time even now.
It's been playing up lately and she asked in a jewellers how much it would be to have it fixed (assuming there's something even wrong with it)...she was told that it would cos ~€150 just to have it "looked at" (not fixed!)

good automatics and old automatics will cost a lot of money to be serviced. that is what i reckon your mother's watch needs, my seamaster needs to be serviced every 4-6 years at a cost of €400. i'd suspect that the jewellers you went to would of been very cautious to take the watch off you as it's antique/heirloom status that it would have.

art

Cremo wrote:

good automatics and old automatics will cost a lot of money to be serviced. that is what i reckon your mother's watch needs, my seamaster needs to be serviced every 4-6 years at a cost of €400. i'd suspect that the jewellers you went to would of been very cautious to take the watch off you as it's antique/heirloom status that it would have.

I think you are getting stiffed on your Omega there, an automatic costs more to service but not that much more. The key is probably to go to a place that actually does the work itself and not somewhere that sends it on somewhere else and hence gets its own cut. Getting my 1970 Rado Automatic serviced was not a problem for example, and half what you are paying.