Would you spend 5k on a Seiko?

Owen

I don't think I would, but Seiko obviously think some people will :

http://www.uncrate.com/men/style/watches/seiko-ananta-spring-drive-chronograph/

Wibbs

I say why not? I mean Seiko make all their stuff in house, lock stock and barrel and they're pushing technology. Which is more than can be said for most of the big Swiss names. Put it another way, I'd spend that on a Seiko, before I'd spend the same on say a Brietling.

partyguinness

Wibbs wrote: »

I say why not? I mean Seiko make all their stuff in house, lock stock and barrel and they're pushing technology. Which is more than can be said for most of the big Swiss names. Put it another way, I'd spend that on a Seiko, before I'd spend the same on say a Brietling.

I agree....buying a Breitlling says you know jack ****e about watches. Beacuse Seiko are Japanese they are seen as inferior from the Swiss versions. Having said that its a Patek all the way for me or Jaeger LC:D

MooseJam

The spring drives are pretty cool, I'd buy one if I won the lotto , do any other watches have hands that don't 'hop'

Thomas_S_Hunterson

MooseJam wrote: »

The spring drives are pretty cool, I'd buy one if I won the lotto , do any other watches have hands that don't 'hop'

Any mechanical watch shouldn't hop noticeably. It's only quartz watches that do /edit obviously with the exception of the spring drive:).

Atwork

Seiko are a nice watch, I got this baby about seven years ago and still love it, but to spend 5K on a watch, I dont know ,but suppose if you can afford it and like it, why not

Pacifico

Would love a Spring Drive alright!

Have two Seiko Premiers and they are really great watches

Cyrus

partyguinness wrote: »

I agree....buying a Breitlling says you know jack ****e about watches.

thats a fairly sweeping statement :pac:

i personally wouldnt spend 5k on a seiko yet, i have seen 5k seikos/grand seikos that i like but at the moment im too immature i suppose to pay that kind of money for a watch when most people will see that its 'just a seiko'

hopefully ill grow out of this :rolleyes:

Blackpitts

I own 2 Seiko and I love them, although I would never spend 5k for one of them. There so much out there for this price! you can get some watches with a better movement, swiss made and with a great history behind...

Cyrus

Blackpitts wrote: »

I own 2 Seiko and I love them, although I would never spend 5k for one of them. There so much out there for this price! you can get some watches with a better movement, swiss made and with a great history behind...

er, better movement, highly subjective, a lot of 5k swiss watches use modified eta movements found in £4-500 pound pieces, all seiko movements are in house, very few makers can say that,

also look at the craftsmanship on a grand seiko will stand up to any swiss watch in the same price bracket

Blackpitts

bedlam wrote: »

Is there though? For that price you're more than likely only going to be getting a modified ETA or similar

u joking right?
with half of the 5K you can get an Omega Speedmaster ref 3570 brand new, aka Moon.
For 4.300 euro you can buy a brand new Rolex GMT II... What about IWC Aquatimer then? or do you want me to list other 50 models?

bedlam wrote: »

while with Seiko you are getting in house. Swiss Made is not the be all and end all. There are many other countries that produce fine watches, Germany, France and Japan to name 3. As for history, it has one to match many of the more recognised high end brands.

let me recap, I love Seiko, I own 2 of them, they are great but none of their models is really worth 5k. I've mentioned those "Swiss made" because they have hundred of years of expertize and they are known like 'the best' in general, but I don't despise German or Italian watches as well.
As for history, I mean the one behind a model. Check the history fo the Speemaster, see why it has the same look since 1969, see why it has a plastic glass instead of a sapphire and you'll understand what I'm talking about...

Cyrus

Blackpitts wrote: »

u joking right?
with half of the 5K you can get an Omega Speedmaster ref 3570 brand new, aka Moon.
For 4.300 euro you can buy a brand new Rolex GMT II... What about IWC Aquatimer then? or do you want me to list other 50 models?



let me recap, I love Seiko, I own 2 of them, they are great but none of their models is really worth 5k. I've mentioned those "Swiss made" because they have hundred of years of expertize and they are known like 'the best' in general, but I don't despise German or Italian watches as well.
As for history, I mean the one behind a model. Check the history fo the Speemaster, see why it has the same look since 1969, see why it has a plastic glass instead of a sapphire and you'll understand what I'm talking about...

IWC Aqua timer uses a modified ETA (the iwc portuguese i have uses a modified 7750 movement) to get an iwc with an in house movement it is €7.5k +

Movement on the 3570 is a lenmania

im not sure what points you are making ?

again i would point you to the fact that there is more to seiko than the watches you see in most irish jewellers, they suffer from that stigma over here but not in japan,

take a look at this for example

http://home.watchprosite.com/show-nblog.post/ti-415221/

Wibbs

Blackpitts wrote: »

u joking right?
with half of the 5K you can get an Omega Speedmaster ref 3570 brand new, aka Moon.

I have to agree with bedlam on this one. The current speedmaster doesn't have the same movement or case or the how the glass is fitted of the original speedy that went to the moon, hence the original ones go for pretty big money, though only around the price of a new one. OK it went to the moon, but at least two of them failed on the way or there. One of the american lads wore a Navitimer. Another a Bulova accutron. Russian Sturmanskies went into space too and probably the most common "space watch" now is a g shock(though not cleared for EVA AFAIR).

let me recap, I love Seiko, I own 2 of them, they are great but none of their models is really worth 5k. I've mentioned those "Swiss made" because they have hundred of years of expertize and they are known like 'the best' in general, but I don't despise German or Italian watches as well.

Ditto on the reboots and hyping of brands and hyping of history. Breitling are a good example I've mentioned before re their aviation history. Longines, Omega, Heuer and even cartier have more history in aviation than they do. Far more. Until the Navitimer came out(great watch though) they barely registered. It's a branding and splitting of the market for advertising mostly. I mean Heuer were a pretty big name in aviation and supplied many of the worlds airforces with issued watches, tested to destruction etc. I would be pretty confident that a Heuer chrono would have gone to the moon had it been tested, but it wasn't. Like many watch brands of the time. Just as much for political reasons as they insisted that 50% of the watch was made in the US. he omega got around that one(just about). Yet Heuer don't push the aviation thing for the most part as it would step on Brietlings toes.

Now I would look at the watch itself and what it has going for it, rather than the brand. In that case the higher seikos are just as much or beyond a par with the European makers. Indeed as everything is inhouse, they're higher on that score than pretty much all of the rest.

Fascinating stuff though.:)

StealthRolex

MooseJam wrote: »

The spring drives are pretty cool, I'd buy one if I won the lotto , do any other watches have hands that don't 'hop'

Vintage "tuning fork" watches from Omega and Bulova. Prior to quartz they wrapped wire around a miniature tuning fork to make it vibrate at a particular frequency when power is applied from the battery.

Bulova Accutron is the original of the species but the Omega SMf300 is the prettiest in my opinion.

The hands sweep smoothly and there is no tick - just a hum. These are the original "hummers".

Technically the Bulova Accutron is the original Moon Watch as there is one still on the Moon, left there by Apollo 11's crew.

Good luck finding one!

misty floyd

Atwork wrote: »

Seiko are a nice watch, I got this baby about seven years ago and still love it, but to spend 5K on a watch, I dont know ,but suppose if you can afford it and like it, why not

Really like that watch. The images are linked to ebay. Is £300 a good price for this? I had to laugh at the description: "as rare as rocking horse sh#t!"....I'll remember that one.

Origipolo

StealthRolex wrote: »

Vintage "tuning fork" watches from Omega and Bulova. Prior to quartz they wrapped wire around a miniature tuning fork to make it vibrate at a particular frequency when power is applied from the battery.

Bulova Accutron is the original of the species but the Omega SMf300 is the prettiest in my opinion.

The hands sweep smoothly and there is no tick - just a hum. These are the original "hummers".

Technically the Bulova Accutron is the original Moon Watch as there is one still on the Moon, left there by Apollo 11's crew.

Good luck finding one!

Hi Stealthrolex, there was a little more than wrapping a piece of wire around a tuning fork to the accutron, try adjusting the the pawls that move and retain the drive wheel. I think the spaceviews are beautiful. "Good look finding one"... Pleanty of them out there............ Just to finish, anyone remember the Dynotron....??:)

old boy

sekios do not live on what they (might have) done