The SPB147 is a thick chunky beast
My Seiko SPB147 is watch with which I have an ambivalent and complicated relationship. The list of issues I have with the SPB147 is quite extensive, but it somehow become irrelevant once I strap it on my wrist. That's mostly a credit to ColaReb and their Roma strap that replaced the rather terrible original rubber one.
The only item on my peeve’s list that still bother me when I wear it is why is it so THICK?? At 14.1mm tall it’s as thick or even thicker than my Marathon MSAR. It does manage to hide it on the wrist, but it’s still at least half a mm thicker than it should be.
I'm a big fan of watches that are interesting because they are either unique, have interesting features, well designed or simply offer a great value for their price.
This is the 62MAS reissue, right? There's your answer. Seiko overbuilt it.
This is the 62MAS reissue, right? There's your answer. Seiko overbuilt it.
Overbuilt it with what exactly, a misaligned bezel, unsigned crown, and unframed date window?
I love my SPB143, it always makes me smile when I put it on.
Can I ask what springbars you used for the leather strap as I noticed mine seem to be a lot thicker than normal ones!
It doesn’t look too big in the photo, if you like wearing it, go for it! Ignore any haters 👍
It's not the size that bothers me, although it could lose a mm or two there as well, but its thickness.
I love my SPB143, it always makes me smile when I put it on.
Can I ask what springbars you used for the leather strap as I noticed mine seem to be a lot thicker than normal ones!
I'm not exactly sure. I either used the spring bars that came with the ColaReb strap or some that I already had in the spare box. Either way I just checked and the original fat spring bars are packed with the rubber strap that came with the SPB147.
So if you are asking if it's possible to use regular 20mm spring bars on a SPB the answer appears to be affirmative.
It's not the size that bothers me, although it could lose a mm or two there as well, but its thickness.
That’s what she said.
I love my SPB 143. Thanks for posting.
It’s definitely not a slim watch, but Seiko has a great way of hiding a lot of their watches’ thickness with undercuts on polishing of the lower midcase. Have you tried it on the bracelet? That’s how I wear mine 98% of the time, and I find it balances things out quite nicely.
I considered a 143, 147, or 239 before going completely off course to a GSAR.
The misalignment and thickness pushed me toward the Marathon... based on your post I'm glad I went the route I did.
It’s definitely not a slim watch, but Seiko has a great way of hiding a lot of their watches’ thickness with undercuts on polishing of the lower midcase. Have you tried it on the bracelet? That’s how I wear mine 98% of the time, and I find it balances things out quite nicely.
The SPB147 isn't sold on a bracelet and even if it did chances are that I would put it on a straps anyway because I'm not a big fan of bracelets.
I considered a 143, 147, or 239 before going completely off course to a GSAR.
The misalignment and thickness pushed me toward the Marathon... based on your post I'm glad I went the route I did.
There you have unintentionally uncovered another problem I have with the SPB because when I put it side by side with my Marathon MSAR I can't see anything that would justify its price tag.
There you have unintentionally uncovered another problem I have with the SPB because when I put it side by side with my Marathon MSAR I can't see anything that would justify its price tag.
I'm finding that Marathon delivers a hell of a watch for the price.
I think my GSAR keeps the best time of all my automatics, and is built like an absolute tank.
I'll still likely end up with a 147 or 239 at some point, but I'm not in a rush.
I'm finding that Marathon delivers a hell of a watch for the price.
I think my GSAR keeps the best time of all my automatics, and is built like an absolute tank.
I'll still likely end up with a 147 or 239 at some point, but I'm not in a rush.
The SPB147 is a very nice dressy diver, and as I wrote in the original post, most of my reservations disappear once I strap it on my wrist. It could have been a fantastic deal at 700-800$. Unfortunately it is priced above 1KU$ which is where it doesn't compare favorably with other watches in the 1-1.5KUS$ price bracket.
The SPB147 is a very nice dressy diver, and as I wrote in the original post, most of my reservations disappear once I strap it on my wrist. It could have been a fantastic deal at 700-800$. Unfortunately it is priced above 1KU$ which is where it doesn't compare favorably with other watches in the 1-1.5KUS$ price bracket.
Up here they come it at about $1500 CAD before tax, I picked up my GSAR Grey Maple for just over $1600 CAD.
You're 100% correct about the price pushing them into stiff competition.
I had the 149 and enjoyed the watch. I sold it due to it being a hair too big for me. I am sensitive to size and thickness for sure, but I found the thickness to be well proportioned to the rest of the dimensions and thought the watch wore pretty well. 14.1 would have felt thicker to me if some of it wasn’t hidden in the crystal and caseback.
What we can agree on is that it wasn’t a perfect watch. I had to send mine back for hand misalignment that varied depending on the time of day (which I learned is true of most 7S/4R/6R watches). The bezel and chapter rings are always hit or miss. As a Seiko fan, it makes me sad to see these things didn‘t improve when they made their push upmarket.
Having said all of this, I would have kept the watch if not for the size. It is the most beautiful watch I have ever owned. Nothing about this hobby is logical and I am perfectly happy to be called a hypocrite. I miss this piece a lot.
I'm with you, overall there are issues, and doesn't really compete with it's competition well, but for some reason, when it's on the wrist, it's beautiful. I must have drunk the Seiko Kool aid sometime...
I added the stock bracelet though
I would do practically anything for one of these (except save cash for a month or two and go out and actually buy one apparently).
I think @TalkingDugong is right when it comes to the relative chunkiness of this beast - it's a #seiko #divewatch... over-engineered from the beginning. But as you have said, the individual professional specifications (i.e., #prospex) are not always the sum of their parts. The chunky beast goes on the wrist and all of a sudden each annoyance is still there, but in use, not nearly as annoying when considered individually.
Now, I'm going to go out on a very thin, easily broken, philosophical and metaphorical limb here so keep reading... I think this phenomenon is exactly why Seiko does so well. Let's call it wabi-sabi (侘寂) the Japanese idea that your worldview should be centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. However, that transience or imperfection doesn't have to mean something is blemished or broken, just that we often have to use the tools that are available to us. Enter any number of Seiko's divers, over-engineered and ready to take on almost any environment or situation: space (The #pogue), The South Pole (#highbeat #300m diver from 1968 [ref: 6159-700x]) Movies about the Vietnam war (The #willard) and using the paddling pool (#62mas [ref: 6217-800x] or indeed the Prospex "re-interpretation").
Thus, the perfect Seiko will never exist* but by design. Instead, we have timepieces that are a bit big, a bit too tall, a little heavier than we'd expect or want or need, that are capable of fulfilling multiple roles reflecting the many different people who own them. 😀
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* Notwithstanding the 5719A-45899 ‘Crown’ Chronograph. Horological perfection, right there.
Overbuilt it with what exactly, a misaligned bezel, unsigned crown, and unframed date window?
Overbuilt it as in you could chuck it into the water with a fare the well, wear it every day past service date (at least the old ones were like that, I have no idea just how beastly the new 6Rs are).
The rest of them are just something you had to endure, moan at and bitch about. It's just decoration. The Japanese may potray themselves as machine makers par excellence but a lot of their stuff is built with corners cut and imperfections at the mass produced level. You want something really good? Wait until an old Japanese geezer anything master artisan deigned to build you their stuff. Anything else is just mass produced stuff, as long as it ticks all the important boxes it's good enough.
The things Japanese manufacture hides from the public, eh?
I've seen and tried on the 147 in person and I didn't find it too thick (and I'm someone who's super nitpicky about case thickness. My blue SPB183 willard is my all time favorite Seiko. The proportions and thickness for me are in my opinion the best ever for a Seiko diver. I'm lucky I got a piece with few QC issues my bezel and chapter ring are aligned and date window is framed. I do feel you on QC issues cause my Samurai has a misaligned chapter ring & bezel - I've designated that my beater mechanical watch as it has been with me on outdoor adventures, it's survived rough play with my dogs, it's pretty scratched up so I don't mind the QC issues. Luckily my willard is great with QC, I wish #seiko was more consistent with quality control
Overbuilt it as in you could chuck it into the water with a fare the well, wear it every day past service date (at least the old ones were like that, I have no idea just how beastly the new 6Rs are).
The rest of them are just something you had to endure, moan at and bitch about. It's just decoration. The Japanese may potray themselves as machine makers par excellence but a lot of their stuff is built with corners cut and imperfections at the mass produced level. You want something really good? Wait until an old Japanese geezer anything master artisan deigned to build you their stuff. Anything else is just mass produced stuff, as long as it ticks all the important boxes it's good enough.
The things Japanese manufacture hides from the public, eh?
I'm sorry but on the point of overbuilt we will have to agree on a disagreement. As stated in my starting post, I have a complicated relationship with my SPB and while it's tempting to list the issues I have with my watch, I don't want this to devolve into SPB bashing, if only because I do like and wear the SPB147 despite everything Seiko did to make me dislike it.
So lets leave it as it is now, I don't agree with you that it's overbuilt. It's built to a price and it doesn't compare well with other watches built to this same price.
I would do practically anything for one of these (except save cash for a month or two and go out and actually buy one apparently).
I think @TalkingDugong is right when it comes to the relative chunkiness of this beast - it's a #seiko #divewatch... over-engineered from the beginning. But as you have said, the individual professional specifications (i.e., #prospex) are not always the sum of their parts. The chunky beast goes on the wrist and all of a sudden each annoyance is still there, but in use, not nearly as annoying when considered individually.
Now, I'm going to go out on a very thin, easily broken, philosophical and metaphorical limb here so keep reading... I think this phenomenon is exactly why Seiko does so well. Let's call it wabi-sabi (侘寂) the Japanese idea that your worldview should be centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. However, that transience or imperfection doesn't have to mean something is blemished or broken, just that we often have to use the tools that are available to us. Enter any number of Seiko's divers, over-engineered and ready to take on almost any environment or situation: space (The #pogue), The South Pole (#highbeat #300m diver from 1968 [ref: 6159-700x]) Movies about the Vietnam war (The #willard) and using the paddling pool (#62mas [ref: 6217-800x] or indeed the Prospex "re-interpretation").
Thus, the perfect Seiko will never exist* but by design. Instead, we have timepieces that are a bit big, a bit too tall, a little heavier than we'd expect or want or need, that are capable of fulfilling multiple roles reflecting the many different people who own them. 😀
--------
* Notwithstanding the 5719A-45899 ‘Crown’ Chronograph. Horological perfection, right there.
I just wish a bit of this claimed over-engineering was more apparent in the movement the SPB147 use because it deserve a better movement than the middling 6R it was saddled with.
I had the 149 and enjoyed the watch. I sold it due to it being a hair too big for me. I am sensitive to size and thickness for sure, but I found the thickness to be well proportioned to the rest of the dimensions and thought the watch wore pretty well. 14.1 would have felt thicker to me if some of it wasn’t hidden in the crystal and caseback.
What we can agree on is that it wasn’t a perfect watch. I had to send mine back for hand misalignment that varied depending on the time of day (which I learned is true of most 7S/4R/6R watches). The bezel and chapter rings are always hit or miss. As a Seiko fan, it makes me sad to see these things didn‘t improve when they made their push upmarket.
Having said all of this, I would have kept the watch if not for the size. It is the most beautiful watch I have ever owned. Nothing about this hobby is logical and I am perfectly happy to be called a hypocrite. I miss this piece a lot.
Oh, I do agree that it's a pretty desk diver, which is probably one of the reasons I kept my SPB147.
I'm sorry but on the point of overbuilt we will have to agree on a disagreement. As stated in my starting post, I have a complicated relationship with my SPB and while it's tempting to list the issues I have with my watch, I don't want this to devolve into SPB bashing, if only because I do like and wear the SPB147 despite everything Seiko did to make me dislike it.
So lets leave it as it is now, I don't agree with you that it's overbuilt. It's built to a price and it doesn't compare well with other watches built to this same price.
No problem. To me, Seiko built their movements to be easily/easy-ish to repair and service and we've all heard about older Seikos not getting serviced up to 20 years with minimal problems. Sounds overbuilt to me.
Also it's a 60s dive watch. I guess Seiko at that time was not confident a leas chunky watch would survive scrapes and being banged around and still being water resistant. It's a low tech solution, I guess.
But yeah, let's agree to disagree. Cheers! 🍻
I was gifted a SPB185. I've got 6.25" wrists so it's a HUGE watch for me, and just too heavy on the bracelet. I love it on a NATO, but haven't tried other straps yet.
But, wow, what a watch! I really love wearing it.
My only 2 issues are (of course) the misalignment - this doesn't bother me too much. But the crown does bother me! Very difficult to thread unless its JUST RIGHT. I've heard this about other SPB models. Does yours have this too?
I was gifted a SPB185. I've got 6.25" wrists so it's a HUGE watch for me, and just too heavy on the bracelet. I love it on a NATO, but haven't tried other straps yet.
But, wow, what a watch! I really love wearing it.
My only 2 issues are (of course) the misalignment - this doesn't bother me too much. But the crown does bother me! Very difficult to thread unless its JUST RIGHT. I've heard this about other SPB models. Does yours have this too?
I don't operate the crown while my SPB is on my wrist and I can't remember having a problem with engaging the crown into its threaded tube. Maybe your stem need to be adjusted?
I don't operate the crown while my SPB is on my wrist and I can't remember having a problem with engaging the crown into its threaded tube. Maybe your stem need to be adjusted?
Possibly. Seems to be a recurring theme though - Jory (The Time Teller) recently did a video on YouTube about this too. Can't remember if it was the 185 or another SPB model.
It doesn't bother me enough to do anything but occasionally complain about it.