Cheap Seikos are the best Seikos
I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s when the most common watches were Seiko, Sekonda and Omega. As a child I used to confuse Rotary for Rolex, until my father showed me the 1675 he somehow snagged.
Decades and several dozen watches later I still regard Seiko as the quintessential working class man’s watch. I can’t fathom how these things can cost four figures and would never spend that much on one.
Owing mainly to those formative years, I’ve always had a (in relative terms) cheap Seiko in my collection; it never felt rounded without one. I’ve had a Cocktail Time, and this Recraft of the 1969 UFO. I currently have the green dial Explorer, which Seiko mistakenly calls an Alpinist.
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Orontius Fineus
Living the quiet life far from the madding crowd.
Member since
Last active: 4 days ago
6.75” / 17.15 cm
And I love their recent resurgence too with the Seiko 5 stuff.
Agree, hard pressed to find anything else in the same league as Seiko - at any tier.
I guess it depends where you lived. I never saw or heard of Seiko much when I was growing up. It was all Timex, Casio, Bulova, Movado, etc...
Gorgeous timepiece.
I have 13 Seikos. The least expensive was $60. The most expensive was $180. None have any of the QC issues I read about on their more expensive watches. Maybe people are spending too much money.
I have 13 Seikos. The least expensive was $60. The most expensive was $180. None have any of the QC issues I read about on their more expensive watches. Maybe people are spending too much money.
People expect too much and these expectations go into overdrive through social media-driven nitpicking.
All watches under a (vanishingly high) price level are works of compromise. They do some things well and let go of others. That’s to be expected.
I actually quite like that because it feels… real? It’s the kind of choice we all make in our lives. We lose sight of this when we get caught up in heritage branding, which has one purpose and one purpose only: to seduce people to part with money that prudence wouldn’t allow.
People expect too much and these expectations go into overdrive through social media-driven nitpicking.
All watches under a (vanishingly high) price level are works of compromise. They do some things well and let go of others. That’s to be expected.
I actually quite like that because it feels… real? It’s the kind of choice we all make in our lives. We lose sight of this when we get caught up in heritage branding, which has one purpose and one purpose only: to seduce people to part with money that prudence wouldn’t allow.
Your comment is very well stated. People do expect too much. When I look at my watch, I don't need to die with ecstasy, I just want to enjoy it and appreciate it like everything else I encounter in (real) life.
Also, you have almost coined a new phrase here. With just a slight revision, we could have "social media-driven overdrive nitpicking." I might start using this myself. Do you have it copyrighted? I'll have my people contact your people!