Seiko Alpinist 1959 LE: almost perfect one watch collection?
I’ve been a one watch guy most of my life. That in mind, I wanted a new watch that would serve nearly all of my life’s purposes. I landed on a Damasko DS30 as I never have to wear suits for work and it was up for anything. Loved the black, simple dial and the German sub steel case. I was in love. However, with the long lugs and the all-dial look, I had an initial hesitation that it was too big, but I pushed that aside for all the watches attributes.
skip ahead 6 months of daily wear and my initial insecurity of ”is this watch too big for my wrist” took over. it was all I saw when I looked at the time. I also made the mistake of borrowing a friend‘s 34mm citizen dress watch and loved the size of it. Plus, while I told myself that the stark design and printed dial of the Damasko are great (“it’s a tool watch after all!”) I felt deep down that I missed the shine from applied indices and some polished surfaces. it was time for it to go. I sold it to a fellow Damasko fan on Watchuseek and begun my search again Happy that it had a good home.
that brings me to the SJE085 seiko alpinist limited edition. I wore a seiko SNK daily for about 5 years in the 2010s and I loved the way it fit. The SJE085 is a lot more expensive than an SNK, but the dimensions are similar.
these watches are not very popular it seems. They are available at several ADs online and Hodinkee. They’ve been sitting a little while, so an AD may provide a good discount (mine sure did). Just ask! I think many seiko fans didn’t like the fact that the watch doesn’t say alpinist on the dial and that there’s a date window. i won’t argue against those points, but for me, I want a date window on my daily wearer and the lack of the Alpinist name, while it would have been cool, doesn’t bother me.
the size fits my smallish wrist wonderfully and it works really well on nato straps or even mesh. I likely won’t wear it on the Bundt that it came on as it’s not my style. I’ll save that for if I have to dress up as Brenden Frazier in Mummy for Halloween someday.
Would I wear this into the ocean or at the beach? no
Could I? with 100m WR, yeah.
that said, I like to wear my Islander ISL49 on weekends, so I’ll be taking that to the beach. So it’s not a one watch collection, but it’s darn close! A two watch collection, and I love them both.
looking forward to hopefully many years of happy ownership and (nearly) daily wearing!
cheers y’all!
I think it looks awesome, man! Congrats on such an awesome find!
I disagree with everything you said because you sold a DS30... Traitor... 😜🤣
I love the look of the Alpinist 1959 LE, but the price($3800 CAD) scared me away. I may be in the minority, but I think the date is perfect where it is, it leaves the cardinal indexes intact, but still gives the date functionality.
I disagree with everything you said because you sold a DS30... Traitor... 😜🤣
I love the look of the Alpinist 1959 LE, but the price($3800 CAD) scared me away. I may be in the minority, but I think the date is perfect where it is, it leaves the cardinal indexes intact, but still gives the date functionality.
I still feel sad about it, honestly. I LOVED that watch. Easily was the most accurate watch I have (including my cheap quartz watches) and that crown system was amazing. I just wish Damasko would make a smaller watch! The lug to lug is 48mm and I had to drill a couple new holes in the leather strap to get it to fit. I told Greg at Watchmann that I would be back in a heartbeat if Damasko released a DS/DK 30 or a DA36 in 35mm or 36mm. Although, I'd have to sell this Alpinist.
Regarding price, yeah, it's stiff. Overpriced at its retail price. That said, these have been sitting at ADs for a little while, so they may be willing to come down on price. The AD I went through dropped it more than I thought they would. 👍
I still feel sad about it, honestly. I LOVED that watch. Easily was the most accurate watch I have (including my cheap quartz watches) and that crown system was amazing. I just wish Damasko would make a smaller watch! The lug to lug is 48mm and I had to drill a couple new holes in the leather strap to get it to fit. I told Greg at Watchmann that I would be back in a heartbeat if Damasko released a DS/DK 30 or a DA36 in 35mm or 36mm. Although, I'd have to sell this Alpinist.
Regarding price, yeah, it's stiff. Overpriced at its retail price. That said, these have been sitting at ADs for a little while, so they may be willing to come down on price. The AD I went through dropped it more than I thought they would. 👍
I'll allow it... You seem repentant.
I think a 36mm DS30 would do quite well, but my understanding is Damasko can't even keep up with the demand for the 39mm version.
I just love the contrast of the angles on the dial and the shape of the case. It's a really beautiful watch and you have a brilliant selection of straps, that black one in particular ❤️
I just love the contrast of the angles on the dial and the shape of the case. It's a really beautiful watch and you have a brilliant selection of straps, that black one in particular ❤️
Thank you! I also like the black strap the best. It’s actually the stock strap from a Timex Weekender I bought about 12 years ago. Thin and not very great quality, but comfy and looks good!
I like the design ….. but that date window position spoils the balance. Should have been omitted altogether.
I like the design ….. but that date window position spoils the balance. Should have been omitted altogether.
I agree that it should have been omitted, but I’m glad it wasn’t because I like it. For me, I primarily notice the 3, 6, 9, 12 markers and don’t really see the date unless I look for it.
if seiko had left off the date, I bet this would have sold better
Love the version with mosaic dail 😍 But I understand that this one is more understated and maybe versitile.
I have the Alpinist 1959 with a crème dial. I liked it a lot when I bought it, but I am hypnotised by it now. It is extraordinarily beautiful, and my favourite watch. I have it on the polished stainless steel bracelet, which is a perfectly balanced bracelet as well. Yes.
I just picked one of these up at a huge discount (used, but mint) and I just love it. My only real complaint is that the strap is so long that I have to add a second keeper on it to keep the end from sticking out. I've been thinking of other strap options for that reason but, of course, the zig-zag stitching and that amazingly cool signed buckle are hard to put away...
I just put mine on a simple, black Horween-leather strap and...perfection. I agree that this is a fantastic everyday watch. It's incredibly accurate, comfortable, and the dial is just gorgeously finished in a way no photo or video I've seen of the watch really captures.
Anyone looking at a Tudor Ranger or a Longines Spirit might want to give one of these a closer look, especially given the discounts going around now.
Hey man, you still happy with your Alpinist? Have you tried any other bracelet or strap options yet?
Hey man, you still happy with your Alpinist? Have you tried any other bracelet or strap options yet?
Hey there - I actually sold it about a year ago. In total, I had it about a year. I liked it, but just didn’t love it after that time. I found that I wanted something a little less dressy and the full polish case didn’t suit my style as much as I thought. Plus, I wanted a bracelet option and the mesh ones I tried were just too blingy.
I mostly wore it on a horween leather strap, and on NATOs a lot. I loved haveston parade straps as they are a bit shinier and matched the case well. It looked great on perlon straps too!
Hey there - I actually sold it about a year ago. In total, I had it about a year. I liked it, but just didn’t love it after that time. I found that I wanted something a little less dressy and the full polish case didn’t suit my style as much as I thought. Plus, I wanted a bracelet option and the mesh ones I tried were just too blingy.
I mostly wore it on a horween leather strap, and on NATOs a lot. I loved haveston parade straps as they are a bit shinier and matched the case well. It looked great on perlon straps too!
Fair enough.
I wonder if it would go well on this Nomos bracelet, as it's less blingy..
Fair enough.
I wonder if it would go well on this Nomos bracelet, as it's less blingy..
It may! I had a staib polished mesh, and it was too blingy, but maybe the brushed version would have been better. I bet the Forstner beads of rice, which has alternating brushed and polished links, would look nice too!
Hey man, you still happy with your Alpinist? Have you tried any other bracelet or strap options yet?
It looks great on a forstner clip bracelet