Life with the SPB253J1
It's been a couple of weeks now and because of the troubles in the family I needed that to settle in a bit with this one.
Starting with some general stuff. It is a limited edition (5500 pcs), but that isn't really anything I care about. I like this MAS62-remake better than the baby MarineMaster and Willard in the Night Diver configuration. But I don't care for any of the other new MAS62-remakes, maybe with the exception of the one with gilt details 🤔
The movement is fine, but I think I would choose a higher beat-rate over the 70hr power reserve if I got to choose. It runs way to fast and I think I'll have it regulated by my local watchmaker if I decide to keep it long term.
The straps that came with the watch was beautiful, very high quality and comfortable materials, but the buckles and solutions for loops did make them an uncomfortable fit.. So better than old Seiko straps, but they never seem to quite get it. I ordered a mustard MN-strap from Erika's with black hardware 🤩 I love it!
The finnishing of the indicies, bezel and hands gives this tool watch a luxurious feel. I get a kinda Breitling feel in the way they sometimes make luxurious looking macho watches.
The unsigned crown is unexcuseable at this price, but it doesn't bother me on this one. I think it's the black coating that makes this a non-issue?
I love the bezel-action, having a date, the colorful details against the black and the warmth this watch has. Everything had i slight shade brown/gilt, even the black coating. I love this!!
I like the case shape and size 👌
The big disappointment is the lume 😥 It lasts through the night.. Barely!! I guess that's good enough. But the awesome lume has always been one of the biggest plusses of getting a Seiko.. It's really cool with orange lume, but it doesn't cancel out the lameness of weak lume.
Hope everything is already good with your family and doing well.
Get the movement regulated definitely if you decide to keep the watch. I got mine regulated start of last month, and has only gained +3 seconds since then with regular use, it has really impressed me.
I threw the nato straps that came with my SPB239 into the washing machine, came out really soft after a good wash. The floating loop is larger and you have to tuck the excess strap into that loop instead of folding it over the end loop, its different to normal straps. If you like rubber straps, get an orange waffle strap too.
The fauxtina lume is slightly weaker compared to the normal lume which is present on the SPB143, I found it the same on my SPB239 plus the blue tone lume is not as strong as the green Lumibrite formula that Seiko uses. If Seiko used deep filled indices for this blue lume, it would have been really good but this lume is still impressive for a painted on lume index.