Seiko Land Mechanical GMT (Limited Edition)

I'm at the beginning of my horological trip, trying to decide which watches I want to get first and setting some priorities regarding my current income, my needs, and my interests. 🧐

I already have a daily watch, a dive watch, a dress watch, and a quartz chronograph. One of the complications that I want to have on a watch is the chronograph one, but it's also an expensive one. I bought a temporary Seagull 1963 to be able to have it until I get my favourite chronograph watch: the Zenith Chronomaster Original tri-colour😍. So I was saving for this very one. However, also thinking about the next one that I want: a GMT. 

I like the idea of being able to track two timezones at the same time. Very useful when travelling, but also useful when working with colleagues from other timezones. 

There are two basic GMT types: the flyer/traveller type, where there is a GMT hand and you can set the local hour hand independently, and the office/caller type, where you can set the GMT hand independently. I don't like when people say "true" GMT; both are true GMTs, but with a different purpose. However, as a watch enthusiast, the flyer complication is way cooler (and more difficult to create) than the office one; that's why most of us try to have the flyer GMT one.

I was learning which GMT options there were on the market for small wrists; considering the new Longines Zulu Time as one of the best, but also being open to other ones. I wasn't going to buy anything; as I said before, I was saving for the chronograph (and I'm still doing it).

But something happened. One day I met a watchmaker. He is a Seiko enthusiast and collector with a large collection of vintage Seiko watches, and he was wearing a Seiko GMT. I had already seen that watch on the internet, but being an office GMT, I did not stop to look into it. I remember also thinking it was a very big watch, which it isn't. I fell in love with that little watch instantly💘.

It was small, looked super toolish (which I like a lot), and I liked the design. I usually like vintage watch designs, and this watch is a very faithful re-creation of an archival model from 1968, the Seiko Navigator Timer. That tinny red GMT hand made my day, but it also made me want that watch. And its bracelet was really different and beautiful. The watch steel has a hard coating to prevent scratches that makes the steel colour a bit darker🤩. It's also a watch people don't know about, and it doesn't "shine" (a good quality for travelling).

I learned that it was a limited edition, so if I wanted it, I couldn't wait a long time to buy it. I remember going back home by train and, in the middle of the trip, stopping at the next station, changing trains, and going back to the city to get my new GMT watch. The chronograph will need to wait a bit more😅. 

I'm pretty happy with the watch and love it every time I wear it. I have a tinny wrist and it looks amazon it. It's also comfortable; the clasp is small, and it doesn't have a lot of adjust options, and you need tools to adjust it, but I found the correct size. The bezel works with friction, so you can rotate it, but it has no clicks: no problems with misalignments😜. It's hard enough to not move by itself. About the lume: it is just enough, but it is not its forte.

The movement is the new GMT Seiko developed this year, and it should be better and more precise. However, I had to send it back to check it because it was running minus 34 seconds per day after two months of wearing it. 

Aside from that, it's a great watch. I am happy to have it, and I have no regrets about having to wait a bit more for the chronograph. 

The watch reference is SPB411J1. It's called Seiko Land, but I've also seen it called Seiko Alpinist GMT on some Seiko sites. 

¿Do you like it?