A decent alternative to wrist watches? - Seiko SAPP007 Review

Background

With my interest in wristwatches, I have also acquired an interest in pocket watches. Or perhaps my interest in pocket watches came first as I recall having been fascinated by them when I was a young child.

Regardless, I wanted to get a pocket watch. I have already converted a crappy watch that I happen to have into a janky pocket watch.

In addition to doing that, I bought myself a somewhat proper pocket watch: the Seiko SAPP007. I ordered it from Sakura Watches and DHL was a real pain in the butt with customs in this instance.

In any case, I received the watch a few weeks ago. I ended up paying about 200€ including taxes.

Using a pocket watch

I mostly bought it out of interest as I expected that it wouldn't be practical or convenient. I was right. It really is less convenient than a wristwatch in most cases, but pocket watches are cool, so who cares?

At the very least, it can be convenient outside during winter since my wrist is covered by multiple sleeves, making a wristwatch a bit annoying to get to. My phone could also tell the time, but it needs a button press and isn't as nice as a watch.

Design

The design is that of a very typical pocket watch. I think it looks good.

The crown is on the bottom rather than the top, which makes it easier to use than crowns at the top, in which case the chain and its attachment can be in the way. However, the crown is very small, which does make it a little bit difficult to use.

The dial is very simple and looks good overall. The hands look great, but the second hand is thinner than I would like and that has a negative impact on legibility.

The caseback has some specs and branding on it. I wish the logo was vertically centered as I think that would look better, but it's a small deal.

Build quality and finishing

It's okay. The watch is made from stainless steel with a hardlex mineral crystal, so it should be mostly fine in use. The finishing is entirely glossy and looks fine, but it is worse than many of my other watches. I would say that it's in the same ballpark with my Leijona Järwi, maybe a bit better.

Everything on the dial is aligned and there isn't anything easily noticeable wrong with the hands or numerals and the printing is of good quality.

The finishing of the dial itself is textured, but it's not entirely even with some scratches and other inconsistencies in it. You can see some of this by zooming into the following image from a closer distance (for example there's a scratch right above 9):

The movement

The movement is a 7N01. It's a pretty typical cheap quartz movement. The seconds hand does not align perfectly, but it is quite close. The movement works fine otherwise as well.

Conclusion

You can find much better value in wristwatches, but this seems to be the case in general when it comes to new pocket watches.

The design looks good, but has a few quirks. The quality and finishing is solid, but with noticeable flaws. The movement is a cheap quartz movement.

As a whole, it matches my expectations, but doesn't really exceed them.

When it comes to usage, I think it's totally viable, but wristwatches are generally more convenient.