From what I can tell, this is the same seiko automatic I wore for a quarter of a century, with a very minor difference in the wrist band latch. I loved it. About the only time I didn't wear it was in the shower each morning. It kept very accurate time, and wound itself with flawless reliability. I received mine as a Christmas present when I was a sophmore in high school. Young men being what they are, I sent it through the washer more than once in my jeans pocket. I also wore it caving through a number of exceptionally muddy passages. I whacked the crystal innumerable times on door jambs and had to replace them twice. I wore it with confidence on dates to elegant restaurants, weddings, business meetings and hikes in the Mountains. We got rained on, snowed on and broiled in the summer sun from Christmas of '76 until sometime after 2001.
I've since tried a string of battery operated quartz watches. Every time the battery dies I am reminded that I never had to experience that inconvenience with my seiko automatic. None of the quartz watches have proven to be as durable.
Unless you are just trying to impress others with your ability to spend ridiculous sums, this is what I would buy. It is the maximum bang for your buck: rugged, good-looking, insanely reliable and very reasonably priced. It is what I plan to buy if my current Christmas present ever wears out. Seiko 5 Men's SNK793 Automatic Stainless Steel Blue Dial Watch
I purchased this about a month ago. My dad and grandfather both had self winding watches decades ago. I was putting about my fourth battery in another (nice) Seiko when I decided to look on Amazon. I targeted Seiko since I had received one 25 years ago for a gift. It has been fantastic for a quarter of a century. It is quartz and has about a five year battery cycle, but I digress. This one came in and after reading the reviews I decided to take it to a jeweler to have the band adjusted. This is a relatively heavy watch, so if you don't want it flopping around on your wrist and pulling out hair I suggest a decent fit. After wearing it one full day it was wound significantly and has kept excellent time since. The only adjustment I've made is the date setting when we flipped from September to October. The time has not needed set in the three weeks I've worn it. It is keeping pace with my quartz models and is within a few seconds of the time tag on my cell phone (usually pretty close). I have not tested it with the standards board radio broadcasts on shortwave radio, but it has been close enough I haven't felt the need to do so. If you want a stylish watch that never needs a battery and keeps good time, consider this model. I give it five stars as I've had some compliments on it. If you think going to have it fitted is a hassle, then knock off half a star, but not for the watch itself.
I have had two Seiko 5 watches, and I liked them, especially for their status as a nice budget watch. They are lightweight yet relatively sturdy, and they look pretty good, but not great. They are perfect watches for students or people coming out of school who want an acceptably serious-looking watch for their everyday activities, that they don't have to worry about scuffing up.
The biggest downside of the Seiko 5 in my experience is accuracy. I had one that was off by a couple of minutes a day. And it was running slow, not fast, so I had to adjust it frequently and was constantly worried about being late. It got to where I'd set it five minutes fast and hope that I remembered to adjust it before it went behind again. I think that watch may have been the exception rather than the rule, as my other Seiko 5 was reasonably accurate. I had to adjust it every week or so. I took the inaccurate one in to a jeweler's for adjustment, and he said he could adjust it, but it wouldn't do much good in the long term, it would just get out of sync again.
Still, Seiko 5s were my primary watch for a good few years. It is a reliable basic automatic watch and has decent enough water resistance. A good choice for a budget automatic.'
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