SEIKO Men's SNK809 5 Automatic Stainless Steel Watch with Black Canvas Strap

Took a few tries and two different vendors to finally get my hands on 2 that are keepers. Two of four sent to me had cosmetic flaws-one blemished face, inside the glass, the other a blemished case, but once you get a cosmetically "good" one sent to you, this watch is simply beautiful. Very happy with both. Japanese eye for detail amazes me, especially for a watch this inexpensive. I'll consider the two blem. watches flukes and just concentrate on the two "good" ones. Build quality is excellent. Does my heart glad to know at least some companies still have their minds focused on quality at all price levels. After a week, neither has lost a minute. Second hand is tricky to sync, but even a few seconds behind my radio-synchronized wall clock, both keep good time. Like I said, glad I bought two. It's easy wearing and as light as a similar sized quartz watch. I bought this as a daily wearer in place of a much heavier swiss stainless mechanical monster I own. The time adjustment knob is a little small for my fingers, but that's not special to this watch. Had the same trouble with other brands too. I expect to enjoy many happy years with these watches. I'de heard of Seiko, but never heard of Seiko 5 before this, glad I came across the watch. The return process on the blems was painless, to Amazon's credit. Heard rumors that there are a lot of fakes being sold on the internet so I did some research. (Who fakes a $60 watch?!? geez..) Apparently this watch is grey market in the US, so any one you buy will have a warranty card that is not filled out because it was not sold by an authorized Seiko dealer, so be warned. I don't expect warranty trouble, so I am not very worried. If I do, I'll take it to Seiko and pay the cash, or just buy another if repairs cost more than ~$40.00. Going by the tag on the band, Seiko's suggested retail price for this watch is $185.00 so Amazon's quite a bargain. In the future, I will buy directly from amazon, not one of their storefront vendors. The first order I placed was from an amazon vendor who had the watch to me strangely fast, but with no paperwork and in a generic plastic box, not the blue Seiko box. Watch was a blem so I sent it back, but the swapmeet style packaging and lack of papers disappointed me. I associate that with Ebay and stay away from Ebay for that exact reason. I also have reason to believe that the watch was not as new as the seller claimed- after all, where was the original packing that a "new" watch comes in? How would it go missing? That was the only watch of the 4 that came packed that way. All others had the blue box and all docs included. So if someone out there has watch #141073 (case ser.#) then you got MY old one.. at least one that was sent to me and returned, never worn, as a blem. That vendor also charged a new price for something that smelled a bit fishy. To my mind, new-looking watch, minus factory packing, minus factory docs, does not equal the going price minus two bucks. Need to drive the cheezeball vendors back to ebay from whence they came. Ate the shipping on that one. Amazon did hold up their end honorably in all cases. No complaints there. And I do love the watches at the end of the day. If you are on the fence about this watch, then buy it. Great bang for the buck, near swiss attention to detail & fit and finish, well above and beyond the call of duty for a watch at this price. Keep up the good work Seiko. The quality is of the band is good, considering the price range. Seen worse, but not many better. When this band wears out, I will buy another just like it from Seiko. Let that be the final judgement on my views of the quality of the band. Heard some say the watch is a bit small for big manly wrists. On that point, I dunno. I think it's sized to look normal on the wrists of 95% of men. Some guys have big wrists.. ok, maybe not the watch for you if you are in that 5%. We also live in an era where absurdly large watches have become the norm, so that may be skewing attitudes and perceptions a bit. I find the size of the face "just right" and I consider my wrists normal for a 6' + tall caucasian adult male.

After reading all the Amazon and internet reviews on this watch I finally pulled the trigger and purchased it for $63 from Amazon. I've had the watch for four weeks and would like to share my personal thoughts and experiences on the 809. This is a great looking watch. I wish there was a nicer picture, since it does not do any justice to the looks. Some folks aren't crazy about the minute markings (5, 10, 15) on the dial, but I like it because it's different than others that have the typical 24 hour (13, 14, 15) markings. The fabric strap is a definite weakness of the watch. It felt rather itchy to me to wear. After two weeks of wearing it, I broke down and bought a brown leather alligator style strap. The brown strap contrasts with the black dial really dresses up this watch pop. Now it looks like I spent hundreds of dollars on this watch. I think a black leather strap and even a NATO style strap with black and a grey stripe would complement this watch as well. This is my first automatic watch. I purchased it knowing full well that automatic watches are not for everyone. I also realize that automatics require more care and feeding than a quartz watch and most people will still prefer a quartz movement. Accuracy of automatics is always a discussion topic and the 809 is no exception. I typically wear this watch for about 12 hours and lose 4 seconds during this period; so theoretically, it loses 8 seconds/day. This is not bad for a watch that's not certified by the COSC since COSC certified watches are only good for -4/+6 seconds day. I think some people fail to remember that there are 86,400 seconds in a day and relatively speaking a watch that is off as much as plus or minus 15 seconds a day is still pretty accurate. If you are still concerned about the watch being fast or slow, I also found a way to regulate this watch. Since this watch tends to lose time for me, I place it on my dresser, either dial side up or dial side down depending on how much time I need it to speed up. By doing this I can gain 2-4 seconds overnight. If you want to slow down your watch you can place it vertically (using the watch band to support it) with either the crown up or down or even with the crown on the left side if you need to lose more seconds. You can experiment with these different positions and see what works best for you. Power reserve is another topic that is often discussed about this watch. Depending on what you read, the 7S26 movement has a power reserve of 38-42 hours. While you cannot manually wind this watch with the crown, you can still do it by holding the watch horizontally with your thumb and fore finger and make a flicking action with your wrist like you are dealing a deck of cards. The motion doesn't have to be very hard, but should be strong enough that you either hear or feel a whirring motion. You cannot over wind automatic watches. For me, if I do this for five minutes, the watch is fully wound. I also find that winding the watch in this manner for 5 minutes can also speed it up by as much as 8 seconds. I did check the power reserve on this watch. After fully winding it and leaving it on my dresser, it worked for 45 hours and 23 minutes! That's pretty awesome with this watch. If you are getting less than the 38-42 hour power reserve, the watch has not been fully wound or you have a defective watch. So far I feel extremely lucky that I got a good working 809. I am thoroughly enjoying it and will definitely keep it. It's been an inexpensive way to experience owning an automatic watch. I highly recommend buying this watch!

Review of the Seiko 5 SNK809: TOO LONG DIDN'T READ: This watch is great. It runs perfectly 2 years later (I wore it daily for 1 year) and has no issues. It has an accurate movement and is durable. If I were you, I'd go ahead and buy it now. The only downsides of purchasing this watch is that its lume fades pretty fast and the strap is a bit uncomfortable but it's easily resolved by buying a new strap. Info on photos: The strap pictured was purchased for 5 dollars from Sears a few weeks after purchasing the watch. It’s a major upgrade and I urge you to purchase a new strap for the watch since the one it comes with isnt low quality at all but it was slightly uncomfortable and I wanted the watch to look more formal. I purchased this watch on July 21, 2018. It arrived in three days and there are other reviews saying this watch gets delivered extremely fast. Hence I doubt you should pay extra for fast shipping, just go with the free shipping that comes with this watch. Before I start this review I want you to keep a few things in mind: 1. This watch costs 64 dollars from an unauthorized dealer (like Amazon) but it will cost you 195 dollars to buy this watch from an Authorized dealer (like Macy’s or Jcpenney). 2. This watch has the 7s26c automatic movement from Seiko 3. This watch is made in Malaysia 4. This watch is 37 mm in diameter 5. This watch doesn’t have hacking or hand winding I will now start the review: INTRO: Let me tell you. This watch is perfect on the exterior. I have scoured every crevice and curve in this watch and not found a single manufacturing defect. This watch has a bead blasted finish on the visible portions when wearing the watch but has a polished finish to the area between the lugs and the case back. This watch is the best automatic watch under 100 dollars that you can trust. If you are looking for a Winner watch. Please do not buy that cheap stuff. The only reason I could see someone buying a Winner watch is to take out the movement to play with. Buy at least a Timex. Although if you really want an automatic watch this one of the best choices under 200 dollars easily. WHAT ELSE I WANTED I really wanted a Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic 38mm watch before buying this watch. Eventually I decided against spending the 575 dollars the Swiss Hamilton would set me back by and bought this watch. It was because I did not think I would enjoy wearing the Hamilton every day. It being a 575 dollar watch I would look after it too much. I would not wear it while doing stuff outside because of the possibility it could get scratched. It would be no fun to buy a watch you can't even wear without worry. That is what this watch IS. This is a watch that you can wear everywhere. This watch has Seiko’s Incabloc shock protection on the balance wheel so you do not need to worry about the ruggedness. MOVEMENT: How is the movement you ask? The movement on the Seiko SNK809 is the Seiko 7s26C. There may be people complaining about the quality of the movement, but let me tell you: this movement is a very rugged trustable movement. Seiko says this watch has a functioning accuracy of -20 to +40 seconds. I have had my watch for almost a week and my current accuracy on this movement is +1.8 seconds. +1.8 seconds is even within Rolex’s “Superlative Chronometer Status” (+/- 2 seconds per day). As for shock resistance and ruggedness I have rode my bike on mountain trails whilst having this watch in my wrist and it hasn't stopped. (To check the accuracy of your watch what I would recommend you do is go to Toolwatch.io or download their app. It is a free tool that will let you check the accuracy of your watch.) LUME: The lume on this watch will fade very fast. TWO YEAR OWNERSHIP UPDATE (May 24 2020) I kinda gave up on writing a super detailed review but what I can tell you is this watch still runs with the same accuracy it did two years ago (+2.1 sec/day) and its date and day functions all work perfectly. Quick date setting works great too. I purchased a more comfortable leather strap for the watch (It needs an 18mm sized one) and I have 0 complaints. This was the first mechanical watch for my collection back in 2018 and now I have expanded my collection to vintage watches and more higher end timepieces. This watch performs perfectly and is impeccable quality. I wore it daily for the first year of ownership and it never let me down. Its movement may not be pretty but it's really accurate and a workhorse. It's one of my favorite watches in my collection still and I wear it multiple times a week. You cannot go wrong with this watch for the price. It was 64 dollars when I bought it and if its price was 100 I'd still buy it. If you're still considering buying this watch, go for it. The seller has fast shipping and the watchbox came in perfect condition. Good luck!

I bought this watch one year and half ago and I am still very happy with it. I will not repeat the other reviews how great this watch is. This watch definitely looks better in person than photos. Expect to replace the cheap looking strap. This watch looks great with a leather strap. If you still prefer a nylon mil-spec strap, Maratac nylon straps are the best but only sold at CountyComm website and $15 shipping :( The size of this watch is great for my thin wrist. Large watches to me are passing fad and they are just not comfortable to wear. The reasons for my 4 stars instead of 5 are: 1. The case of the watch between the lugs is polished finished instead of sand blasted. It’s a bit odd but probably no one around you will notice it. 2. The dial design is a bit too understated. I think it will have a better visual balance if the font of the numbers was a bit bolder. This is just my taste. 3. The case back is see through glass instead of stainless steal. Of course this is a personal preference. For a military styled watch, it’s a bit odd to have glass on the back since it's not durable as steel. It makes it look more like a lady’s fashion watch. I understand they want to show off the mechanical movement and it’s probably a good move in today’s watch market, but seiko 5 movement is not that glorious looking anyways, so I don’t really care to see it. I compared this watch against Citizen’s Eco drive: From what I read Eco drive uses capacitor to store the electricity charged by solar panel. The capacitor degrades around in 5 to 10 years. So it eventually require capacitor replacement. This capacitor is Citizen’s proprietary parts. So the longevity of an Eco drive watch depends on how long the capacitor lasts and how long Citizen will keep stocking the particular capacitor replacement. On the other hand, Seiko 5 is a fully mechanical watch. Normally this means it requires regular cleanings by a watch smith at least every 5 years to keep it running properly. But the cost of such service is more than cost of brand new Seiko 5. But Seiko 5 has been around since 1960s and known to run reliably over 10 years and sometimes even 20 years without any servicing. I picked Seiko 5 over Eco-drive or any other solar powered watch since I will be able to enjoy a pleasure of owning a mechanical watch which I can expect to run reliably for next 10 or 15 years without any replacement or servicing. This is definitely a great entry mechanical watch. Plus, there is a Seiko 5 modding subculture community on the internet. Apparently, you can swap the dials with other Seiko 5 models since they are standardized. There is also a website that shows the step by step process of servicing Seiko 5 movement yourself. The low cost makes this a perfect guinea pig watch. This watch may be your portal to the horological rabbit hole… Google the funny but informative article by WatchSnob “The Cheapest High End Watch” on askmen website. This article makes you proud of owning a Seiko 5!

Oh my god.. this watch is totally unbelievable.. In this case, the old saying of " you get what you paid for " doesn't apply to this excellent quality watch. I like to wear watch and I like to collect watch. I have rado, omega, tag, seiko kinetic, timex, some German-made watch... and you name it. By far this is the best value and quality you can get for $50+ dollar. I was very skeptical of this watch when I look at the price and movement. My best friend came to me the other day and asked me what kind of watch he should be getting in terms of value and quality. Based on the review, I recommend this one and at the same time, I order one for myself as well LOL.. I warned my friend what to expect with automatic movement as he had no previous experience of automatic watch. I told him seriously :" you should expect 1 min loss or gain on this cheap automatic watch given the price point." And my explanation carried on ..blah.blah The thing with automatic watch is it has so much historical value in comparison to quart watch. Good mechanical watch can last generations if you take care of it. The design is plain and simple which I really like. Hey ..what make Rolex is a success is its simple and unchanged design in ever-changing environment. Simplicity is beauty because I can still see my watch clearly when I'm 90 years old LOL.. In aggregate, it's not only decoration on your wrist and it's also ever-lasting tool. The accuracy still leave me in doubt if this is quartz watch because I only loss few second after a week of wearing. Unbelievable and absolutely unbelievable. I bought a lot of stuffs on Amazon but never bother to write a review because I'm lazy. Nevertheless I told myself I have to write something about this watch because it's well deserved of Kudos.. + accuracy + automatic movement ( I love it) + simple design ( I love it and I like it) + readability ( I love it and this thing glows beautifully in darkness haha) + hardex mineral ( I know it's not saphire but come on $50 bucks still give some kind of scratch resistance / what a deal) The only one shortcoming I can think of is the size of the watch.. 38mm seems to be a bit smaller, especially in today's world where the big face watch dominate the world.. But again the $50+ price remind me I can't expect too much from such high quality watch.. Buy it today and enjoy it like me..

I was floored to see an automatic watch - let alone a Seiko - for a price under $100. I found out the Seiko 5 has been in production over 50 years, so the tooling has long been paid off. The new ones (like this one) also say the movement is made/assembled in Malaysia, not Japan, so that may also explain the lower price. The model I bought is the SNK809. I have a Seiko 5 automatic that I received for a graduation in the 1980's. It still runs like a champ and has never been serviced (it's not a daily wearer, though, either). Based on my experience with that watch and other Seikos (a battery quartz and a solar quartz) I was more than comfortable making this purchase. The watch looks great and has a reasonable 37mm case. I'm not a fan of the gargantuan dishplate-sized watches that are in vogue today. This watch is the perfect size in my opinion. Some might consider the dial a bit busy and harder to read, but I like the look. The brushed metal finish is nice too. It can be worn as a casual watch up to a dressier business casual watch. It has a black dial and came with a black 'canvas' strap, which I actually think is nylon. It's a bit stiff and a bit thick, but definitely seems durable and reliable. It has a nice Seiko buckle that has a finish that matches the watch. I replaced the original band, though, with a few Nato-style bands. The watch - being an automatic - is a bit tall (thick) so I'd recommend a band with thinner material if you go Nato, like a BluShark Original. It looks good with a solid black band, or a band with stripes of black and gray or black, gray, and blue (Bond style). I've had the watch for 3+ weeks. It's worked fine. I haven't worn it daily - maybe three or 4 days at a time, and then I wear a different one for a few days. It keeps reliable time - although it may lose almost a minute every 3 days or so which I consider ok for a mechanical watch, especially one at this price. If you want precision time, get a quartz watch, but you lose the craftsman ship of a mechanical watch. Seems like a nice watch from a reliable manufacturer at a great price. August 2022 update: a year and a half later, the watch works fine with no problems. Not my daily wearer. It may lose or gain a few seconds a day, but that's always been pretty common with all the other wind up or automatic watches I've owned.

I've had this watch for about three weeks, and find only one significant flaw -- the complaints that it doesn't retain enough energy to keep going when not worn, or even when worn but not subject to regular movement are valid. Depending on your circumstances, this may be a trivial point or a significant drawback. My recommendation is that this be purchased as a weekend watch, a good choice for casual style, but not to be confused with a true field watch. The watch is good looking, solidly made, evidently inspired by the military watches that were common during and after World War II. In the United States, military watches were largely made by Hamilton, although other watchmakers were also busy with similar designs. The watches were durable stem winders, with a focus on durability rather than accuracy. In most instances, the face was white, and the second hand was separate rather than a sweep second hand. There was no day or date function. This watch is a reminder of that style, but considerably larger, with day and date, an automatic movement which cannot be wound by the stem, sweep second hand, and a clear back. While it has much of the simple functionality of the military design, it is not a reproduction of the classic style of the 1940s. My experience with the accuracy has been favorable, although I have not tested it as rigorously as other reviewers have. I've set it to the time on my cable television box, which doesn't offer seconds, After 3 days without resettine the watch was no more than 1 minute off. I have not tried to monitor it for a longer period. The strap is nylon with leather or leatherette reinforcement, and appears to be durable. The look seem appropriate for the style of the watch. The one flaw I've found is that the watch does not retain enough energy to get through a full night without running down. On those occasions when I was able to measure its accuracy after three days, I had a series of awakenings and did not sleep for more than 4 hours at a stretch. On those occasions, having read the other reviews, I shook the watch to build up an energy reserve. On nights when I was not disturbed, I found that the watch had run down by morning. The extent of the annoyance this imposes is subjective. Automatic winders are widely marketed which will shake watches to keep the automatic movement wound, but these devices are more expensive than this wristwatch and seem like overkill. Since the day and date are quite easy to set, and accurate time sources are readily available, this may seem trivial. Older readers may recall making a telephone call to get the correct time, but today, with computers synchronized to highly accurate clocks, as well as clocks on cable boxes and cellular telephones, there's no difficulty finding a reference source to reset a wristwatch. Those who have several watches and may want to change over as a matter of style will find this flaw perfectly acceptable -- but for those people who want an automatic wristwatch as an alternative to battery powered watches, this may be a fatal flaw. Better automatic watches will hasve enough reserve power after a day of wear to run for 36 - 48 hours without movement. SUMMARY -- this is a good example of style over substance. Accepted for what it is, a good watch to wear with faded jeans to go pumpkin picking in the autumn or browsing antique stores in the spring, it's an excellent value. It is not a rugged field watch for hunters nor is it a luxury timepiece at a bargain price. Enjoy it for what it is. UPDATE 1/20/22 -- I've read my initial review, written in 2011, and I might note that I'm wearing the Seiko now, although there are two other wristwatches sitting on my desk. Both have a quartz movement and keep impeccable time. One is powered by light, which seemed to mean it would run until -- well I'll be gone by then. Both are large, as befits the current fashion, neither is terribly expensive. The battery powered one recently had a battery replacement, which meant that it was out of commission for a week before I could get the battery replaced. The light powered one is fine -- no complaints except that it's really too big for my wrist. That's a personal thing but it's the reason I keep going back to the Seiko, and appreciate the fact that it's waiting for me to pick it up again -- and after an hour of swinging my arm is giving a very good approximation of the correct time. It fits, it looks good, and has held up for all these years. I've never had it serviced (I read somewhere that Seiko 5s can go for 10 or 20 years without being serviced and I'll vouch for the 10) and I still have the original strap (both of the other two had to have their straps replaced). And that's about it -- after 10 years I'd like to apologize for the original review and raise my rating to 5 stars if only for a deacde of loyal service. It's the little engine that could, and still can.

When I saw this watch, I could not believe its price. I was looking for an everyday watch which did not cost too much, but I never thought I could get a Seiko for around USD 55. This watch is a little small if compared to the sizes currently in the market but since I do not have a big wrist, that was nothing to worry about (and again, for that price...). Moreover, I have to say that I hate to look as if I have a Vick's Vaporub ointment case tied to my wrist (no offense to anyone) instead of a watch. Thus, I bought it expecting the Seiko quality at an unbelievable price, but nothing else. And I got both, albeit the strap is definitely not worthwhile (although it is a decent strap, it is something that you should consider to change). Nevertheless, as time has been passing I have been increasingly falling in love with the watch. It has a discrete military look, it is impeccably crafted and above all, the movement is Seiko's longtime proven battlehorse: The legendary 7S26. That mechanism has been one of the most durable automatic movements ever produced. It has gained a high level of respect even among the luxury Swiss watches aficionados, because of its durability and ruggedness. Over time, that little movement has become a symbol of Seiko's quality and today is truly a legend in horlogery. There are a lot of stories about how those mechanisms have NOT BEEN TAKEN TO A SERVICE CENTER for up to 15 years and they still work without problems. Furthermore, the service cost for that movement is normally one of the cheapest. The only real issue here is the precision. Yes, the watch is not as precise as some more expensive Swiss, German or Japanese watches. That means that it will be a couple minutes behind the "real" time at the end of a period of time of say, 2 weeks. But if you compare that with its price and its durability... for me it is definitely a worthwhile issue. Moreover, I have heard that such problem can be substantially reduced if you take it to a good watch expert, in order to get some adjustments to increase its precision. I tend to think about it as a Honda Civic or a Toyota Corolla: A relatively small piece, that does not deliver the best results in terms of power, speed, precision, style and that does not scream the big amount of money you paid for it; but that is always there for you, that is very trustworthy, that lasts a lot and that does cost very little to mantain. Now, the reason why I give it 5 stars despite the lesser quality of the strap and its less than optimal precision is that in all fairness, the strap is not a problem about the watch itself and can be replaced, and on the other hand, it seems the precision can be improved. Even if we consider the strap to be a problem of the watch and its precision could not be improved, the price is so low, that in my opinion, makes the whole deal worth 5 stars.