I have a number of watches in my collection; big, small; digital, analog; Divers, Chronographs, Atomics ... I love watches. But I recently began a search of reasonably priced self-winders. It also had to be reliable, and I would prefer a diver-type style. The past couple years I've taken a liking to Invicta watches, but their quality is hit and miss. The low end (less than $100) Invicta seems less reliable than the lowly Timex; any good self-winding Invicta seems to start around $250-300.
I love Amazon's suggestioned item. It picked up on my quest for an auto-winder diver watch, and steered me HERE. The Seiko SKX779 "Black Monster." Review after review was glowing. Overall, a 4 1/2 star watch, for less than $200. And Seiko reliability is unquestioned and unparalleled.
Look/Feel - I would think a "monster" of a watch would be big, along the lines of Invicta's Grand Lupah. That's not the case at all. A little bigger than some of my watches, but not overly so. This has a nice stainless steel band, and it is a hefty watch. It feels solid, like it was chiseled out of a single piece of metal. The glow-dial feature is bright and makes it easy to read in the dark. Even the feel of the turning bezel has a solid, quality feel to it.
Accuracy - I really have nothing to compare it to as everything in my collection is battery/quartz or solar/atomic. I've had it for a month or so, and it runs a little fast, about 1-2 minutes a month; and for an analog watch, that's fine. I usually do not look at an analog watch and say "it's 11:12PM", I look and say, "it's about ten after eleven ...". In my book, "close is close enough" for any non-quartz watch.
Self-winding - I love it. Again, nothing to compare it to except the observations of others. It runs about 2 days before petering out. This has only happened once to me. I wear it nearly everyday. I am looking at auto-winders to keep it going when I am not wearing it (suggestions for a good one, under $75 or so are welcome!).
So to all who took the time to write a review, and follow-up with thoughtful comments, along with links to watch lover's blogs, thank you. I couldn't be happier with the watch, and hope my review steers others to purchase this watch. You won't be disappointed.
Oh my God this is a cool watch. If you want a steel sunflower on your wrist, if you want to be both funky and elegant, if you want to be hip and down to earth all at once, you certainly want this watch. James Bond is not cool because he wants to wear an Omega instead of this thing. Forget the fantastic brand history, forget the reliability and durability, forget the price even - this watch is both beautiful and radical: if you don't want that, you need to ask yourself why.
I have owned the "black monster" for three years now. Sold my "yellow monster" to my son because he liked it so much and I found I did not care for the yellow face. Both are rugged, solid watches. The yellow is four years old and the black is three years old. They gain 3-5 minutes per month, but most automatics do. You have to change the date five months out of the year anyway, so a reset is no problem every other month. Had a general contractor doing some work for us and he liked the black monster so much he went out and ordered on, too.
- Japan 21 Jewels Automatic Self Winding Movement (7S26)
- Stainless Steel Case and Band with Fold-Over Safety Clasp
- Day/Date Display with Spanish Option, Luminous Hands and Markers, Hardlex Curve Crystal
- Screwed Down Crown and Case Back, Uni-Directional Turning Bezel, Black Face
- Water Resistant - 200M, Case measures 44mm diameter by 13mm thick
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