Seiko Presage Men's Automatic White Dial Brown Leather Power Reserve Indicator

I was very pleased with the response of First Class Watches when I ordered a Seiko Pressage watch with a different strap ( Blue not Brown).
This was sent in addition to the watch at no addition to the price. The whole transaction was conducted speedily with no delays, First Class by name; First Class by service.
I now have 3 Seiko watches, one 5 series bought in 1971, and a second Kenetic watch bought in 2004. Both working perfectly with only one service on each. The Pressage i now have is a beautiful watch, I am a Seiko.

Firstly I would like to thank FCW for their excellent service. I placed my order on a Saturday morning and despite an error of mine in the ordering process, which meant that I missed the Monday delivery deadline, the watch still arrived with me on Monday morning.

I have long been a fan of Seiko watches having bought my first one in 1968 (and I still have it) and my favourite watch has long been my 6138-8020 chronograph from 1976. When I decided that it was time to order a new watch I looked at all sorts but gravitated towards the Grand Seiko range and was mightily taken by the Spring Drive movements but I ultimately decided that I couldn’t justify the expense. I am so happy that I made that decision as I finished up with this Presage with the stunning enamel dial. Now I should say that I am a collector and restorer of antique and vintage pocket watches so I am well used to examining and handling enamel dials but I don’t think that I have seen anything quite as beautifully made as the dial on this watch. Add to that that the movement is extremely well finished as is the case. The blued hands are a perfect complement to the dial, standing out impressively.

Functionally I like it and particularly the fact that it can be hand wound, so there is really no need for a watch winder. The strap and deployment clasp are, I would say, OK complementing the watch nicely but the quality doesn’t seem to be right up there. The one little side note here. The date set doesn’t work as detailed in the handbook accompanying the watch, which says to turn the crown clockwise. I was initially confused as it didn’t seem to work turning the crown in either direction but then I tried turning it clockwise a little and then anticlockwise and that did the job.

I think that the only thing that fails to impress me is the timekeeping. Currently gaining 6 seconds per day that again is OK but it should be better. That level of timekeeping accuracy would have seen it rejected by an American Railroad watch inspector 130 years ago – they didn’t have fancy materials for mainsprings and hairsprings and they had to contend with compensated split, bi-metallic balances etc too. At that time the railroad man’s watch had to be inspected once a month and keep time to within 30 seconds a week. Surely, we should be able to at least match that in this day and age. Perhaps they would all have had 8 day Spring Drive movements.

However, that said, I am more than happy with my new watch and the dial makes me smile every time I look at it – through a 10 times eye glass.