Seiko 5 Men's SNK809 Automatic Black Strap Black Dial Watch Review

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(More customer reviews)Seiko offers two similar versions of a mechanical "military" watch:
The SNK809 (which is black, but there are other colors). This has a 21 jewel movement (generally the 7S26B, but the earlier models have the 7S26). It has a 36mm case (excluding the crown) and18mm wide band.
The other model is the lager SNZG15 (which is black, but there are other colors). This has a 23 jewel movement (generally the 7S36B, but earlier models have the 7S36). It has a 40mm case (excluding crown) and an 22mm band.
Both of these watches are gray market. You won't see them for sale in US stores.
I've owned my SNK809 for several months and love it. Its very accurate for the price. Mine gains about 5 sec/day. You'll have to spend a lot of money to do better than that in the mechanical watch world.
Two of my friends own the SNZG15, and they seem to gain about 10 sec/day. Note: The fact the SNZG15 has 23 jewels doesn't mean its more accurate than a 21 jewel movement. It's larger, pushes more mass (bigger hands), and thus I speculate is inherently less accurate than the smaller SNK809.
I got my SNK809 on eBay for $45 + $25 shipping (2009). However, it was shipped from Hong Kong. It had to clear customs, shipping takes about three weeks, and has more inherent risk. I'd expect to pay more on Amazon if it was shipped from within the US. Similarly, I've seen the SNG15 for as little as $105 with free shipping, shipped from Singapore.
What I did not appreciate at the time I bought my SNK809 is that its water resistant rating is 30 meters (WR30M). 98 ft. That seems sufficient unless you're a serious scuba diver, right?
Wrong.
Look up water resistant ratings for watches on Wikipedia.
30 meters is the static water pressure for the test conducted in the ratings lab. The working/dynamic pressure rating will be much less. You should not even shower wearing a WR30M watch, let alone swim with it. WR30M is considered splash resistant only. I have splashed my watch, it still runs great, but depending upon your lifestyle, this may or may not be an issue.
The bigger SNZG15 is rated at WR100M, which you can swim and skin dive with. The smallest rating you should swim with (but no skin diving) is WR50M.
The other aspect of the SNK809 you should be aware of is that its smaller than most watches are today. In the 1960's an 18mm band was typical. Today its small, aesthetically, particularly for a person with large wrists.
When I first got my SNK809, I was taken aback by how thin the band looked (and I have smaller than average wrists). I have read the market Seiko is targeting with this model is teenagers in Asia. That market base probably has smaller wrists than the average American male.
But after wearing it for awhile, I noticed I wasn't banging it into things like I do with my larger watch. And it fit under my shirt sleeves better.
Its notable that my friends say the 22mm SNZG15 is a bit bigger than they wish it was.
I've concluded I like the 18mm band. I'm an outdoorsman (when I can be), and do wish the SNK809 was at least WR50M. Other reviewers will say they wish it had a hacking mechanism or a sapphire crystal. Those are not issues for me, and for the price, let's get real.
This is a phenomenal mechanical watch for what you'll pay. I wear mine to work every day. I wear it to meetings and snicker to myself as my second hand moves at six clicks per second, while others sitting at the table suffer the one second lurch of the ubiquitous quartz movement. Yes, I'm a watch geek. Just be aware of the smaller width of the band and WR30M rating. If those aren't big issues for you, you can't beat it.

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The Seiko 5 Men's Automatic Black Strap Black Dial Watch is a stylish timepiece with the convenience of automatic movement. A uniquely designed, black dial features white Arabic numbers marking the hours on an inner circle and the minutes on an outer circle, while small, bar indexes encircle the dial on an outside minute track. Silver-tone hands with luminous fill make it easy to tell time day or night, and the slim second hand is detailed with a red accent. For added convenience, a day and date display are set at three o'clock, and this modern timepiece offers a peek at its inner workings with an exhibition caseback. The polished stainless steel case extends to meet the black nylon strap, which wraps comfortably around the wrist and fastens with a traditional buckle. Water resistant to 330 feet (100 meters), this high-performance watch is perfect for everyday wear.

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Wenger Swiss Military Men's 72915 Classic Field Military Watch Review

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(More customer reviews)I think before I say anything about this watch, that I was given one of these as a present for Christmas many years ago. I wore it every day for probably about 4 to 5 years and I can assure you that this watch is exactly the same as the one I got. Whats the problem you might ask? My parents got it for me at Walgreens for about 15 dollars. This is priced at about 115 dollars on here as I write this, what the heck?
Anyway, more on topic to the watch.
First off, I was never annoyed with this watch on any level. It is pretty damn comfortable and simple. Its easy to read while moving around or running. Its extremely simple to change the time and date (like on most watches) and its not pretentious in looks or colors.
That said though, there are a couple things to note. The watch band is a strange nylon and fake-leather at the ends and on the latch. While this never proved to be a problem on the comfort, style or durability level (at least for 4 or 5 years), it proved to be a problem later when the watch band started to smell in the nylon parts. Since it is a bunch of strands of nylon weaved together, it absorbs sweat over time and the smell basically never comes out. This is only noticeable (in my case) when you are specifically smelling the watch, which during regular use doesn't happen anyway.
The watch in terms of mechanical durability is pretty wicked. Considering I got it when I was just 12 years old, I bashed it around like crazy and not only does the watch still work, but the outer shell and the crystal is still completely unscratched. The watch's only weakpoint is the strap. While the nylon is brilliant in terms of lightness, breatheability and strength, the pseudo-leather at the latch and the ends of the strap are not nearly as strong. They finally after years of constant use gave way and its ripped on the bottom connecting point and one of the latch holes seems to have cracked the leather, meaning its being held together just by the stitched on outer black shiny layer.
However, remember that I was merely 12 when I started wearing this. I probably had no sense of material preservation and therefore, I cannot say it was treated with care during its lifetime. So then in the sense of durability, I have to say this watch definitely went above and beyond the call of duty considering it costed just 15 dollars and we only had to replace the battery only once.
The face of the watch is dreadfully simple. Most would say the lack of bells and whistles makes this bad, but it actually makes it amazing on a number of levels. First off, remember that every extra dial and feature is just another thing to possibly go wrong. Also recall that those watches tend to use more battery power in the long term because of all the extra mechanical things the motor has to do. Finally, and most importantly, it means the watch is quick to read. I can't think of a situation where I had difficulty reading it (the numbers glow in the dark enough so you can see the numbers in pitch black, it works).
The watch holds its time pretty well considering how cheap it was. I estimated when I was younger that this thing was a second slow over the course of about 2 weeks (I knew this because I timed my watch to the second the bell rang, so I easily tracked this fact inadvertently over my years in middle school and high school).
There really isn't much else to say, now that I am 19 I can say that this was the best watch I ever owned. My most recent watch is an Armitron I bought at Walmart for 30 dollars. It got a major scratch (in my opinion) on the face of it, which is driving me nuts. Its why I am looking for a new watch now, and why I when I saw this watch, I felt the need to write a review.
I still have the watch, it held up honorably to a turbulent time in my life, so it should easily serve others as well as it served me.

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The Wenger Swiss Military Men's Classic Field Military Watch showcases superior construction and quick-charge luminous hour markers and watch hands, making it a highly functional, yet simple timepiece. Constructed with a stainless steel case, the watch includes a black stationary stainless steel bezel and a black nylon wristband secured with a buckle clasp. A durable mineral window protects the black dial, which features luminous Arabic numeral hour markers with the Wenger Swiss logo resting in the 12 o'clock position. The dial also includes slim minute indexes, a clearly marked 24-hour clock cycle, and a date calendar at three o'clock. Featuring Swiss-quartz movement, this timepiece is water resistant to 330 feet (100 M). In addition, it comes packaged in a padded aluminum Wenger Swiss watch tin.

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Hadley-Roma Men's MSM841RA-180 18-mm Black Kevlar with Leather Backing Watch Strap Review

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(More customer reviews)This plastic band looks nice but does not have the leather backing as described. The edges seem unfinished. It also does not come with the replacement springbars.

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Infanty Watch-LEATHER- Review

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(More customer reviews)I am notoriously hard on my watches and have paid far more money for watches that fall apart on me within one or two years. I have had the infantry man watch for 3.5 years now, and it is still going strong. A few scratches in the crystal have appeared over time and the watch case has a few slight dings, but functionally the watch is in great shape and it keeps time perfectly.
My one criticism is that the watch band is made of paper. It fell apart on me within 6 months. When I called the company to see if they would send me a new one, they said that they did not warranty the band - I suppose I wouldn't either if I knew how quickly it would fall apart. All tolled, it is a simple, hard wearing watch for a reasonable price. If I had the opportunity to buy it all over again, I would probably pay more for a more upgraded model with a metal-link band.

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