elmerlo 0 Posted October 6, 2015 So, the watch arrived in record time from Singapore and it's a real beauty. It's like having a modern version of the Rolex Explorer II, with some nice features along the way. I mention a few that come to mind: -indexes are placed on a sort of ring, half of them are suspended, with a nice effect; -despite being quite long from lug to lug, like is Rollie counterpart, the lugs are sloped down, so wears better, especially in small wrists; -dial is not plain white, but pearl white with sunburst effect; -balanced: the SUN019P1 diver I used for some months had the case too much heavy compared to the bracelet, this one at 162 grams doesn't "fall off" from your wrists sides, stays in place; -the crown design is quite unusual, its cone design favours better operation -for Seiko lovers: Lumibrite, Kinetic Would I go back to the Rollie after having tried this? I would say no: this wears so much better... Pics: Early in the morning, with little exposure through a cloudy window, the lume shot doesn't give justice to Lumibrite. But nevertheless: Size comparison: Caseback: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted October 6, 2015 Very nice indeed - much more interesting than an ExpII, I agree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
simey83 1,977 Posted October 6, 2015 That's lovely! Congrats Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WatchDog21 3,345 Posted October 6, 2015 Thanks for the little review. Very nice and would not mind having one as well but just have not decided if I want more than 1 Kinetic. I like to keep the reserve up by wearing it and not really looking to pay for an overpriced Seiko Kinetic winder. Really do love the look of it thought! Congrats on an excellent buy! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmerlo 0 Posted October 6, 2015 Thanks for the little review. Very nice and would not mind having one as well but just have not decided if I want more than 1 Kinetic. I like to keep the reserve up by wearing it and not really looking to pay for an overpriced Seiko Kinetic winder. Really do love the look of it thought! Congrats on an excellent buy! Yes, Kinetic is definetely a PITA, because you always feel "obliged" to wear the watch. I had this feeling when I had the SUN019P1. But what about a simple winder? I have the Klarstein St.Gallen, bought through Amazon at a competitive price. It's really good looking: you can place it anywhere and it will be always a pleasure to watch. Plus, it's so silent... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WatchDog21 3,345 Posted October 6, 2015 Thanks for the little review. Very nice and would not mind having one as well but just have not decided if I want more than 1 Kinetic. I like to keep the reserve up by wearing it and not really looking to pay for an overpriced Seiko Kinetic winder. Really do love the look of it thought! Congrats on an excellent buy! Yes, Kinetic is definetely a PITA, because you always feel "obliged" to wear the watch. I had this feeling when I had the SUN019P1. But what about a simple winder? I have the Klarstein St.Gallen, bought through Amazon at a competitive price. It's really good looking: you can place it anywhere and it will be always a pleasure to watch. Plus, it's so silent... I have been told by an AD and Seiko customer support that a standard winder will not work, a lot of technical reason that I don't remember. I do have an regular winder at home but never tried it. I think I need to do a test. Check the current power reserve, put my SUN021 in the standard winder for a bit and then compare the power reserve again after some time in there... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MoveAlong 23 Posted October 6, 2015 Very nice with good pics, congrats! Mine should be delivered this Friday - ooh, anticipation... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kleen™ 45 Posted October 6, 2015 This Seiko beats the Explorer 2 in every aspect for me... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
conx 0 Posted October 6, 2015 Love the watch - I will be picking one of these up for sure. As far as winding goes, you simply need an induction tooth brush charger from Braun or Philips - yes it works! I charged a kinetic from 20 secs on the indicator to 30 secs using one. Do a search in Google and you'll find some discussions on WUS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marshall 0 Posted October 6, 2015 Love the watch - I will be picking one of these up for sure. As far as winding goes, you simply need an induction tooth brush charger from Braun or Philips - yes it works! I charged a kinetic from 20 secs on the indicator to 30 secs using one. Do a search in Google and you'll find some discussions on WUS. Yep, I do this too and it works perfectly. There are a whole bunch of DIY threads around the net. As for the watch, I love the thick paint on the GMT hand. Gives a very 3D look to it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MoveAlong 23 Posted October 6, 2015 Question for you elmerlo. I know that with this movement, the hour hand is tied to the quickset position. In order to set the date, you either adjust the hour hand forward or backward 24 hours, correct? Does it mention in the manual if reversing the hour hand across midnight is OK? In other words, being able to adjust the date backwards. I've seen some reviews on YouTube doing this, but all my learning here would tell me it's not OK. Thoughts? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MoveAlong 23 Posted October 7, 2015 So, found the manual pdf and was pleasantly surprised to see that the date can easily be adjusted either forward or backward without any problems. Here are some direct quotes from the caliber 5M85 instructions. "The date can be adjusted either by advancing it or by setting it back. Choose whichever requires fewer rotations" and "The date advances one day by turning the hour hand two full rotations clockwise, while the date is set back one day by turning the hour hand two full rotations counterclockwise" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmerlo 0 Posted October 7, 2015 "The date can be adjusted either by advancing it or by setting it back. Choose whichever requires fewer rotations" Oh, BTW, here's another aspect where this Seiko (5M85) works well: advancing or moving back the hour hand is quick and precise. This makes the whole GMT affair much simpler: you rest the 24-hour hand on your home time and you play with the quick hour set back and forth at will. Looking forward to your pictures... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmerlo 0 Posted October 7, 2015 Love the watch - I will be picking one of these up for sure. As far as winding goes, you simply need an induction tooth brush charger from Braun or Philips - yes it works! I charged a kinetic from 20 secs on the indicator to 30 secs using one. Do a search in Google and you'll find some discussions on WUS. Interesting: I will certainly buy one. Which model of charger do you use? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WatchDog21 3,345 Posted October 7, 2015 Love the watch - I will be picking one of these up for sure. As far as winding goes, you simply need an induction tooth brush charger from Braun or Philips - yes it works! I charged a kinetic from 20 secs on the indicator to 30 secs using one. Do a search in Google and you'll find some discussions on WUS. Interesting: I will certainly buy one. Which model of charger do you use? I tested the standard winder last night on mine and can safely say that it does not charge the watch. First youtube video on it that I found. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
k3rm87 176 Posted October 7, 2015 Handsome watch. Looking for a white dial myself for summer.. will look into this one! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MoveAlong 23 Posted October 7, 2015 "The date can be adjusted either by advancing it or by setting it back. Choose whichever requires fewer rotations" Oh, BTW, here's another aspect where this Seiko (5M85) works well: advancing or moving back the hour hand is quick and precise. This makes the whole GMT affair much simpler: you rest the 24-hour hand on your home time and you play with the quick hour set back and forth at will. Looking forward to your pictures... Yes, I believe this is the way the gen Explorer II operates as well. IMHO, the way all GMT's should operate. When I'm traveling, I like to keep local time on the hour hand and home time on the GMT hand. Makes it so much easier when you don't have to hack the movement - you just quickset the hour hand to local and you're done. On my Steinhart Ocean Vintage GMT with swiss ETA 2893-2, the GMT hand is tied to quickset. So, I have to hack the movement, adjust to local time and then re-sync to another time source. Total pain in the ass. I can't wait for this watch!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
conx 0 Posted October 7, 2015 Love the watch - I will be picking one of these up for sure. As far as winding goes, you simply need an induction tooth brush charger from Braun or Philips - yes it works! I charged a kinetic from 20 secs on the indicator to 30 secs using one. Do a search in Google and you'll find some discussions on WUS. Interesting: I will certainly buy one. Which model of charger do you use? I've actually found the best results were with the charging base for the Philips Imageo LED tea lights. The watch sits in the recess and charges likes a dream, just press the on button once a day. Put the watch in standing with 6pm at the bottom to get the kinetic coil in the correct place to charge. OK. http://www.amazon.co...=Philips+imageo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kennycoder 97 Posted October 7, 2015 Sweet jesus that is pretty. Open caseback for a quartz is also nice. Great pickup mate. Enjoy it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmerlo 0 Posted October 8, 2015 (edited) Love the watch - I will be picking one of these up for sure. As far as winding goes, you simply need an induction tooth brush charger from Braun or Philips - yes it works! I charged a kinetic from 20 secs on the indicator to 30 secs using one. Do a search in Google and you'll find some discussions on WUS. Interesting: I will certainly buy one. Which model of charger do you use? I've actually found the best results were with the charging base for the Philips Imageo LED tea lights. The watch sits in the recess and charges likes a dream, just press the on button once a day. Put the watch in standing with 6pm at the bottom to get the kinetic coil in the correct place to charge. OK. So the Kinetic coil is at 6pm? From the caseback I can see also one at 9. Does that charge as well? I ordered the Oral-B vitality (I didn't have an electric toothbrush, so at worse I will try that! ) and plan to make the foam base. Should arrive by monday, will keep you posted guys. BTW: I'm really enjoying the watch. I'm a fond lover of Diver's watches and recently it was hard to take off the Baby Tunas (yes, both plain steel and black), but when you want something a little more elegant than a lovely, rough chunk of metal, this one is my preferred choice. TAG Heuer Link Cal.16 does the job as well, but this is so much more readable, and, of course, if you need GMT, wins hands down. Edited October 8, 2015 by elmerlo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
n18lld 656 Posted October 8, 2015 Nice clean lines. Enjoy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wellesson 0 Posted October 8, 2015 Looks fantastic, thx for the review Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmerlo 0 Posted October 8, 2015 Yes, I believe this is the way the gen Explorer II operates as well. IMHO, the way all GMT's should operate. When I'm traveling, I like to keep local time on the hour hand and home time on the GMT hand. Makes it so much easier when you don't have to hack the movement - you just quickset the hour hand to local and you're done. On my Steinhart Ocean Vintage GMT with swiss ETA 2893-2, the GMT hand is tied to quickset. So, I have to hack the movement, adjust to local time and then re-sync to another time source. Total pain in the ass. I can't wait for this watch!! And, BTW, if you want an even more serious Dual Time watch, you should consider the Citizen AT9030-55L (or one of its variants). THAT is really a pleasure to work with when adjusting your Time Zones. Some pluses of the watch: -very, very elegant dark blue dial, nearly black on most occasions; -dual time sub-dial: allows non-standard timezones (Delhi...WTF...) to have the half an hour time difference set independently; -time zones on the dial: you pull the crown one stop, push the 4 o'clock button, select your timezone, push back the crown and you're done; -quick inversion of timezones: push simultaneously the 2 and 4 buttons and the timezones swap (main dial inverts with subidal); -radio controlled accuracy. 1 second difference in 10 million years; -Eco Drive: leave it a little light and it goes forever; -day-date & PR indicator. Here's a picture for you to drool: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
