One of Seiko's best selling chronographs around.
Written: Aug 24 '03 (Updated Aug 25 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Stylish, probably the most affordable Seiko Chronograph with a slide rule bezel.
Cons: Bezel markings are too small to read. Markers at 5 and 7 o'clock not luminous.
The Bottom Line: A good affordable choice as your first Seiko Chronograph...or second...or third!
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| zzami's Full Review: Seiko SKS195 Wrist Watch for Men |
I've always been an admirer of the Seiko brand of watches though collecting Seiko watches never crossed my mind until recently. My five year-old white faced Seiko Chronograph, model SDWD-19 has been serving me well through my best and worst of times. It still looks almost new to this day save for some minor scratches and blemishes on the bracelet due to carelessness. Now that since I've caught the watch collecting fever recently, I'm in the market for good looking Seikos particularly New Old Stock (NOS) and hard-to-find models. And soon enough, a striking black-dialled Seiko SKS-195 made its way to my home to make acquaintance with my good old SDWD-19.
[Background]
The SKS-195 is one of the many design variants of the "SKS" series of Seiko quartz chronographs based on the V657 caliber or movement. The SKS-195 happens to sport a matte black dial along with a matching black slide rule bezel. Other variants, like the SKS-197 is blue while the SKS-193 is white. Seiko's naming convention is rather peculiar as the company seems to favor the use of odd numbers for their reference codes. The Seiko SKS-195 isn't a rare model but I think this particular design is on its way of being extinct from the market soon as the range has been around for quite some time.
[Mechanics]
The V657 is a fairly robust and accurate quartz movement (Seiko prefers the name "caliber") that offers:
a. 1 /10 second subdial at the 12 o'clock position.
b. 60-minute counter subdial at the 9 o'clock position.
c. Seconds counter subdial at the 6 o'clock position with tachymetre markings.
An interesting feature of the V657 caliber is that unlike other Seiko quartz chronograph models such as the 7T32 and 7T92, the main second hand sweeps perpetually in one-second increments. (With the 7T32 and 7T92 movements, the main second hand indicates the stopwatch elapsed time in 1/5 second increments).
There is no alarm function with this watch.
[Construction and Finish]
For an affordable Seiko with a flight rule calculator bezel, the SKS-195 appears to be well constructed in a highly polished stainless steel case. It is bezel not overly large at 41mm in diameter and it is of medium weight even with its stainless steel bracelet. I wish Seiko fitted the higher quality double clasp locking, push button bracelet but this watch came with the old-style clasp without buttons. It felt just right on my wrist and while not exactly lightweight, it wears perfectly. The watch's twin button pushers are small and unobstrusive and pushes in smoothly. The main crown, a screw-down type is rather too small for those with large fingers and proved to be tiresome to unscrew (its flush, curvy crown guard didn't help things either). Personally I think the main crown should have been of a larger type.
The slide rule bezel has a smooth action and rotates silently although it feels very stiff if it hasn't been turned for sometime. When I first got the watch I thought the bezel was stuck or something like that. After a few rotations the the bezel glided smoothly and it was fine. I still haven't gotten the hang of using the slide rule bezel though - its markings need a magnifying glass to see!
The whole dial is protected by Seiko's scratch-resistant mineral crystal or in marketing speak, "Hardlex" glass. While it isn't as prestigious as the shinier sapphire crystals, Hardlex glass is rather robust and can withstand normal wear. Water resistance is rated at 100m which contributes to the watch's case thickness.
The SKS-195 comes with Seiko's proprietary, non-radioactive LumiBrite luminous material for its hands (even the second hand) plus the six indices. Pity the two tiny markers at the 5 and 7 o'clock positions are not coated with the phosphorescent paint though. The luminosity of the hands and dial markers are acceptable for a Seiko although there are other models with brighter luminous dials (it still beats my other el cheapo Timex and "exclusive looking" Guess diver-style watches).
I am rather finicky when it comes to the main second hand sweep especially in quartz watches. With each second sweep, the hand has to align as precise as possible to the corresponding markers on the dial. My SKS-195 appeared to have a bit of free play, so its second hand doesn't align perfectly to the dial indices. I soon cured that by fiddling with the hour/minute adjustment by pulling the main crown to the second detent or click and moving the minute hand back and forth. I thought that this freeplay problem is common with low cost watches until I found out that even some TAG Heuer quartz movements aren't that perfect either!
The SKS-195 like other quality affordable Seiko models, is assembled in Singapore using genuine components sourced from Seiko Japan. (I read somewhere that if it doesn't say "Japan" at the back of the watch, it's not assembled in Japan).
[Stopwatch]
I guess the stopwatch is the other main function of the SKS-195 other than (duh!) telling what time it is. Press the stopwatch button (at the 2 o'clock position) and you'll be greeted with the top 1/10 sec subdial pointer spinning wildly for the first sixty seconds. Thereafter it stops at its resting position while the stopwatch seconds counter continues to measure elapsed time. Initially I thought the 1/10 sec subdial was defective and only after reading the owner's manual (don't we all read manuals first? No?) I realized that it was designed to stop spinning after exactly one minute. However, a stopping the chronograph causes the 1/10 sec counter to indicate the tenth of the second when it was stopped. Pressing the split/reset button at the 4 o'clock position also indicates the same behavior.
Having said that, resetting the stopwatch counter will take around 30-40 seconds for the minute and second chronograph subdials to revert to zero. This is because the minute subdial is directly geared to the seconds subdial (it doesn't have a stepmotor on its own) and has the seconds subdial has to revolve as many times to rewind the minute subdial point to zero. Once you reset the stopwatch, there's no stopping the process. Depending on your level of patience, you might get amused observing the little pointers taking their sweet time to rewind themselves or frustrated wanting to time a subsequent event after each stopwatch reset! :-)
In contrast, my other Seiko quartz chronograph watches (based on the 7T32 caliber) have independent stopwatch subdials - each will promptly point to zero when reset without fuss. The V657 chronograph movement also automatically stops counting after 60 minutes, which I find rather short. I presume it is part of the design to conserve battery power but at least other Seiko chronograph movements allow measurement to 6 hours (7T32 caliber) and 12 hours (7T92 caliber). The manufacturer estimates a 2 year battery lifespan for this watch - it's a single, silver oxide SR920-SW button cell.
Your mileage may vary! My older Seiko watch was going strong after three years since I purchased it. Remember that it's a good idea to replace the battery after two years in case it leaks and damages your watch's internal components.
[In Short]
Although design is rather subjective, I kind of like wearing this sporty looking Seiko for casual outings though I sometimes wear it to the office. I like to classify my SKS-195 as "sporty elegant"; it's neither too casual like a Seiko Diver's watch nor too "dressy" though I feel there are more suitable watches to wear for formal functions.
The blue version of this model (SKS-197) may appeal more to some, especially with its lovely blue/black hue overtones. Still, if you prefer "no-nonsense" black the SKS-195 should be a good choice for a low cost Seiko chronograph. I paid USD 97 (RM 370) for mine in Kuala Lumpur after some bargaining. Shop around - you may still find some Internet watch merchants in South East Asia stocking the SKS-195. It is now been replaced with an almost similar looking SND-253 model with the newer 7T92 movement.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
zzami
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Member: StratMan-II
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Self-confessed gadget fan and amateur musician.
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