Customer Reviews

Seiko Men's SNJ007 Sportura Analog/Digital Alarm Chronograph Watch

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This may be the perfect watch for me. I spend over 50% of my time traveling for business in different time zones and this watch keeps me punctual in all of them. I was originally looking at the Tissot T-Touch, but couldn't get past the cheap aesthetics and came to the realization that I would very rarely use any of the included functionality beyond the standard time and date display. I then checked out what Seiko had to offer and was positively giddy when I stumbled upon this Sportura - great looks, fantastic functionality, and a reasonable price.

You set the time and date once for your current time zone using the digital interface (look, there's no dials!) and the watch automatically sets all the other time zones. You can also set DST for each time zone individually (select time zone, hold button D down for three seconds, and you're done), which is important since entire regions like Asia don't follow DST. In the home time and world time modes, the digital display shows the city name for the time zone, day of the week, date (day only), time, AM/PM (24 hour readout available as well), DST on/off, and alarm on/off. The only difference between the two modes is that in the world time mode, the second hand will point to the time zone on the bezel that is being displayed on the digital display (but the hour and minute hands will still display the time for your home time zone).

The analog watch hands are keyed off of the digital display, so they are always perfectly synced (fantastic for the OCD among us!). Switch time zones with ease (push button A to select world time mode, push button C to select new time zone using second hand to point to airport codes listed on watch bezel, hold button B down for three seconds to make selected time zone your new home time zone). You can also set an alarm for any time in any time zone. For instance, you're in China and you want to set an alarm to remind you to call your wife and kids in California at 8pm PST. This watch makes it easy - there's no mental math involved, you just select the west coast time zone, set an alarm for 8pm, and you're done. You also get stop watch (chronograph) functionality thrown in. Plus, the sapphire crystal watch face and polished ceramic bezel mean that you aren't going to scratch this thing with everyday usage (full disclosure: I managed to scratch my bezel lightly when I was handling some unfinished granite tiles for my kitchen).

And most importantly, this watch just looks darn cool, from the white-on-black digital display that scrolls city names to the laser-etched/polished black ceramic bezel to the orange highlights (second hand, 12/3/6/9 o'clock tick marks, buttons, leather band stitching and underside). I still catch myself checking it out on my wrist after wearing it every day for over a year.

You can (well, I can) always nitpick any product you buy, so if I had to, here would be my complaints about this Seiko:

* Lack of backlighting
* No auto DST functionality
* Buttons can get pushed inadvertantly when hand is bent back
* Buttons feel cheap compared to rest of watch
* Only one or two cities listed per time zone

None of those are serious enough to not warrant a 5-star rating. And I don't find this watch is heavy. It feels substantial and oozes quality (more so than I was expecting for the price - this coming from someone who had only owned Fossil, Freestyle, Swiss Army, etc. prior to purchase, though), but its weight doesn't draw attention to itself during the course of the day.

Despite a serious watch fetish and numerous opportunities to purchase more expensive watches, I always come back to the fact that I love the way this watch looks and functions, and I keep walking out of the watch stores wearing this Seiko.

I love this watch. The colors are great - the black face/band/bezel, pale green luminous bits, and, of course, the distinctive orange accents. The stainless steel frame (with both polished and brushed bits that don't show in picture) adds the masculinity. It all just works for me. Kind of retro, but somehow very modern. The picture doesn't do it justice. Unlike one other reviewer, I don't find that the orange bits push it at all, for this kind of watch. I you want 'conservative' (yawn), look elsewhere.

I like the fact that it has the functionality of a digital watch, but doesn't look like one when you set it to display only date & day. Even with full digital turned on (as pictured), display is very subdued (this could be a negative for some - hard to read in low light, since there is no backlight). I was considering the analog version (SNA481), but glad I went with the SNJ007. I like chronograph watches with all the dials, but I think a clean face works better for the watch. Plus, the 'world time' function is pretty cool.

I was worried about size & weight, because of my small wrists (6.5"), but it's perfect. The band has stiff inserts near the watch that keep it nicely curved and stable around the wrist.

I hope Seiko will make a rubber band that fits this watch, so I can wear it in the water. Supposedly the band for the SNJ005 will fit it, but I'm not a big fan of metal bands. Also, I think this watch needs a black band to look its best.

This watch is awesome in every way. It is solid, funtional, has a sapphire crystal, screw down back. Seiko struck gold with this one.

Very nice watch! It's a little heavy and I don't particularly like the orange color on the buttons . . . it would also benefit from a backlight, but overall I love it. It would be great for a world traveler!

This watch looks great in the photos, but in person I thought the orange bits were a bit much, especially the button faces(They're not visible in the picture above). I love the perforated leather strap but the inside is orange(which you can see in the picture) and with the orange threads it just kind of pushes the line between "sporty" and gaudy. That said, I'm still pretty happy with it. The fit and finish are beautiful, it's got enough weight to feel satisfying but not distracting and the face is broad enough to keep the watch from rolling around my wrist. Functionally, it's great: beautifully accurate and easy to use. The chronograph measures to the thousandth of a second! The hands have limited lumenescence, but there is no night light(it's not an indiglo, after all.) It's a beautifully made watch with maybe some dubious aesthetic elements. If I would have paid list price I would've returned it. At $330 (after shipping), it's non-trivial to be sure, but it's not crazy expensive, either. It's nice enough that it feels more special than say, a Timex (not that they're not perfectly good watches).

I was worried reading the reviews that this watch would be over the top complicated. I admit at first I struggled to understand what the insrtuctions were trying to explain. After having it for a month I have to say its really pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

There are 4 modes on the watch. By pressing the A button (the one on the lower left of the dail) you can select each mode for example:

press once you get mode 1--time/calendar (shown on the face and in the digital display) just like a regular watch
--mode 2 Stop watch (turned and off by pressing the C button top right side (the buttons ABCD clockwise around the dail easy to remember)
--press A again and you get World time (it says so in the digital display). This is what throws people off. It displays in the digital time the time in the city the second hand points to on the dail. You move the second hand by pressing C to each city. The regular analog time the hands are showing you the city your in time (or the city you selected when you orginally set the time--).

So if you can follow this --you set the watch first to the time zone your in by setting the digital time--for me I select New York (eastern standard) first --follow the directions set the time --and your done all the cities are now set. A press A to time/calendar mode and use as a normal watch --when I travel press A to select World mode say press --C to select the city Hong Kong --done I'm seeing the time in Hong Kong on the digital display including date and if its am or pm (you can also set 24 hour time) press and hold B for 2 seconds and the hands will go Hong Kong too.

The cons: no back light display, LED display is weak and washes out in sunlight (I prefer it since the display is subtle and on first looks like a very expensive analog watch.)

Pros: band and weight make this a substantial watch. The band is ridged near the watch keeping the watch from rotating around on small wrists (very nice fit). Larger wrist may not like it.

I had been looking for a nice analog-digital watch that was easy on the eyes, and came across this Seiko. I did extensive research on the piece prior to buying, and despite a few negative comments that I came across, I decided to go ahead with the purchase.

I've only owned it for about a month now, but I haven't been disappointed in the least. I really like the dial size, which is not so big as to scream out the time, but big enough that it looks substantial on my wrist. It is not noticeably heavy, and is comfortable to wear all day. The orange accents actually compliment this watch well, and don't make the watch "stick out" too badly. The digital display is easy to read in normal indoor lighting, but sometimes required a slight angle adjustment to stand out better. Functionally, it is very intuitive to adjust, change modes or view world times. Overall, I think that this is just a fantastic looking watch without being too bold or busy.

Let's take the bad first....1/ A cheap strap made uglier by the contrasting orange stitching, which picks up the orange stripes on the four side buttons and the second hand, although at least the last is a reasonable color to make it more visible. 2/ The digital display is plainly visible only viewed at certain angles, even in good light. 3/ A little tricky to set up, but once it's done, no changes are anticipated (except to change the World Time city) until a new battery is needed.
Now the good....1/Accurate. 2/ Very readable analog dial with (?) tritium numbers for night visibility. 3/ The ability to sync analog and digital modes and to sync the second to the minute hand. 4/ Comfortable to wear (the band helps here) and not too heavy. 5/ In world time mode, the second hand is defunctionalized, while the analog display keeps time and the digital display reads out the time in the city chosen - very useful. 6/ A perpetual calender - something that costs a mint in a high-end mechanical watch.
All in all - highly recommended - it's become my everyday watch (and you could take a black "Sharpie" and lose that orange stiching).

I saw this watch at the mall for about $200.00 dollars more. I knew what it looked like and felt like before I ordered it. After I received it I was not disappointed. I've had this watch for over a month now. I still like to wear it. It is just the right weight and size. The quality of materials used to make this watch appear that they are going to keep looking good for a long time. As my title indictes, this is a very sporty looking watch that looks great in casual dress-up attire.

I am a Casio digital watch person - always have been. I wanted a more quality watch so I thought this would do. HME got it here quickly. I sent it back quickly.

The main problem is that the digital display is very faint and not like the picture at all. In direct sunlight it may look like the picture if you are at the perfect angle as well. The second problem is that there is no backlight. Finally, the design is over the top. The buttons have orange on them. When you put the watch on, the back of the strap shows in orange. The watch has plastic inserts in the band to keep it in the middle of your wrist, however this thickens the band to much IMO.

I did find the perfect watch though: the Citizen JQ8006-53E. It DOES HAVE A LIGHT on the digital portion. Also, the digital portion is more visible in ambient light. It sells for $180.00.