NOTE: These are my initial thoughts, written quickly in bullet points/stream of conscious style, not a full review with more fully thought out opinions. More wrist time and use are required before posting a full review. As of this writing I've had this watch less than a week.
STATS:
- Manufactuer: Seiko
- Model: SRPD25 - 4th Generation Monster
- Materials:
- Case: Stainless steel
- Bracelet: Stainless steel
- Crystal: Hardlex, flat, with magnifier
- Movement: 4R36
- Automatic mechanical movement
- 42hr power reserve
- 6 beats per second
- Day & date complication
- Dimensions:
- Case Size: 42.6mm
- Lug to Lug: 49.3mm
- Lug Width: 20mm
- Thickness: 134.0mm (not including 'wave' on caseback)
- Weight: 165g (sized for 6.75in wrist)
- Water Resistance: 20atm/200m
- Crown: Screw down
- Other:
- Candy bar magnifier over day/date
- Dive extension on clasp
- Oversized spring bars
- Drilled lugs
- Price: $525 MSRP, I paid $300 on sale from an AD (Toppers)
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| Note the chapter ring alignment at 1:00 vs 7:00. |
THOUGHTS
- I like the design. I was never a big fan of the previous monsters, but I like this one.
- Bezel action is great, and it lines up pretty well.
- Dark blue dial looks great with the black coated bezel.
- Would be nice if the bezel was lumed.
- The lume is good (typical Seiko). It's a blue color and easily lasts all night.
- The seconds hand is polished, but the hour and minute hands have a very coarse brushed finish.
- I think it would look better with bright white indices vs the creamy color.
- Construction quality is honestly pretty bad. Comparing this to Citizens or Casio or microbrands in the same price range, this thing is kind of a POS.
- The bracelet uses a terrible pin and collar system were the collar isn't captured inside a link, so when putting the links together you need two tools - one to push the pin from one side, another to push the collar from the other side. I actually really like pin and collar, but this way of doing it is a real PITA. They do it this way because it's cheaper. They only have to drill one size through the link.
- The fitment of the end links is terrible, the tolerances are real sloppy and they rattle around in the lugs.
- The bracelet and clasp both rattle, a lot. I wear my watches snug enough so they don't move around much at all on my wrist, I've never had a bracelet that rattled while wearing it. But this thing does.
- The chapter ring isn't aligned very well, at least not all the way around the dial. It's good around 1:00 and 2:00, but off on the opposite side.
- I'm not a fan of the candy bar. It doesn't provide a lot of magnification (maybe 50%?), but it obstructs your view of the day/date all the time unless you angle the watch perfectly.
- I like the look of the bracelet and it's actually comfy. The dive extension on the clasp is useless to me, but, it does allow the clasp to sit nice and close to my wrist and it wraps around my wrist nicely, so the whole thing makes for a low profile package unlikely to snag on anything.
- The watch wears well on a strap, the handful of days I've worn it so far have been split between the bracelet and a bond style nato strap (cut into a single pass strap).
- I've already ordered a double domed sapphire crystal to replace the stock hardlex crystal.
- I'm going to fix the chapter ring alignment when I do the crystal swap. I've already taken it apart to try and fix it. On the older monsters the chapter ring was fitted to the dial. On these new ones it's captured between the case and the crystal. It also has some pins on the backside that fit into holes in the case to set the alignment. My plan is to remove the crystal and chapter ring, cut the pins off the chapter ring, re-install the dial/movement back into the case, and then epoxy the chapter ring back in (properly aligned) before I press the new crystal in.
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| What's the date? I don't know, I can't see it. |
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