SEIKOMen's SNK807 SEIKO 5 Automatic Stainless Steel Watch with Blue Canvas Band

You don't want a smart watch, you want a traditional watch. If you have never owned a mechanical watch, try this Seiko 5.This Seiko 5 doesn't try to push alerts and notifications in your face, so you can turn your phone off or put it out of sight and out of mind if you wish; It will have more power by the evening than it had in the morning; It should work the same in five or ten years as it does today; It will hold a respectable value in five or ten years compared to its purchase price; Its hands move; It can be serviced to prolong its life into the decades range; It is compatible with a vast assortment of widely available bands; It is on the small side but no less functional for it; It does not make any particular statement about you simply for wearing it.I had already known I wanted a traditional watch, but let me tell you why I like this one so much more than the quartz watch I had before. I didn't start out so positive. After purchasing this watch I immediately realized two things: First, 37mm really is on the small side by today's standards and 2) Because it is non-hacking, you cannot usually set it so that the minute and second hands synchronize perfectly. Mainly because of #1, I had resigned myself to let my wife have this watch and I would look for a larger one.However, because she never got around to putting it on, I grabbed it and wore it for a couple more days so it would stay wound. During this time, I realized that 1) The more I wore it, the more my perception of the watch shifted from strictly "small" toward "sleek and efficient," and 2) It kept really good time. Based on what I've read, this watch is quite accurate, especially at this price. I set it on Friday morning to be 35 seconds fast and by the same time Monday morning, it was... about 22 seconds fast. It was losing about four seconds a day.That means that over the course of two weeks it will drift from 30 seconds fast to about 30 seconds slow, at which time I can set it again. The other option is to set it more often so the minute hand is accurate, and simply deal with the second hand not coinciding with the 60/0 marker when the minute hand reaches the next marker. In either case, I get the satisfaction of feeling like I'm using an instrument rather than subscribing to a service.I don't know what else to say. It's a very respectable timepiece that is an extraordinary value. You can easily find a better watch twice its price, but it would not be twice as functional or twice as nice looking.UPDATE:After the first month of wearing it almost daily, I have some observations on the accuracy. It seems to keep slightly different time based on how wound it is. The more regularly I wear it, without skipping a day, the closer it keeps to my initial estimate of about four seconds lost per day. If I skip a day or attempt to keep it more fully wound by gently shaking it to spin the rotor, the timekeeping changes predictably but not dramatically. If anything I am even more impressed with, and attached to, this watch. I bought a medium brown strap and a silver deployment clasp, and it just looks respectable. It doesn't look showy. It doesn't look cheap. It just looks efficient and respectable.

This is an amazingly good watch - in fact, this is my second one, replacing the first which rapidly became my "most-days watch" for a year and a half. Unfortunately, I managed to somehow tear mine off after sailing a few weeks ago (it's plenty waterproof if you're not diving), and after debating buying a different watch, decided to buy an exact duplicate of the one I lost. (If anyone finds one of these near the Austin YC ramp, I'd love to have it back...) The fact that I bought one again says it all, but read on for the details of why.I love everything about this watch: The size (not too big/thick/heavy, like many current watches), the clean understated simplicity of the design (at less than 2% of the cost of a Bremont Solo), the band (I wish I could buy this exact band as a replacement - I was looking for a replacement but hadn't found one yet when I lost mine), the color, the face, the timekeeping, the day/date, the more comfortable 4-o'clock location of the crown, and the cool glass back to see the inner workings. The stamping finish on the movement is the one of the only three things that sort-of tip off the lower price of this watch. (Interestingly, the finish on my new one is now much better than it was on my previous one, so apparently this bugged somebody at Seiko, too. But I'm an engineer, and nitpicky about this stuff...) The second thing is that the luminous material on the hands and face could stand to be a bit better, and the last is that the Hardlex crystal is pretty tough, but obviously, at this price point, not sapphire. I don't baby my watches - in fact, I tend to (inadvertently) beat the tar out of them, and this watch has proved to be quite good at handling real life.The Seiko 5's have a very nice automatic-winding movement (no batteries!), and my previous one kept ridiculously good time - after settling in for a few months (I wouldn't recommend adjusting the timekeeping until after that even if you're the sort who tends to tweak watches), it was keeping time almost as well as a quartz watch or at least, a COSC chronometer - under 2 seconds a day! (I realize my new one is unlikely to be quite that good, but I can hope...) Seiko does not sell the 5 in the US, but buying it through Amazon gives you a valid US warranty - not that you're likely to need it. Seiko has always been known for great-quality mid-range and high-end watches (both quartz and mechanical), but the Seiko 5 series is proof that even their low-end mechanical watches are of extremely high quality. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.