Nothing about it, aside from its highly accessible price and apparent robustness, ever really grabbed me. ![]() I feel like the odd one out when it comes to the Seiko SKX. The SKX never resonated strongly with me, and I don’t miss it, but if it helped to develop an expectation of what you can obtain and reasonably expect in terms of quality for a few hundred bucks, I’m grateful for it. Something accessible, generally pretty likeable, and well respected by folks who have been around the block a bit. Every hobby needs a cult favorite at the entry point to get people excited. It’s a bonus that they’re also quite capable and can easily slide into any collection, either as permanent additions, or just stops along the way.Īt the end of the day, I think the best thing the SKX did for the watch community was to create something to rally around. For me, these watches are palate cleansers. Now that I’ve experienced many more watches at a variety of price levels, it’s somehow easier for me to see the appeal of a watch like the Seiko 5 Sports, or the SKX (if that’s your thing). It didn’t take me long to find something I liked more, and I moved on. When I first met the SKX, I was new to watches, hungry to learn, and always in search of something better. I admit it’s a little strange that I’ve embraced the Seiko 5 Sports watches while dismissing the SKX. But I’m taking this thing to the farmer’s market, and 100 meters of water resistance is nothing to sneeze at. Sure, the crown is of the push/pull variety, and as mentioned above, it’s not an ISO certified dive watch. I own one with a sunburst blue dial, and after ripping the bracelet off and putting it on a cheap elastic fabric strap, it’s proven to be a solid weekend beater. And the dial options are endless, from literal carbon copies of the SKX007/009, to more modern and colorful textured dials. These, to me, have the charm that a lot of people speak about with the SKX, but in a watch with a movement that hand winds and hacks, and a case that to my eye is finished much better. I’m speaking of course about the wide array of Seiko 5 Sports watches that were unveiled nearly two years ago. SRP Turtleīut that said, there’s still a lower priced entry point into real Seiko sports watches if the Turtle isn’t quite your thing, and it’s perhaps a bit more true to the SKX ethos, even if it’s not, strictly speaking, a full fledged, ISO certified diver. If we care about growing the hobby, we should all want better watches on the wrists of people shopping for their first, and I don’t think there’s any doubt that the range of Turtles (regular, King, and Mini) are all objectively better than the SKX. Pure heresy, right? But I stand by the assertion that I laid out last year: that we’re all a bit better off with new entry points into Seiko divers, even though that necessarily means spending a bit more. This might be my hottest take, but in my opinion, it’s not very good. It remains a skeleton key to understanding the complex world of modern Seiko sports watches. Even now, with the SKX007 out of production and a watch landscape that looks very different from the one I started in, it crosses my mind whenever I write about a new Seiko diver. ![]() When I think of the SKX007, I think of what it led me to down the line, more than the watch itself. In my earliest days of watch enthusiasm I found one, kept it for a short time, and traded it toward, if memory serves, a Seiko Monster that I liked quite a bit better. I don’t have a particularly deep connection to the SKX007. Has the Seiko SKX007 or any of its predecessors shaped your experience as a watch collector and enthusiast? Share your story in the comments below and we’ll discuss in an upcoming podcast. Few of us still have one, heck, some of us don’t even particularly like the watch, but it’s left a mark on each of us the same. In an effort to articulate just what this watch has meant to us, we asked a few editors to tell us just how the SKX has affected their collection, their taste, or their view of watches in general with some personal stories. See Worn & Wound’s 2015 review right here. I’d wager there’s a good chance that you’ve crossed paths with this watch at some point in your own journey. ![]() Looking back over those 10 years, discussing the watches that have had the greatest impact on us as collectors, it quickly became clear that there was one watch (or close relative of) that served as a common thread connecting all of our experiences in this hobby in some way, shape or form: the Seiko SXK007. In case you missed it, this year marks the 10th anniversary of Worn & Wound.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |