SEIKOSeries 5 Automatic Black Dial Men's Watch SNXS79J1

I own a Orient Mako 1, an Orient Ray 2, several other watches including a Tissot Le Locle, and now this SNXS79J1.Seiko seems to be making moves, discontinuing beloved watch lines in the affordable range and reintroducing equivalent but less desirable watches at higher price points. The SNXS79J1 is one of the last Seiko 5's "Made in Japan". The other models that do not have this label are made in Malaysia (of similar or equal quality, but as a collector the "Made in Japan" has a certain value.The watch itself is gorgeous. The Lume is excellent as you can see by the pictures. The size is small, so if you're looking for something with large wrist presence, look elsewhere. For me, I wanted a watch similar to a Rolex Datejust or Explorer. This scratched that itch at an affordable price point, all without being a direct "Copy" of those models. It's a Seiko.. It just works.Also - you may want to ditch the bracelet. Its hollow and tin feeling and wobbles and rattles. Some people complain about this, but at the pricepoint it seems all of the "budget" went into the watch itself, not the bracelet. For me, that's where I want the money to be on an affordable watch anyway. If upgrading the bracelet, the lug size is an awkward 19mm. 19mm bracelets/straps are less common, so keep that in mind.I bought this as an every day watch. It can be dressy, it can be sporty. The Lumed hands and markers make it easy to read in any environment. The dial's reflective dark grey sunburst finish is stunning. Hopefully Seiko keeps making watches of this value for money well into the future (but seemingly they are transitioning away from that, so act fast!).Edit 2024: Watch still works great. I've sourced a jubilee bracelet and matching endlinks in 19mm from AliExpress (like $20). Bracelet and endlinks interchanged well, but i needed to use the aliexpress springbars in leiu of the OEM ones as the OEM ones wouldn't fit the new endlinks.One thing to note about this watch - It sits "High" on your wrist and it's something not a lot of people talk about enough. This gives it a "UFO" like profile when viewed from the side. Very top heavy. This is in large degree due to the somewhat thick glass caseback. Since I don't really care about looking at the movement, I purchased a much thinner, and low profile caseback of older seiko 5 models off of ebay and swapped it in. It reduced the side profile significantly and made this watch much nicer to wear and to look at. I recommend this - usually the casebacks are really cheap.

This is hands down the best watch for the money. I own a Tissot PRX and an automatic Citizen that cost more, yet I find myself wearing this Seiko 90% of the time. Some might say it’s just the “new watch phase,” but after over a year, I still can’t get enough of it. The size is perfect, the applied logo looks amazing, the dial is stunning, and it goes with literally any outfit. I did swap out the band (mainly sticking with the metal one in the pictures I provided) to enhance the look and feel, but even without that change, the watch itself is perfect.

The watch has the reference Made in Japan, works great and is beautiful. The charge last about 36 hrs. The bracelet of course is not the strong and the best as this is an entry level watch. Arrived on time, double language easy to set up. Delivery could cost less...

Beautiful watch, got it for my first job and I can't complain! Easy to adjust to my wrist size, and fits comfortably. Came with box, papers, and everything else in perfect condition.

Other than some delays in shipping, here are some observations:38mm case appears very small on the wrist. Could be because of the recessed crown but this is a small watch.I purchased the J series so it has the Made in Japan text on the lower dial which is unique.Bracelet is junk. This is the same bracelet they use for their 007 world timer which is a $20 dollar watch. You will definitely want to upgrade the bracelet BUT, at 19mm, these are hard to find. Also note that the speed adjustment at the clasp simply does not work. You must take links out of the bracelet if you need to fit the watch to your wrist. Disappointing as the process it takes to remove these links is challenging.Day display does not quite appear fully seated in window - some Seikos suffer from this QC issue and I seem to have received one of these. :(Lume is good and unique to a dress watch.Sits proud on the wrist due to the case back thickness.Recessed crown makes it challenging to adjust time/date as it does not protrude enough when pulled out from case.No warranty card or other Seiko instruction manual was included which is suspect. Unsure if this is the real dealOverall a decent watch with some real issues that can be frustrating.

Awesome watch. A tad small but once you get used to the size and it’s profile you won’t be able to take your eyes off of it.

Watch looks great but doesn’t keep time. After just a few days of wearing it, the watch reverted to Arabic display and also was a day off

This is a nice small-sized automatic watch with a beautiful sunburst gray dial and lume-filled applied indices. A lot of people say this is a great affordable alternative to a Rolex Datejust, but I think it also has a Tudor Black Bay 36 feel. The Tudor is an everyday watch with a dive watch dial but no rotating bezel. The dial and hands on this Seiko 5 are similar to the very first dive watch made by Seiko (the 62MAS), and the dial is similar to the modern interpretation of the 62MAS, the SBDC051. The biggest downside of this watch is the cheap bracelet, but that is common to nearly all Seiko 5's. I suggest replacing the stock bracelet with a nice leather strap. Overall, a great looking watch for the money! I purchased the watch from MOON-DOG Japan, who is an excellent seller with great customer service!