High Quality Seiko Automatic Replica, Imitation Seiko Automatic

Seiko Day/Date Dress Gold Tone Ladies Watch SWZ058

After only one week, the hands of the watch had rusted & stained the face of the watch.

---- [Rating: 5 / 5 stars]

Review by Rion R, From Japan Tokyo-to Koto-ku

Seiko Limited Edition Automatic Black Dial Black Leather Men's Watch SSA190

Perfect, thank you.

---- [Rating: 5 / 5 stars]

Review by Bruce Meyers, From United States Fenton

Seiko Solar Metallic Blue Dial Stainless Steel Men's Watch SNE337

Get tons of compliments on this watch every time I wear it. It is lightweight, easy to put on and just plain FUN! I had to have two links removed to keep it from twisting on my wrist, but worth it.

---- [Rating: 5 / 5 stars]

Review by Stephen Dumas, From United States Centereach

Rarely has a watch show begun with so many clouds on the horizon as this Baselworld 2015. The worldwide economic difficulties and the recent spike of the Swiss franc had spoilt the watch party at the SIHH. Fortunately, however, the situation has brightened slightly since then, the initial shock wave has passed and this show proved genuinely rich in several ways, particularly when it comes to pricing.

While a number of brands introduced attractively priced products, two of them definitely stand out from the rest. On the one hand, Tudor is now offering its Pelagos diver's model in an all-titanium, vibrant blue version equipped with a Manufacture (meaning in-house-made) chronometer-certified movement with a 72-hour power reserve, in an eminently wearable 42 mm size and water-resistant to 500 meters - and all this for just 4,200 francs. Enough to make you rub your eyes even on paper, but on the wrist the model turns out to be cool, perfectly finished and certainly does not give the impression of any skimping on quality.

Meanwhile, Hermes has launched an aggressively priced line that is an unaccustomed move for the brand. Slim d'Hermes is equipped with a movement featuring a micro-rotor (made by the Vaucher firm in which Hermes is a substantial stakeholder) and measures a modest 8.1 mm thick. The goal is clearly not to break records, but to offer an unobtrusive, refined, unmistakably Hermes style of wear. Considerable care has been devoted to the dial that features original font options, notably including tiny breaks that lighten up the Arabic numerals. The hands feature a double sandblasted and polished finish creating a trompe l'oeil effect that also gives them a lighter feel. And once again, all this for less than 6,000 francs in the steel version. Here again, the perfectly elegant and understated result proves extremely pleasing on the wrist.

Understatement is the hallmark of the Grand Seiko. Entirely produced in Japan, Seiko's high-end brand cultivates a pure design that remains untouched over the years, together with mechanical refinement all its own. Its Hi-Beat GMT embodies what it does best. Seiko has its own three-hand plus date calibre beating at 5 Hz and which has been coupled here with a dual-time function. The model is incredibly comfortable to wear since it is made of titanium, although without radiating the typical sporty look of models in this metal. Polishing is omnipresent but not showy. The dial is finely textured, the diameter modest and the final result truly impeccable.

In this same elegant tone, but this time in the haute horlogerie segment, the Chopard L.U.C 1963 Tourbillon brilliantly sums up the range and depth of Chopard's expertise. Its 40 mm diameter case - a new size for the 1963 collection and indeed for L.U.C models with sophisticated complications in general - houses a tourbillon with a magnificently polished bridge, an 8-day power reserve (a classic Chopard feature), a subtly retro design, and above all a smooth, shiny and luminous Grand Feu enamel dial. While this model takes us out of the eminently affordable range, Chopard still puts a fairly reasonable price tag on this model endowed with multiple complications and above all exuding an aura of discreet refinement.

When it comes to complications and sobriety, the Senator Cosmopolite by Glashutte Original deserves a special mention. The German brand belonging to the Swatch Group has developed a brand-new self-winding movement equipped with two rare features - a three-quarter plate and a double balance-cock - and coupled it with its worldtime module. The latter was first introduced on their Grande Cosmopolite Tourbillon, a Grand Complication model produced in extremely limited numbers. It displays the time in the 37 timezones around the globe: the 24 standard ones and the exceptions offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by 15, 30 or 45 minutes. In addition, it also enables the user to switch between summer (Daylight Saving Time, DST) and winter (standard) times for the timezones that have adopted this mode of operation. Everything is read off in two discreet apertures with a standard set of hands. It is in fact the most readable and complete worldtime model. As is often the case with watches by Glashutte Original, it will probably go unnoticed - which is all the more a pity given its impeccable elegance.  
 

My last favourite at this watch show is at the opposite end of the spectrum: not classical, not understated, not discreet and definitely not affordable. And yet what a model! The Classic Fusion Minute Repeater Carbon by Hublot sounds like no other minute-repeater watch. It features a low-pitched tone that is reminiscent of that heard at level crossings, and above all offers an almost unique acoustic quality. Its chime is loud and lasting. It can be heard from far off and for a long time. Its solid carbon case places it firmly outside the usual parameters applied to minute-repeaters, in terms of both appearance and construction. Hublot is sometimes a genuinely iconoclastic brand capable of the very best in terms of pure horology, as this standout model eloquently demonstrates.

For the first time, Seiko is presenting a version of its famous model specially dedicated to woman. With a bright dial and striking color accents, the new Astron GPS Solar Chronograph leaves the office and enters the world of leisure travel. Two versions are available, both recognisably Astron and yet distinctively new.

The first model (SSE021) features a white titanum case with super-hard coating and a ceramic bezel. The white dial is set with 10 diamonds. A soft, well-padded crocodile leather strap completes the watch. The second model (SSE019) is offered in a titanium case with black hard coating and with a ceramic bezel. The strap is also made of titanium.

Both watches house the new Astron caliber 8X82. They are offered in limited editions. 1,000 pieces of the white version will be made, while 3,000 of the black version will be available. Each timepiece comes with its own serial number engraved on the back case and is presented in a special box.

The new Astron caliber 8X82 shares all the core characteristics of the hugely successful caliber 7X52. Using just the power of light, it connects to the GPS network and tells time with atomic clock precision, adjusting at the touch of a button to every time zone on earth. In addition, the new caliber offers four new features that have been developed in response to ideas suggested by retail partners and customers worldwide. The new caliber does not replace the current one. It is an addition, designed to attract new consumers to the fast-growing world of Astron.

Its case size is 30% smaller, and the watches' dimensions ( 44.6mm × 13.3mm) are now the same as most mainstream multi-function watches. This new size has been achieved by a new advance in Astron's energy-saving technology which allows the watch to connect to the GPS network with a smaller antenna. The simple 'one-touch' operation of the GPS function has not changed; just press one button for six seconds and Astron's GPS function is activated. However, the secondary functions (manual time zone selection etc) have been made more accessible and more intuitive thanks to the new electronic setting function of the crown. The classic Astron black dial is available in the new design, but new color dials are now possible, thanks to a new dial with extremely high light penetration capacity. For 2014, blue and white dial versions are available. The new caliber offers a 6 hour chronograph whose operation could not be
more simple.

The new caliber is offered in eight new variations, four in steel and four in titanium with super-hard coating. In addition, a flagship Limited Edition Astron is presented at Baselworld 2014. Featuring a titanium case with super-hard coating, white dial and faceted ceramic bezel, it is both recognisably Astron and yet distinctively new. It is offered with both a titanium with super-hard coating and black ceramic bracelet and black crocodile strap, making Astron as versatile as it is unique. Just 7,000 pieces will be made in this Limited Edition, each with its own serial number engraved on the case back.

It is possible to consult the 8 different versions in the photo gallery.

You can't hide with Seiko's newest Astron GPS Solar, which features a patented GPS receiver that recognizes all of the world's thirty-nine time zones using the global satellite network and since it operates via light power, the wearer won't have to stop in for a battery change anywhere across the globe.

Recall that the original Seiko Astron revolutionized timekeeping in 1969 and was the debut of serially produced quartz technology in wristwatches. Seiko chose not to patent that original Astron movement, allowing other manufacturers to benefit from the technology. This decision played a major role in the accelerated development of quartz timepieces, which dominated the watch industry in less than ten years.
 

Advanced Technology
With the newest model, Seiko is again at the vanguard of quartz wristwatch technology. It has created its own patented, low-energy-consumption global positioning signal receiver to identify time zone and time and date data using the global GPS network.
GPS is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of twenty-four satellites that give location and time information anywhere on or near the Earth. The domain of the US Department of Defense, it was developed in 1973 and became fully operational in 1994. In the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use.
How does it work? A GPS receiver calculates its position by timing the signals sent by the GPS satellites orbiting the Earth, each continually transmitting messages that include the time the message was transmitted and the satellite position at the time of transmission.
Using triangulation, the receiver uses the messages it receives to calculate the transit time of each message and computes the distance to each satellite. These distances along with the satellites' location are used to determine the position of the receiver.
Each day, the new Astron GPS Solar receives the signal automatically and connects to four or more of the GPS satellites that orbit the earth. Its position is thus identified, and the time zone and exact time are determined, adjusting the hands automatically.
About 100 patent applications came about as a result of Seiko's research and development, the goal of which was to combine the company's solar technology with GPS capability in a watch that is just 47 mm in diameter and 16.5 mm thick.
Availing itself of Seiko's integrated circuitry expertise, the watch divides the world into one million "squares" and allocates a time zone to each. It is powered simply but not easily by light—any light—absorbed through the dial.
How It Works
Perfect for the world business traveler or vacation junkie, you just press a button at the arrival of your destination and the time zone adjustment happens automatically. It takes six seconds for the time to self-correct and just 30 seconds for the location—and the adjustment occurs whether standing in place or on the run.
"So, if you can see the sky, you will know the time," according to Seiko. In addition, the adjustment to or from Daylight Savings Time is also a one-touch event. The date, too, is always on point, since the watch's perpetual calendar is correct until February 28, 2100. The Astron draws its power from all kinds of light, so battery changes are never an issue, which is another plus for people on the move.
 

The Collection

The Astron collection has six variations, priced from $2,300 to $3,850, and includes a limited edition created specifically to commemorate this launch. With a high-intensity titanium case with recessed sides and a ceramic bezel, this edition comprises 2,500 pieces.
The case's unique design makes it light and b—b as steel, in fact, but only 60% of its weight. The watch comes with a silicon strap that, according to Seiko, is four times ber than any previous strap of its kind. There are three additional models in high-intensity titanium with ceramic bezels and two in stainless steel, also with ceramic bezels. Both versions are available with or without black coating, on a strap or a bracelet.

All models include a dual time subdial, in-flight mode indicator and sapphire crystal with Super-Clear Coating. Super-Clear Coating, if you've not yet heard of it, is Seiko's proprietary anti-reflective coating that is applied on both the front and back of the glass, preventing 99 percent of light reflection.
The dial features a power reserve indicator to show the amount of energy stored and a date indicator at 3 o'clock. The wearer can easily determine whether a GPS signal has been received—and from how many satellites—and whether Daylight Savings Time is in force. The Astron GPS Solar is powered by the quartz caliber 7X52 and is accurate to one second every 100,000 years, thanks to the time signal it receives from the atomic clocks in each GPS satellite.
This newest Astron is worthy progeny of a watch that changed the course of timekeeping history. And it makes one wonder what might be coming next from this innovative watchmaker.

When Seiko introduced its Quartz Astron in 1969, it marked the culmination of a decade of development in the field of quartz technology. The research and development laboratory at Suwa Seikosha began work in 1959 in regulating time using charged quartz crystals. This project, known secretly as Project 59A, soon developed its first operating quartz clock, placed inside an imposing cabinet standing 2.1 meters high and 1.2 meters wide.
Three years later, Seiko had dramatically reduced the required electronics in its effort to manufacture a quartz marine chronometer to be used in the Japanese shipping industry. Miniaturization by an order of magnitude succeeded in reducing the quartz timepiece to only 3 kilograms for the Crystal Chronometer used to time events at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. This later became Seiko's first commercial quartz timepiece, selling for $350 at the time.
By this time Seiko was examining the possibility further size reductions in all internal components in the push for a quartz wristwatch. Seiko succeeded in doing this thanks to a dramatic reduction in the size of the stepping motor and integrated circuits. Significant reductions in power consumption were also achieved. Further development in IC's resulted in a Complementary Metal-Oxide Semi-conductor (CMOS) IC that permitted the use of a button-type battery capable of powering the watch for one year.
 

Seiko introduced the Quartz Astron, accurate to within five seconds a month, on December 25, 1969. Production was limited to 100 pieces and therefore expensive. Soon, mass production lowered the price and Seiko's quartz watches challenged Swiss dominance of the watch market and ushered in a revolution in wristwatch timekeeping.
In December of 2009, Seiko celebrated that watch's fortieth anniversary with an exhibition of new designs inspired by the original. It included a limited edition Astron, powered by the quartz caliber 9F62, touted as accurate to 10 seconds per year.