Seiko SKA371 Kinetic Dive Watch Review

It is a meticulously crafted dive watch, that meets every diver’s needs.  It is simple yet elegant.

It’s overwhelmingly high rating on sites like Amazon, at the time of writing this review, is proof enough that users are indeed satisfied with all that this fantastic watch has to offer.

Seiko has been making watches for over 130 years, and over this period of time, other watch makers have not been able to beat their top-of-the-line products.

This particular Seiko dive watch is a pretty straight forward timepiece with which you can view the time at any time of the day or night, for starters.

Features

• Luminous hands and markers, which are easy to read in the dark
• The dive watch is designed with a Japanese quartz movement, along with an analog display
• The watch is powered by innovative kinetic technology, which utilizes the movements of the arm, hence ensuring you won’t have to replace the battery
• Also included is a unidirectional, corrugated dive style bezel.  You might have already come across this feature in other dive watches.  It’s a particularly useful feature that allows you to know the exact amount of time you spend under water.  For instance, you can set 60 seconds before you go under water.
• Stainless steel case (42mm)
• Hardlex dial window
• At 3 o’clock, there is a magnified date window that shows the date.
• Stainless steel bracelet
• Foldover clasp that has a double push button, which is hugely important for safety
• Water resistant up to a depth of 200m or 660ft

Movements based on Kinetic technology—you won’t need to replace the battery

As a diver, you know that it’s exceedingly disappointing to watch your dive watch’s battery die.  That’s why Seiko has incorporated this amazing innovation.

The Seiko stainless steel kinetic dive watch is based on an analog quartz movement.  However, it has been designed with  kinetic technology.  The watch, therefore, utilizes your arm’s movement to generate electrical energy, which is then stored in a rechargeable battery.  Consequently, the watch is powered.

Don’t mistake these movements for an automatic movement. The movement of your arm is what powers the watch.

Seiko Stainless Steel Kinetic Dive Watch Review — Pros

• Simple but elegant
• Easy to read, a feature important for every diver’s watch
• This dive watch is relatively heavy and is well built. Great watch indeed.
• Compared to the old Monster, it is significantly heftier.
• You know how some watches tend to pull your hair? Well, with this watch, that’s something you don’t have to worry about.
• A high quality band, something that Seiko is famous for.
• The hour hand, the minute hand, as well as the indexes glow brightly in the dark.
• The watch is made with a thick crystal that is very hard to crack.
• Perfect finish
• Stylish design: the craftsmanship of Seiko Stainless Steel Kinetic Dive Watch is simply amazing.
• In a week, the watch will only lose half a second. Tell me if that’s not extraordinary enough for you, keeping in mind, that we are talking about a quartz watch here.
• Overall, the watch is extremely well made.
• Considering its fine polish, quality, and of course price, this watch beats its competitors hands down.
• This dive watch fits well on the wrist, thanks to its slightly curved case back.  The case back is pretty thick too.
• It is easy to grip and turn the crown. It screws down, thus preventing unintentional time changes.
• The fact that this watch is based on kinetic movement ensures it keeps time.

Cons

• It’s quite easy to lose the small collars, which are hard to replace since you have to order them from specialty shops.
• There is a small clasp that can be uncomfortable after a while which you will see to the right
• The second hand is relatively light.  It’s also not easily visible in total darkness.
• The date window, at 3 o’clock, is not easy to read from a  distance.  But this is not very important, especially if you are under water.  It could be an issue, though, for activities that are not carried out in water.
• This is not the best dive watch for people with small wrists.  Your wrists may be rubbed raw in several locations.
• The movement of the second hand is not perfect.  The first sweep of the second hand is less than a second, and the second sweep exceeds one second.  But the good thing is that you end up with two seconds for both sweep movements.

Wear the watch to a formal occasion or party, if you are not diving

Due to its elegant design and decent size, the Seiko kinetic dive watch (SKA371) can be worn to almost any event (formal or informal).

The fact that it’s a dive watch doesn’t mean that it should just lie around when you are not diving.  You’ve spent considerable $ on the watch, so it’s only fair that you make use of it as much as possible.

How the watch looks in the dark

Let’s now take a look at what the watch look likes in the dark.

You may be wondering how this is useful to you.  Well, there will come a time when you’ll need to take a dive in the dark, or in a location with insufficient lighting.  At such times, this Seiko watch will come in handy.

The arrow markers, as well as the hands, are luminous, making them easy to read in the dark.

The rubber alternative

There is an alternative model (Seiko SKA371P2) that’s suitable for someone who’s looking for a dive watch that’s both cheap and lightweight.  It’s basically the same watch, only it comes with a rubber strap.

Verdict

This Seiko Stainless Steel Kinetic Dive watch is a watch that truly kicks ass when it comes to quality, reliability, and convenience.  This is a watch you don’t think twice before buying, because there’s nothing more to think about, other than its superb quality and awesome functionality.  We highly recommend it!