SEIKO SPB210 Prospex Men’s Watch Brown 39.5mm Stainless Steel

Up in price, but worth every penny, rivals a Rolex in accuracy and looks
No kidding, the Seiko Alpinist line has a long history and heritage. Not here to discuss that. This SPB210 model in polished and brushed gold on a green dial with gilded indices is simply out of this world. Yes like everything this has gone up on price compared to the cult like SARB017, but also gains an upgraded movement with almost 3 days of power reserve, a sapphire crystal and an excellent pliant calfskin gold plated milled deployant clasp. No cheap stamped stuff anywhere here. Now here’s something to take note of, after a full 10 days of test run on day to day conditions, the watch was slow by almost 45 seconds a day, a little outside of even the accuracy claimed by Seiko. But this movement is very easy to regulate and now it is on a -1 second per day accuracy. Has been like this for last 1 week , not bad that I can set it back 15 seconds every 2 weeks or I just have set it ahead by 30 secs to take care for a month! Will be part of my collection for a long time I guess.

Drop dead beautiful
The pros first: For the SPB210, the green sun-ray dial, the golden hour markers, the cathedral hands and even the coloring of the outer compass dial harmonize perfectly with each other and the gold-colored case of the watch. Here, the whole is certainly more beautiful than the sum of its parts. Compared to the Alpinist SPB121 with the polished stainless steel casing, while a very nice looking watch, the gold tone case of the SPB210 gives this a leg up. This is rare in this price range. Seiko dials are often exquisit (think the presage cocktail series, for example), but the dial does often not have a continuation into its case. Not here. Someone thought and designed the whole thing through, and did this very well. The rotor-rattle of the 6R35 caliber is not audible, if present at all, and I think the 6R35 movement is a worthy upgrade, 70 hours power reserve and all. The watch has now a Saphire crystal and a transparent case back, good upgrades as well to the previous version of the Alpinist SARB017.The neutral: Design-wise, the color of the band and clasp fit the rest of the watch – although these are parts where raw function came first. They are okay, but nothing more. The screw-down crown requires some finesse to screw back in, as it sometimes binds. The Arabic number indices have a more angular appearance when compared to the SPB121, which are a bit more “flowy”, at least in the examples I have seen. Definitely a matter of taste, but I would give the nod to the SPB121 here. The cyclops for the date – well, it is there, and it works, like it or not. But the date window is now black-print-on-white, the only generic element of the dial, and has lost its framing that was present in the previous version SARB017. Not a deal breaker, but I miss them. Another note: The new Alpinist has a 39.5mm diameter. This is 1.5mm bigger than the previous SPB017 version. However, the dial dimeter is relatively small, due to the bezel, and the lugs are compact. The watch wears small. This might be a joy for some, and sad for others.The bad: The inner compass bezel has minuscule markings. No, seriously, this has nothing to do with my apparently fading eye sight. Moreover, if you align North at 12 o’clock, South should be precisely at 6 o’clock – but it is not. In my case, it is at 5:59. Just enough off to be annoying. This probably means that the compass function will be off by some degree. Take that under advisement in case you want to use this as a navigation tool. Most video reviews of this watch mention the increase in price compared to the previous model, which is true. On the other hand, you certainly get more watch. Your call if this is worth it. For me it is.The last note: I bought this watch from Watches Gala, and I had to separately write them to get my warranty card – this is bad. I truly do not understand why vendors sludge up this process and do not include the card with the original delivery.

Outdoor Watch
I was looking for a watch to take on walks and hikes. I like how the watch looks aesthetically, not to mention all it’s features and functionality. It’s a unique time piece and I recommend it to anyone either adding to their collection or just starting out.

Great watch
Just what I ordered, shipping was extremely quick.. very good service and price..