Two Broke Watch Snobs
6-Year Review: Does The Seiko 5 Sports Live Up To The Seiko SKX?
Our long-term wear tests compare the Seiko 5 Sports and the Seiko SKX on comfort, reliability, pricing, and who each watch is really for.
3,554 articles · 1,023 videos found · page 6 of 153
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Our long-term wear tests compare the Seiko 5 Sports and the Seiko SKX on comfort, reliability, pricing, and who each watch is really for.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
After nearly a decade reviewing affordable watches, we ask: has the community been overlooking Bulova in favor of Seiko?
Fratello
The Seiko Speedtimer traces its roots back to the 1960s, offering plenty of sports timing and racing pedigree. Today, I got a chance to go hands-on with the line’s latest incarnation, the solar-powered SSC959 limited edition. I say “limited,” but Seiko is producing a whopping 3,000 of these. Perhaps more important than its numerical limitation […] Visit Hands-On With The Seiko Speedtimer SSC959 European Limited Edition to read the full article.
Fratello
Welcome to another episode of Fratello On Air! This week, we discuss the triumphant return of Seiko to the forefront of value-laden watchmaking. For some, perhaps the massive Japanese company never left. From our perspective, though, 2025 has been a turning point. We feel that the brand has truly listened to its fan base and […] Visit Fratello On Air: Seiko’s Triumphant Return to read the full article.
Fratello
Welcome to the first round of the Fratello Dress Watch Season contest, our effort to identify the best new dress watch of 2025. If you thought we’d kick the series off quietly, you are mistaken. The first match in round 1 immediately sees a major clash of entirely different watchmaking philosophies. Lex defends the Grand […] Visit Fratello Dress Watch Season: Round 1, Match 1 - A. Lange & Söhne 1815 34mm Vs. Grand Seiko SBGH368 to read the full article.
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Deployant
The 2025 reissue of the Seiko Rotocall is a curious and deliberate throwback to an era when digital watches were not just tools, but symbols of technological optimism.
Fratello
Another Friday, another list! This week, we’re following up last week’s article about ceramic watches with our favorite titanium ones. After all, it just made sense to dive deeper into the world of modern materials used for watches. While titanium has been around for quite a few decades in the watch world, it’s still considered […] Visit Fratello’s Top 5 Titanium Watches Of Recent Years - Featuring Rolex, Grand Seiko, Zenith, And More to read the full article.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Does Grand Seiko really clear the Rolex bar? 10 years of wrist time testing both brands shows where GS wins and where the crown still leads.
SJX Watches
The Seiko Collection 1 is the first commercial release from the brand’s revived Power Design Project. The look revisits the Tissé, one of many popular Seiko designs from the 1980s. A delicate watch on a beaded bracelet, it was a big hit in Japan. Four decades later, its spirit returns in a compact, unisex format designed to be worn loosely like jewellery. Designed by Yuya Suganuma, the Collection 1 debuts as a 500-piece limited edition in each of three colours, blending typical Seiko build quality with a playful, accessory-first design. Initial thoughts For much of the Swiss watch industry, the 1980s was an era marked by the painful triumph of quartz technology. But on the other side of the world, quartz pioneer Seiko was thriving. The brand’s catalogues of the era reflects the optimism of the moment with an astonishing number of interesting designs, many of which have been reimagined over the years; we’ll likely see more of them in the future. The Tissé was one such model, introduced as a ladies watch in 1984. A tiny watch on a beaded steel bracelet, the Tissé was designed to be worn loosely, and became a big hit in the home market. The Tissé was eventually discontinued, but the concept was reimagined in 2022 as part of the brand’s re-launched Power Design Project, an internal design initiative with the theme of “rebirth”. The watch that would become the Collection 1 drew attention for questioning traditional norms for wristwatch ergonomics. It was designe...
Time+Tide
Credor, King Seiko, Grand Seiko, Prospex or Presage - how do these Seiko brands and collections actually stack up?The post A guide to every Seiko brand appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Worn & Wound
Seiko’s latest is as surprising as it is satisfying. The reissue of the Rotocall, a digital watch born in 1982, worn by astronauts, and beloved for decades by fans of oddball 80s quartz, is completely unexpected, but finds Seiko working in the register we love to find them in. Which is to say, raiding the archives in a meaningful way that breathes life into classic references and references you might not actually know too much about. I have a feeling the Rotocall might fit into both camps. That’s the nature of a cult favorite, after all. The original Rotocall reference, A829-6019, was conceived as a digital watch that would be a bit easier to operate and use but not lose any of the inherent functionality of a watch meant to perform in multiple disciplines. Rather than a complex menu system or arcane mode switching using a series of buttons, the Rotocall’s functions could be changed quickly by rotating the distinctive octagonal bezel. Setting the time, using a countdown timer, activating stopwatch functionality, and more are all clearly defined by the bezel position. Once you move the bezel to the desired function, a pair of buttons on either side of the case control the action. Think about some of the more complicated digital watches out there and how you might actually navigate from the time display to, say, a calendar, and you start to realize the value here. The simplicity, according to Seiko, was favored by many astronauts, and the Rotocall saw action on well ove...
Two Broke Watch Snobs
A revival of the 1982 Seiko Rotocall with a rotary function bezel, compact case, and space age history-now part of the regular catalog.
Fratello
Well, well, well, Seiko is on a nice roll! Last week, we covered the new limited-edition Prospex GMT Seashadow, and it garnered the type of enthusiasm we used to see with all Seiko releases. Additionally, the limited edition of watches has already sold out. Today, it seems that we have another mega hit in the […] Visit Introducing: The New Seiko “Rotocall” Series to read the full article.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
The Seiko Alpinist is back. A slimmer case, new 6R55 movement, and vintage branding make this one of the best affordable field watches of 2025.
Two Broke Watch Snobs
After a decade of reviews, we compare Seiko and Orient on design, performance, durability, and value to help you choose what's right for you.
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SJX Watches
Seiko celebrates 75 years of the Peanuts with a King Seiko Vanac Peanuts 75th Anniversary SDKV011, with everyone’s favourite Beagle on a newspaper-inspired dial. Limited to only 150 pieces for Japan only, foreigners will need to get creative if they want one. Initial Thoughts Peanuts is huge in Japan – or more accurately, Snoopy is. Grandberry Park in Tokyo plays host to a three-story tall Snoopy museum that receives several times as many yearly visitors as the Charles M. Schulz Museum in California. It should be no surprise then that the new Vanac is for the Japanese market only, which is unfortunate as it is an appealing watch for a relatively reasonable price. While a bit late to the integrated bracelet sports watch craze since it was only launched earlier this year, the Vanac is competitive in its segment thanks to standout case finishing and a highly competent movement. The new edition retains all the appeal of the standard model; the two-tone dial with gilt accents and Peanuts characters is subtle and a little retro in keeping with the design’s origins. A Snoopified King Seiko King Seiko is a Seiko sub-brand positioned just below the better-known Grand Seiko. The marque emerged from a multi-decade hibernation in 2021. Seiko launched original King Seiko Vanac line during the early 1970s, with sharp angular cases, colourful iridescent dials and faceted crystals – but the latter is missing on the modern Vanac. That absence stings as a faceted crystal would be an...
Fratello
In 2023, Seiko debuted its Prospex GMT models. Based on the groundbreaking 1968 300m-rated Professional dive watch, the current offerings have a similar form, including an external rotating bezel and strong case shape. The watches have proven popular, and since the initial release, the brand has predictably announced several limited editions. Today, we have a […] Visit Seiko Europe Introduces The Prospex 1968 Heritage Diver’s GMT Seashadow SPB534 to read the full article.
Time+Tide
This colourful 5KX takes George Bamford's signature baby blue colour and blends it with orange and translucent elements.The post Bamford’s glowing vision of paradise is realized with latest Seiko 5 collaborative limited edition appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
Worn & Wound
By now the Bamford name shouldn’t be unfamiliar to you. Having just taken a breath from launching their latest collaboration with Oris, the British brand has turned its sights towards Seiko with the release of their Seiko 5 Sports BAMFORD Limited Edition. With Bamford’s track record of highlighting versus cannibalizing its collaborators, the result between the two brands has resulted in a vibrant, eye-catching release that takes inspiration from a variety of sources: Seiko’s archival collage techniques, anime, retrofuturism, and the pursuit of paradise. To best understand this collab, Bamford and Seiko produced a short anime for the release. In it, we see a salaryman at his desk, late at night. Suddenly, his Seiko 5 BAMFORD Limited Edition transports him to a verdant landscape, a sort of Eden outside of the office. While the message behind this video is fairly straightforward, it’s the creative liberty in which the two brands have taken to marry this partnership and solidifying what I have long suspected: Bamford is a concept brand versus a brand who occasionally builds products around a concept. And, as such, Seiko is all the better for it. In terms of the watch’s design, the blue skeleton dial is, of course, what one notices first, and is inspired by George Bamford’s vision of duality, attempting to capture two worlds in one design. Underneath, we see the inner mechanics of the day-date display. Further design choices which highlight Bamford’s imaginations ...
Time+Tide
Affordable robust elegance?The post Are these new Seiko Presage Classic Series watches the best dressy daily wearers for US$1,000 or less? appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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On this channel, we review watches that are available for purchase on TeddyBaldassarre.com
Worn & Wound
Earlier this year at Watches & Wonders, Grand Seiko revealed the SLBG003, which turned out to be one of the most impressive watches of the whole show. Housing the new 9RB2 Spring Drive caliber, the UFA (Ultra-Fine Accuracy) movement is certified to an almost incomprehensible +/- 20 seconds per year, or roughly 3 seconds per month. That makes it, according to Grand Seiko, the most accurate movement powered by a mainspring. It’s a truly impressive horological achievement. Of course, as soon as a brand like Grand Seiko introduces an entirely new platform like the UFA, enthusiasts are on pins and needles waiting to see what comes next. It’s not that we can’t appreciate what we have in front of us, but particularly with Grand Seiko, we know that variants are coming in the form of new dial options and case materials. If you had asked me in the Spring when we’d see the first derivation on the UFA line, I probably wouldn’t have expected to see a new watch so soon, but last week Grand Seiko dropped the Evolution 9 Spring Drive UFA SLGB005, nicknamed the “Violet Dawn” for its deep purple dial. It’s always interesting to see what new watches in a new sub-collection come to pass, not just for what it says about where the line is going, but perhaps where it’s not. The SLGB005, like its predecessor, is what we’d probably call a small-medium size by today’s standards, measuring a conservative 37mm. Unlike the titanium SLBG003, however, this watch is clad in a st...
Monochrome
While all of us are now pretty familiar with the Seiko 5 Sports collection, and in particular the SKX series (an accessible aquatic-like watch inspired by the cult SKX007 of the past), there are also dozens of cool limited editions and bold collaboration models based on this platform. The latest in line, which will once […]
Two Broke Watch Snobs
Thinking of upgrading from Seiko to Grand Seiko? After 10 years of reviewing both, here’s when the jump makes sense and when it doesn’t.
Worn & Wound
At the end of summer 2014, Dad gave me my first mechanical watch. There was nothing ceremonial about it; he simply handed me the box in the car. “I’m starting a new tradition, and it’s a grown-up gift since you’re heading to college,” he said. I looked down at the box. It said Seiko. I was familiar with the brand. In fact, it was what I had been wearing up to that point: reference SNE039, a mid-sized solar-powered watch that Grandpa gave me when he saw me showing interest in it. I still have it. But this Seiko was different. It was a reference SKX173, a sibling of the beloved SKX007 dive watch that has led many a good man down the rabbit hole. It had a waterproof case, rotating dive bezel that I had no clue how to operate, and most importantly, an automatically winding movement. “It’s easy – just shake it a bit to get it going,” said Dad. (OGs will remember the caliber 7s26’s lack of hand winding). I took the watch out of the box and shuffled it back and forth gently to coax it to life. It did, and as I stared at the sweeping seconds hand, I marveled that a microscopic team of gears, levers, and springs were all working harmoniously just to tell time. As an incoming engineering student, I couldn’t have asked for a better gift. I secured the black rubber strap on my wrist, and that was that. The remainder of the summer was spent reading everything I could get my hands on about Seiko watches and mechanical timekeeping at large. The excitement of movin...
Fratello
Usually, new dial variations tend to be the least surprising novelties in the watch world. If we’re talking about a new Grand Seiko dial, though, I’m all ears. When I first saw the Grand Seiko SLGB005 in a lineup of six models, it didn’t instantly grab my attention. The recently released “Sunrise” Tentagraph SLGC006 and […] Visit Hands-On: The New Grand Seiko SLGB005 With A Mesmerizingly Beautiful Purple Dial to read the full article.
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