Why Christopher Ward and not Seiko
I’ve been a Seiko fan since I discovered mechanical watches. Good, superb value, durable, nicely detailed. Good stuff.
In the continuing course of my madness, I became convinced that I needed something better than the 7S26 movement. My blue Samurai runs +15s/day, even after I spent $65 (ouch!) getting it regulated locally. No fault of the watchmaker; it has lousy isochronism, which makes it hard to correct. I added the money I’d spent on it and decided that embroidered sow’s ear != silk purse, and started looking.
I wanted something that was handwind, hacked, and had good accuracy. Preferably less than 8s/day, so that in the course of the week I’ll be off less than a minute. Call it my personal criterion.
On the Seiko side, it’s a bit sparse. In the 200-and-less region, there’s Seiko 5s and divers, all based on the same 7S26 and variants. (7S25, 7S36, 7S26). If you have the money, a Marine Master is about 1200 used, with the excellent 8L35 movement. I don’t, but they’re reputed to be very nice. Seiko used to make the SUS series, with the 4S15 movement, but those are now going for more than I wanted to pay. Ditto the 4S15-based Alpinists, which are also a touch small. Briefly, there was the Yema Seaspider, an interestingly ugly diver that had a 4S15 in it, but they sold out fast and are now impossible to find. Damn!
Recently introduced at around $300, Seiko now has a new (perhaps based on the 7S26, it’s not clear) 6R15 movement:
Specs, also shamelessly cribbed from Velociphile:
The Spirit comes in several flavors, is a Japan-only model, and is quite nice. Well detailed, gets good reviews on Timezone and (of course) The Seiko and Citizen forum. It’s a dress watch, 37mm, no lume. Here’s one example of the styles available:
Compare that to the Elabore-grade ETA 2824-2 in my Christopher Ward Aviator:
Elaboré (regulated in three positions Dial up, 6H and 9H)
Mean daily rate +/- 7 s/d
Max variation across 5 positions: 20 s
Isochronism: +/- 15 s/d
Also note that the CW is better finished: Rhodium plating, perlage, blued screws, CdG on the rotor and colored engraving:
It’s hard to compare directly, but the Elabore-grade 2824 is a better spec movement. From reviews, most of the Spirit owners are doing as well, but I’ve been burnt three times on Seiko movements and want something with a spec, damn it.
Ahem.
So here’s what it came down to: The CW has a better movement, an IMHO more attractive dial, cost the same, is readable at night and is more legible. I’m a bit disappointed that Seiko has less value at this price point, and for a new movement it has pretty wide error specs.
As a style note, I also greatly prefer that CW puts much less text on the dial. I really dislike superfluous bloviage (I’m looking at you, Rolex) and CW has a lot less.
It was a surprise to me, given the amazing value of the Seiko divers, but I’m delighted that they have competition.
October 29th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
In one of my language classes, I began an exercise to practice using the comparative and the superlative by asking everyone to think of something that they were embarassingly knowledgeable about. I then attempted to pair them off according to personal obsession. None of their confessions could possibly hold a candle to this wanton display of excess, however.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:19 pm
I have a 2824-2 as well as a Seiko with a 7s26 movement, and your comments reflect my experiences. Perhaps I was lucky, but the 2824-2 - possibly a lower grade - seems to hover within about 2 seconds a day when worn, whereas the Seiko gains 12 - 15 seconds a day when worn and fully wound, and 25 or more when run down. The intermess tells me that many 7s26s do this, so perhaps Seiko should adjust their factory so that the regulator lever is assembled in a more favourable position.
Other than that, they are both excellent, and their inexpensive purchase price makes them a better option for wearing whilst falling off bicycles than all those expensive tickers I don’t tell people about.
P.B.