I'm simply stunned by this watch. After owning dozens of nice mechanicals, I never imagined how much I would enjoy this solar atomic world time watch from Seiko. I knew the Brightz line was nice but it has exceeded all my expectations.
First and foremost, I bought the watch because I thought it was good looking. All the cool features and quality construction are bonuses.
Let's start with the dial. 10/10 Very clean and legible, which I like. The solar panels in the center almost look like some sort of guilloche! The applied SEIKO, indices and numerals are nicely polished and give depth and weight to the dial. The date window is nicely sized and framed. Nothing I would change here. The three small yellow triangles represent the three radio wave atomic signals (USA, Europe, and Japan). The small y at 2 and n at 4 are for checking to see if your watch calibrated off the signal. If successful, the seconds hand will spin to the y and then the appropriate yellow triangle, letting you know which signal it received.
Next up the hands. Here I have to go only 8/10. I really like the shape of the hands alot, I just wish they were a little larger. I like the minute hand to extend all the way to the minute markers. Also, too much is cut out, leaving only the lume tips visible at certain angles. The yellow tip on the seconds hand is a nice touch. That's my only complaint and it's a minor one at that. I would make the hands a little larger!
Case - 10/10 Some intricate angles and a combo of brushed and polished finishes give this case a ten in my book. Love the lugs and everything else about it.
Bezel - 10/10 Again, perfect. Very distinctive. Not sure what they've done to the bezel to give it this look but it seems almost faux ceramic. I believe it's aluminum with the cities (another nice touch) laser etched onto it.
Bracelet - 10/10 - Beautiful and comfortable, what more could you want! How about wear it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and never get a scratch on it! So far, the diashield treated Brightz titanium has held up well. The watch looks as it did the day I reveived it brand new. Same for the clasp, which has micro-adjustments in it.
Crystal - 10/10 Nice sapphire crystal with A/R coating on the underside. Seamlessly integrates into the bezel.
Legibility - 8/10 The small cut out sword hands and lack of double sided A/R coating on the crystal, diminish the legibility just a tiny bit. Again, very minor.
Features - 20/20 Wow! The atomic calibration is beyond cool. I don't really understand why it's not more highly lauded. Every night at 2:00 a.m., my watch received a radio wave from Ft. Collins CO, USA and calibrates itself to the exact time. I enjoy knowing that anytime I glance at my watch, I'm looking at the EXACT time. Awesome! Another incredible feature is the automatic hand alignment. Every hand on this watch hits exactly where its supposed to. If they ever get out of alignment, it will automatically correct itself! Still not sure how this technology works, I just know I like it! The world time feature is cool as well. All you do is hit a few buttons, and the will automatically set itself to any timezone in the world. Throw in that it's solar powered, I'll probably never have to do anything, not one thing, to this watch for the rest of my natural life!
Overall appearance - 10/10 - at 41mm, this watch is just the right size for my 7 3/8 inch wrist IMO. Distinctive yet stealthy, it exudes quality to me.
That gives a final grade of 96/100 from this reviewer. Thanks and hope you enjoyed this review.
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