[Guest]

authored by jockinho
I got this Seiko SKA427P2, also known as PVD Kinetic, a week ago. I´ll thought I give my first impression of it.

Case and size

The first thing I notice with the watch was that it felt smaller than I first expected it to be. I had in my mind a very large watch, luckily for me it isn´t. It´s width are around 46mm and wears not much larger than the more common SKX007. The height is about 16mm so for a modern watch it´s not a large one.

The case is very nicely made and has a little plumpy appearance, a little bit like the Omega PO.

Material

It may be known as PVD but in reality I don´t think it´s real PVD (please correct me if I´m wrong). Instead more black coated Stainless steel. The coating on the Kinetic is a bit shinier than the PVD watches I felt on before, like the Breitling Blacksteel. It´s not shiny so it blings but does not look as stealthy as you might expect from a PVD. Nevertheless it has a very nice finish and looks in my opinion great.

The only spot on the watch that don´t have the black coating is the caseback, which I think is a little disappointment. Still not a big one, but would have wish it had the same material as the rest of the watch.

Dial and hands

Here is where I think the Kinetic really show why it´s slightly more expensive than the more regular Seiko diver´s like the SKX007. The dial is very well made and has nice a depth. The finish of the printing is top-notch in this pricepoint.

The skeleton hands are one of the things that a lot of people seem to dislike about the watch, personally I think they work very well. And just as with the dial they have a very nice finish.

Lume is decent, not as bright as my a SKX007 and not even close to the Monster´s...

Strap

The watch came with a Seiko original rubberstrap, the Z-20. I have never been a big fan of Seiko rubbers and was a little bit worried about this one. However the Z-20 is the opposite of the other ones I tried. It´s soft, fits very well and is a perfect match for the watch. Offcourse I had to cut it with a scissor, as always with rubbers they tend to be 5cm too long for the smallwristed.
This watch can also be bought with a bracelet, modelnumber: SKA427P1

Movement

The Kinetic movement is kind of quartz but uses your arms movement just like an automatic. When you have the watch on the battery charges and after a while you have a 6 months power reserve. This is my first experience with a Kinetic and must say the movement is great, so far it has nearly lost a second.

Overall

I´m very happy with this one, I think as always with Seiko it represents a very good value for the money. For a total of 250 dollars (on eBay) you get a very nice watch. I would definately buy this watch again, it´s likely to be a keeper…

//Jocke

 

[jason_recliner]

Definitely a "keeper"!

 

[kai_h]

I just received my SKA427P1 today (same watch, but with the black stainless bracelet instead of rubber) and I'm very happy with it too.
It looks great, was easy to adjust for the correct size and it doesn't seem to be quite as big as I was afraid it might - don't get me wrong, it's the largest watch I own, but it's nothing like wearing a clock on your wrist.


The fit and finish of it is great - the smooth action on the 120 click bezel is very nice and much smoother than the old Titanium Kinetic Auto Relay (5J22 movement, I can't find the model number anywhere) that I also have.


I like the little flashes of yellow on the seconds hand and on the crown, I'm probably going to get a composite band from West Coast Time (http://www.westcoastime.com/20mmcomawaba.html) as I tried the watch on a black NATO band, but the nylon band looked too thin for such a substantial watch. The composite band is available in black with yellow stitching, so this will suit the watch quite well I think.


The only thing I'd like this watch to have that it doesn't is a sapphire crystal, but that's not a big deal. The 5J22 has hardlex that's got heavily scratched (I've had it for almost 10 years now) but that's partially because it's quite a domed crystal on that timepiece, with this one and the crystal mounted flush with the bezel, it should be a little better protected...

 

[kai_h]

I've been wearing the watch for a few days now and have some shots of it. Here's the best one so far that shows the watch, and gives you an idea of the lume as well:

Accuracy also seems very good, as per other reports on this forum - after 24 hours, it still seems to be spot on.

 

[swedefreak]

I've been wearing the watch for a few days now and have some shots of it. Here's the best one so far that shows the watch, and gives you an idea of the lume as well:

Accuracy also seems very good, as per other reports on this forum - after 24 hours, it still seems to be spot on.

What a great photo, Kai. I love the lume glowing in the deep shadow of the case and rotating ring.

 

[LUW]

My BFK is my second most accurate watch. Fantastic bull of a watch!

 

[kai_h]

What a great photo, Kai. I love the lume glowing in the deep shadow of the case and rotating ring.

Thanks for the positive feedback on the shot - that was just one shot that was set up on the spur of the moment and worked well. I was in a room with the lights out, in front of my computer and the watch is lit purely by the light from my monitor, hence the nice soft light from the top, but as it was still pretty dark, the long exposure picked up the glow of the lume very nicely... I'm going to have to try for some more shots like this...