Review: Seiko SKX 013

My Seiko SKX013 with Barton blue leather band.

I cannot overstate how much I love my Seiko SKX013. It’s one of the best things I possess.

It isn’t the first automatic watch I’ve owned. I bought an Invicta dive watch previously. It was a Rolex Submariner clone and I never loved it. It had a stupid logo engraved on the side.  I sold it and bought the Seiko instead, and it was a great decision.

Like the Rolex, the Seiko SKX013 is a dive watch, but is a distinctly different approach to the concept. Since the moment it arrived from the Post Office, I’ve been enamored of it. Whereas previously I would wear a different watch every day — even a couple per day, depending — I now pretty much just wear one, and it’s my Seiko.

There’s a ton to like about the SKX013. It’s got an automatic movement, which means it winds itself with the motion of my body — no batteries required. I’ve written previously in praise of quartz, and while I still feel that quartz is rad, I’ve never had an emotional connection to a watch like this before. Mechanical watches really are a pinnacle of human achievement. This thing tells time because a spring unwinds itself slowly, moving hands across a watch face. It keeps very good time, and I got it for less than $100 including shipping. That, too, is a pinnacle of human achievement.

I love the bezel, which can act as a countdown timer or a very coarse stopwatch, and is more handy than one might imagine.

I love the day/date window at the 3 o’clock spot. From what I’ve read online, some people don’t like the day/date being white and would prefer it black; I do like it. It makes the face more symmetrical with the 9 o’clock marker. I love the crown location at 4 o’clock. It’s slightly weird, but it prevents the crown from pushing into the back of your hand. And who am I kidding: I like the weirdness. I love the strangely stretched out second hand. I didn’t think I would love, but do love the hour and minute hands. The hour hand in particular is an odd shape, but extremely readable. All the small unusualities add up to a very charming little timepiece indeed — one that’s surprisingly easy to read with the briefest of glances.

This next paragraph is going to be about how big the watch is. Here’s a handy graphic I thought hard about recreating but then just decided to use the one I found on the Internet¹.

My SKX013 looks familiar because it is the smaller sibling to the SKX007, which is more popular and also larger. I generally like my watches to be 40mm in diameter and have 20mm wide lugs². Finding a dive watch that had those specs was hard. The Invicta had it, but was full of other problems. This may be the only somewhat modern Seiko with 20mm lugs. Everything else they make has either 18mm or 22mm. The larger and more popular 007 is 42mm in diameter and uses 22mm bands. Besides, dive watches are kind of chunky, so tend to feel a little larger than they actually are. And since I’ve already got a collection of 20mm bands, so I picked the smaller Seiko. Boy, am I glad I did. This watch is perfect on my wrist.

That’s me!

I don’t like huge watches. I once owned a 45mm ∅ Fossil. It was gorgeous. I loved it so much, but it was too big. I sold it. I’d like to borrow somebody’s SKX007 or perhaps a 42mm flight watch to see how they fit in real life. I know the 42mm Apple Watch is too big for me. When I get back to running, I’ll likely pick up a 38mm.

Which reminds me: the SKX013 doesn’t care how many steps you’ve taken or flights you’ve climbed. It doesn’t notify you of your messages. It doesn’t know if your heart is beating. It tells the time, and then, only if you look at it — no haptic feedback here.

Having a bit of an analogue moment

In a lot of ways, a watch like this is a subtle reminder of how fleeting we are, and how disposable technology is. I read a book by Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke called Sunstorm a while back. In it, a solar flare threatens to destroy all life on Earth. We shielded the earth from the worst of it, but were still left with crazy weather and the equivalent of a worldwide EMP which took out a lot of technology. Quartz watches were not discussed in this novel, but I’m fairly certain that were I to survive the gamma ray bombardment of Sunstorm, I’d still be able to tell the time.³

If you already understand that watches are a representation of human achievement, are a great piece of jewelry, a valuable tool, and can become something of a friend, then you likely already have a watch at least as good at my Seiko. If not, please fix that immediately. I got this watch for less than $100 on eBay. So even if you don’t believe me about the emotional connection and unexpectedly deep satisfaction it brings, it’s fairly low risk, and I urge you to pick up one of your own. If I’m right, I’m sharing something very good with you. If I’m wrong, sell it to somebody who will wear the hell out it.

 

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1. I went to the website watermarked on the graphic, and it takes you to a weirdly text-dense Asian porn page. ↩
2. Enormous watches are fairly popular at the moment. I reckon they’re popular for the same folks have giant lifted trucks or make an awful racket with their motorcycles. ↩
3. Were I a character in that book, the team and I would, thanks to synchronized watches, ensure that the thing happened at the right time, thus saving human civilization. Thanks, Seiko! You’re welcome, humanity. ↩