I just picked up a secondhand black ti Samurai off the Trading Forum (BTW, here's an unsolicited plug for a great seller, AJM). It's a little beat-up, but the price was right and I tend to be a little careless with my watches, so that wasn't really a bad thing from my perspective, and the price was very fair.
What a great watch! I have several other Seiko divers (a wonderful HOT 6309, a Yao MoD-style 007, BM, and OM), among other watches, but I have never previously owned a ti watch of any kind.
I like ti as a material (I have beautiful ti road and mountain bikes by Moots and Serotta), but was a little wary of it as a watch material. After owning and wearing the watch for a few days, I totally "get it." I actually really like the light weight - it feels like I'm cheating by having a relatively bulky watch that's still so light. Others have noted that ti tends not to get warm or cool as readily as stainless, and I share that observation, but I don't really see that as a plus or a minus. The only downside I see is that because of the metal's lower density, it can be a little rattly. I assume this is why they used the solid end pieces on the bracelet. This is mostly evident in the bezel - it feels a little plasticky in turning, particularly compared to the silky bezels on my BM and OM.
I think the face and hands are probably the handsomest on any of the modern Seiko divers (save the MM). The applied hour markers are a touch of class, the hands are beautiful, and even the font used in the text (a pet peeve of mine) is handsome and minimal. This stands in contrast to, say, the faces on the OM and BM - I LOVE those watches, but the numbers by the hour markers look really silly and busy to me. The minute chapter is very nice IMO - it has the seconds divided into fifths, which sounds like a lot of marking, but it adds a nice amount of visual relief to the rather spare dial. I think the ti Samurai is the most modern Seiko diver design, and it's crisp and clean without being too Spartan.
I also really like the case shape and bracelet. The edges of the case are rather sharp, lending themselves to dings (mine already has a bit of a ding on one of the edges), and I don't know the purpose of the rivet-looking things on the four corners, but they do add some visual relief. The knurled crown is very handsome and I like that it's at 3:00 (maybe just because it's a change of pace from my other divers). I don't generally like polished portions of brushed bracelets, but the polished bits on this bracelet are small and the otherwise slightly dull ti surface benefits from the relief (jeez, how many times can I use that word?). Ideally they would have used a fancy-pants wetsuit extension like the MM, but frankly I would never use it anyway, and I wouldn't expect it for the money.
To this point the watch has been very accurate, but I'm not really an Accuracy Nazi, and don't tend to notice as long as my watches are less than +/- 15 seconds/day. This seems to be much better than that, but I haven't really checked.
My only critiques are the rattliness of the bezel and the flat crystal - although it suits the modern look of the watch, I really prefer a domed crystal on any diver.
Anyway, I love the watch and highly recommend it. I think it's a steal at sub-$200 used. I think my next watch will be a blue Samurai.
This message has been edited by TonyEdwards from IP address 65.25.218.177 on Jun 23, 2006 7:52 PM
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thanks for the mini review, it's like you took the words right out of my mouth
I agree with you on the weight... being an owner of a 009, 6309 and 6105 i associate weight with solidness.. on the contrary the Ti sammie is relatively super light, giving it an almost plactic feel... but this is by no means its fault, just something i need to adjust to.. and the textured crown is just awesome!
the only thing of the Ti sammie that i wished it had is a textured dial, like those in its SS brothers
but i have a white sammie on the way so i guess it's all good, and i'll get to feel just how much heavier the S version one is!
thanks!
seikokaki@yahoo.com
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I really wonder how many Ti Sammies are there here... I've seen only 2 white sammies in 2 different stores, and a friend reported a sighting of a white sammie in JB
but personally i have not seen SS sammies in the wild, white or black, let alone these beautiful JDM blue sammies... and i take pride in being the owner of one in that context
*super big-@ss grin* =D
thanks!
seikokaki@yahoo.com
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Thong Sia used to import a few Prospex models in the early 2000's but ceased due to lack of sales. Apparently local folks don't see the logic in spending over RM1K for a "mere Seiko".
That's why the Ti Sammies aren't found locally.
The only two Prospex Seikos that I purchased locally are my:
SBDR005 Sky Professional:
and the SBDQ003 7T92 (Seiko's only chrono true diver!):
These had Thong Sia's official MRSP price tags and are not parallel imports (like City Chain's Brightz/Seiko)
I once saw a lone SNM011K black S/S Sammie at Pertama - it was selling at sub RM600. I didn't buy it (wasn't sure if I'd go for the Ti Sammie) and a week later some customer bought it.
I've seen the S/S Sammies at Mid Valley - they're priced about RM700+. Have not spotted the white SNM009K yet.
cheers,
StratMan
It's your watch watch collection that tells most about who you are
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I got a blue Samurai from ttsugar with preinstalled sapphire, and absolutely love it. It's even lessened the desire for my SD600 grail watch a bit.
Just a magnificent design. As is often the case with Seiko, they got all the details and aesthetics just so.
Wearing mine now in the PDX airport after a week in DC. Only problem is that, even with the bracelet taut, it doesn't fit easily under a dress shirt cuff and I spent the week in such. Ahh well.
-Paul
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