Watch Review: Seiko SKX009 vs Aristo 4h13
Introduction
I like dive watches and in the very affordable department, besides a few Seikos, I recently acquired an Aristo diver. I thought it would be fun to do a side by side comparison of 2 surprisingly similar executions of the same marketing brief. Both these watches are rated at 200 mtrs, have unidirectional bezels with countdown markings and easily legible dials and hands. both lack a dive-suit extension on the bracelet. But of course, after market rubber is available everywhere so in theory you should be able to go scuba diving with either of these watches. But that is sort of like taking your Lexus SUV into the jungle. Most people don’t, but do enjoy driving it through a muddy patch on the driveway. Dive watches are like that, you’re fine in the pool, on the beach and in the shower and… you can clean your watch with shower gel and a sponge!
Comparisons like this are undeniably subjective, but I will seriously try to be fair and allocate plusses or minusses for the key attributes in each part of this review.
Contestants:
Seiko SKX009 Steel 200 Mtr Divewatch with unidirectional bezel and steel president bracelet
Aristo 4h13 Steel 200 Mtr Divewatch with unidirectional bezel and steel oyster bracelet
Design and looks:
The Seiko design remains close to the original from the sixties with a curvy case and sleek lugs. The sides are well rounded and polished with a lathe turned finish on the top of the case and lugs. The bezel has a flat printed Pepsi insert and is also polished. The brushed SS president bracelet matches the case quite well. The total weight is 139 grams.
The Aristo case is a variation on the classic submariner design and has a more ungainly shaped case with heavy lugs. The bottom edges of the case and lugs have sharp edges. The polished/brushed oyster bracelet doesn’t quite match the entirely polished case and bezel. The latter having a slanted black bezel insert. This watch weighs in at 135 grams.
The Seiko wins here, it looks bolder and has a better balanced design
Seiko +++ Aristo ++-
Movements:
The skx009 is driven by Seiko’s own general purpose 7S26 automatic movement.
It has proven itself as a reliable and reasonably accurate workhorse. It runs at 21600 beats/hour or 4 Hrz. It has a quickset day/date function but cannot be manually wound and is non-hacking (seconds hand cannot be stopped to synchronize the watch). The rotor winds in 2 directions and will build up a 20-30 hour power reserve in normal active use. The movement tends to run a little faster towards the end of the power reserve.
The Aristo works with the ubiquitous Swiss ETA 2824-2 automatic caliber.
An equally reliable but also a more consistently accurate movement than the Seiko, running at 28800 beats/hour or 6 Hrz. It also has a quick-set date function. It can be manually wound and supports hacking. The rotor has a bidirectional winding action which is slightly more efficient than the Seiko’s and will build up a power reserve of 30-40 hours.
The Aristo wins easily because it can be manually wound and hacked and is more consistently accurate.
Seiko +– Aristo +++
Accuracy:
The Seiko’s 7S26 movement has been 20-30 seconds/day fast since I bought it. I finally got tired of adjusting it every 3 0r 4 days and opened it up last week, gave the regulator the slightest nudge towards the minus sign. Closed the hatch and it is has been running spot on since. I get lucky once in a while because 7S26′es are notoriously difficult to regulate. Nonetheless the Seiko loses points here because of it’s tendency to speed up as the barrel spring tension reduces. (this is inherent in the design and caused by decreasing pressure and friction of the pallet stones on the escapement teeth).
As can be expected the Aristo with it’s 6 Hrz. movement is accurate. It has gained 2 seconds/day consistently since it came out of the box 3 days ago. Not long enough for real statistics but a good indication.
So not surprisingly, The Aristo should and does win here, but has an adjusted Seiko breathing (or ticking) down it’s neck.
Seiko +– Aristo +++
Case, Crystal and Crown:
The SKX009’s stainless steel case measures 42 mm. in diameter and is 13.3 mm thick. is immaculately machined and polished, putting some watch-brands costing 10 X more to shame.
It has a machined and polished thick screw-in case back. It is flat with a raised relief of a breaking wave in the center. On the circumference the text “stainless steel Seiko 7S26-0020 Scuba Diver’s” and the serial number. The screw-down crown is offset towards 4 o’clock and is protected by raised guards on the case. The crown measures 7 mm. in diameter but screws down in only 1 1/2 full turn. The unidirectional bezel action is the Seiko’s strong point. Very silky and smooth, it does a full turn in 120 clicks and the 0/60 second mark lines up perfectly. There is no play and it is not easily turned by accident.
The crystal is Seiko’s proprietary “Hardlex” brand which is not as scratch resistant as Sapphire. It is flat, non-coated but still leaves the dial and hands clearly visible at most viewing angles. A good design feature is that the bezel edge is about 1 mm. higher than the crystal, thus reducing the risk of an ugly damaged crystal edge (the weakest part).
The Aristo also has a flawless looking stainless steel case which is entirely polished, looking more like chromium and therefore being more susceptible to scratches. It has a diameter of 42 mm and is 13 mm thick. Virtually no difference with the Seiko.
The screw-in case-back is domed and on the circumference has the text “stainless steel - water resistant 20 atm - made in Germany”. No type or serial numbers! The screw down crown is at the classic 3 o’clock position and is well protected. It measures 6.5 mm. and screws down in 3 full turns - plenty of thread here! The Aristo also has a flat crystal but this one is made of synthetic Sapphire, providing a higher degree of scratch resistance. It is not coated and has a little bit too much glare at most angles. Believe me it is hard to photograph! The bezel is of the type that will never be accidentally turned. In fact it takes a strong grip to turn it at all. This would probably be impossible wearing neoprene gloves. The 0/60 second mark does line up perfectly. The crystal protrudes above the bezel edge by about a mm. The Aristo loses marks here.
The Seiko comes out in front here because of the better bezel and crystal design, but only slightly because it doesn’t have a saphire crystal.
Seiko ++- Aristo +–
Dial and Hands:
The SKX009 has a matted black dial with a bluish tint. The only text is “Seiko automatic” in white and “Diver’s 200 m” in orange lettering. The dial has very large hour indicators. the hands are proportionally thick arrows with needle fine tips.
They could have been slightly longer. The day/date aperture is reasonably large and very legible - This is the only watch where my 61 yr old eyes can read the day and date without glasses! The dots, ovals and triangle marking the hours are filled with Lumibrite as are the hands. Seiko divers are renowned for the brightness of the lume and this one is no exception. The seconds hand is a bit weird in that a lume filled ball is at the tail end of the hand. I wouldn’t worry about being 30 seconds off in the middle of the night though. The general impression is that the over-sized hour markers and hands draw your eyes away from the beautiful lines of the case.
The Aristo has a similar matted black dial with a grayish tint and the text “ARISTO” and “AUTOMATIC” in very small and finely printed white lettering. The hands are slim, finely shaped swords with needle tips of exactly the right length. The date aperture is small (like all 2824-2 movements).
Because the whole layout is more refined there is less room for lume on the hour markers and hands. This watch is consequently much less bright in the dark. Nonetheless it is still legible. This watch appears to be more classy and refined even-though the lines of the case itself are unremarkable.
The Aristo wins in this department; classy and refined, that’s what I like. But the Seiko might win if I were to really take it down to 30 meters depth in bad light. I do this in fact but wear a Breitling SuperOcean which is a little better at these tricks.
Seiko +– Aristo ++-
Bracelet and Buckle:
The Seiko has a brushed stainless steel president bracelet (jubilee, oyster and rubber also available). The outer links are solid, the inner ones are folded. Sufficiently thick material so it should be stronger than the springbars. The bracelet does not have solid end links but has stamped covers which are pretty thick and strong. they stay in place perfectly.
The fold-over buckle and safety clasp is stamped SS but again reasonably thick material so that it does not in anyway feel flimsy. The bracelet has 5 removable links at each end these are held together with notched pins. A special tool or 1 mm driving punch is required to get the pins out. The spring-bar in the clasp can be adjusted 22 mm. between the first and the last holes. Because of the folded center-links the bracelet feels flimsy (although it isn’t) and rattles a bit. It does however look great on your wrist.
The Aristo has a much more substantial SS bracelet comprised of all solid links the center links are polished while the outer ones are brushed. The bracelet is fitted with screw-in removable pins in 3 links at either end. the bracelet has a single rather than 3 separate links per section.
Together with the 20 mm. adjustable springbar in the clasp, this bracelet is easy to size. Not having solid endlinks either this bracelet also has stamped covers. although they fit perfectly with no play they are stamped from the thinest possible steelstrip.
The fold-over buckle and safety clasp are a let-down. the stamped material is very thin and has sharp edges. However, this bracelet feels solid, doesn’t rattle and looks expensive on your wrist.
A marginal victory for Aristo here. The Aristo bracelet with the Seiko end-link covers and buckle would have been the best solution.
Seiko +– Aristo ++-
Packaging and paperwork:
I can be very short here; The Seiko came with no packaging or paperwork, just a little plastic card with the purchase date and serial number on it and a verbal one year guarantee (the seller’s word is good, judging from ratings on a Dutch watch forum)
The Aristo came in the cheapest possible generic long thin cardboard box with a synthetic velvet-on-foam bottom and a little instruction booklet on setting the date. And believe it or not an official Vollmer-Aristo 24 month warranty leaflet.
I don’t really care about packaging; it tends to add costs without really increasing the intrinsic value of the contents.
To be fair I have to give Aristo a plus for the effort, just one though!
Seiko — Aristo +–
Comfort:
The Seiko is very comfortable to the extent of sitting on your wrist all day without being noticed. This due to the fact that it is not a heavy watch and has well rounded case and buckle edges.
The Aristo, although weighing 5 grams less is not as comfortable. This is largely due to the sharp edges on the case and lugs. Besides that, the lugs curve down sharply. This watch might therefore be more comfortable on a smaller wrist.
The Seiko easily wins this very important section.
Seiko +++ Aristo +–
Value:
Based on going rate pricing which is around US $180 on the president bracelet, the Seiko XKS009 or SKX007 offers a lot of watch for the money. Japanese engineering with in house sourced parts, what else could you want? With a little bit of care it will probably last for the rest of anyone’s life.
The Aristo 4h13 is not manufactured in the same quantities as Seikos so there is no real going rate. I have seen them on the internet for anything beween us $198 to $ 249. Even at that higher price it still offers a lot of German watch for the money. I stress “German” here because of the engineering connotations. But to be honest, Aristo parts are sourced from all over Switzerland and Germany and assembled at Vollmer in Pforzheim. That doesn’t make them less valuable, it makes them less costly!
No outspoken winner here but the Seiko has a marginally better value/price ratio.
Seiko +++ Aristo ++-
Conclusion:
It is interesting to see how two watch manufacturers, one Japanese and one German, can aim at the same market niche and working from vastly diverging design and manufacturing philosophies can come up with very similar products. Although the watches are very similar in design, functionality, performance and pricing, keeping costs down was accomplished very different ways. If one were to take best attributes of each watch to make one better watch it would probably have to be priced at a much higher level.
Adding up all the pluses and minuses gives Seiko 15 out of 27 pluses and Aristo 17 out of 27. Not a shattering difference. And certainly too close to state that one watch is better than the other.
Given the very slight price difference, the choice is really an issue of personal taste. The Seiko is bolder and more sporty while the Aristo is more subdued and classy. Both are certainly good buys and do the same tricks as watches costing many times more.
Soon we will see on a Movado
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Tags: Automatic Movement, GoldWatches, Info, Movado, Watch, Watch Review, Watches
