(2023-06-16) When unpopularity is a good thing
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Two days ago, I finally got the chronograph watch mentioned in the previous
post, and can now reveal its exact model: Seiko SSB401P1. I was about to 
make a single sideband joke about this model number, but my bandwidth turned 
out to be too narrow for it. Functionally, this Seiko looks like a very 
simple quartz watch: no solar charging (but fear not, I already got two 
spare SR936SW batteries made by Seiko Instruments themselves), a date window 
with no auto-calendar, no longwave/BLE sync, only the basic timekeeping and 
a 60-minute stopwatch from the first glance. However, there are some details 
that reveal that there is more to it than meets the eye.

First, the overall look. This is something that all reviewers of this Seiko
lineup notice: there's a lot going on around the dial, and it's definitely 
looking busy while not cluttered. For me personally, this particular 401 
variant with it white-silver dial in a steel case with no unnecessary 
coating looks like a perfect summer season watch, especially on the stock 
grey-white-black symmetrical NATO strap. And this is another thing I want to 
point out: I was glad to find this particular variant to have a 22mm NATO 
strap out of the box, because, just like Invicta 8926OB, it's not titanium 
and would be too heavy for me if it had a bracelet. And all other strap 
options... meh.

Next, I'd like to point out the feature that a lot of people consider useless
or excessive for some reason: 24-hour subdial. Again, I already mentioned 
that a day has 24 hours in it, and it would be much more logical to have the 
main 24h-dial, but, unfortunately, physical dimensions also contribute to 
(un)readability of such a scale, so I'm thankful for at least having the 
subdial. In fact, besides the potential usefulness of such a feature in 
bunker-like conditions, it is also convenient to have a quick glance at the 
rest of your day. For example, my current work involves having 12-hour-long 
on-call shifts so I can very quickly estimate how much is left until the 
end. To me, that is much more useful than having the third subdial only 
serve the purpose of hours display for the chrono.

And finally, the chrono. Something that really makes this 8T63 movement (as
well as its predecessor, 6T63) different from dozens of others with the same 
subdial layout. While being pretty basic in function and only having the 
start/stop and reset pushers (and anyone can intuitively get which is which 
even without the manual), it actually behaves like mechanical stopwatches: 
the chronograph second hand moves with 0.2s intervals and pushing the reset 
button makes both chrono-second and chrono-minute subdial hands instantly 
snap back to their zero positions. Apart from that, any color variant of 
this particular model has a distinct color for the chrono-second and 
chrono-minute hands. For instance, my SSB401 has them painted in black, 
while all other hands are silvery. This allows to visually distinguish the 
hands while looking at the running chronograph with no apparent trouble. The 
"normal" second hand is positioned on the lower subdial and moves with the 
usual 1s intervals, and I don't have a slightest feeling of discomfort about 
all that.

Another feature related to the chrono is the tachymeter scale. Usually, I'm
not a fan of it, but that's purely because of how it's implemented - a bunch 
of numbers on a large and obnoxious non-rotating bezel. Here though, it's 
implemented on the edge of the dial itself, in the most unobtrusive way 
possible. And the font is pleasant to look at, so it doesn't bother me at 
all, despite being, you know, quite inaccurately marked for a reciprocal 
scale (in case you didn't know, the function it's showing is 3600/x, where x 
is the amount of seconds you've measured). Like, if the tachymeter scale 
shows exactly 80 or 75, it's fine, but if in between, it's not so obvious 
which value we're looking at, so, unless you are fine with a very 
approximate result of your calculations, I would just suggest dividing 3600 
by your seconds manually. But, as a pure decoration that doesn't increase 
your casing size, why not?

But you may ask: "Isn't a digital watch much more suitable for chronography
and other additional functions?" Yes, totally! And if I were to only leave a 
single watch and get rid of the rest of my collection, the one I'd leave 
would most probably be Casio GMW-B5000D or GM-B2100BD. Or even sell my 
entire collection for a single MRG-B5000, because that is the ultimate watch 
in every aspect in my system of values (I just don't think that spending 
$4000 on a watch is the right thing to do when my country is at war). 
However, in case you do have a choice which watch to wear today/this 
week/this month etc, not every one of them has to be absolutely perfect. And 
in this aspect, this Seiko easily falls into my top-10 or even top-5 among 
the ones I have, along with GMW-B5000D, GMB-2100BD, OCW-T200S and Citizen 
AS2050. Of course, all four of them are more expensive now where I live, but 
this Seiko easily falls into the same category when it comes to 
look/performance ratio. Besides, when it comes to the stopwatch function 
itself, here it's instantly available and you don't have to activate the 
chronograph mode (or rotate the bezel in case of analogue three-handers) 
whenever you feel the need to urgently time something. Just press the top 
button at once.

To summarize, I like this watch despite its obvious imperfections. I don't
get why it's so unpopular (as well as other 8T63-based models) but maybe 
this is what makes it so accessible to general public: those who _are_ 
interested in Seiko chronos can find it with no problem. It is very 
affordable compared to other Seikos and other chronographs with this 
particular subdial layout (I'm looking at you, Casio Edifice series - Y U NO 
make a worthy alternative within the same dimensions? [1]), it is stylish 
and reliable enough for day-to-day usage. To me, the only vital question 
that is still unanswered for now is the real accuracy of the movement. So, 
I've started the measurement and hopefully will return with the answer in a 
month of wearing it. 

--- Luxferre ---

[1]: no, EFV-590D is a cringe, not a worthy alternative, and EFS-S600D is an
overpriced hockey puck