Seiko 5 SNXS79

Until around 2021, the Seiko SNXS79 belonged to the Seiko 5 collection. Thanks to its sporty, elegant design and surprisingly low price, the watch is considered to be one of the top alternatives to classic Rolex models such as the Datejust or Oyster Perpetual. Even if the resemblance is striking, Seiko has nevertheless managed to give the SNXS79 its own unique character.

The watch is made of polished stainless steel and measures 37 mm in diameter. The dial is anthracite in color and boasts a restrained sunburst finish. The bar indices are applied and filled with luminous material, as are the timepiece's baton hands. The typical Seiko 5 weekday and date window is located at 3 o'clock.

Seiko fits the watch with the automatic in-house caliber 7S26, which you can view through the timepiece's transparent case back.

A SNXS79 in mint condition changes hands on Chrono24 for between 150 and 200 USD. The lower end of this price range is usually occupied by watches manufactured by Seiko in Malaysia, Singapore, or China, and thus intended for the international market. You can identify these timepieces by the reference number SNXS79K1. The more expensive variants are watches with the reference number SNXS79J1, which are JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) models, produced and sold only in Japan.

The Seiko SNXS79 measures 37 mm across, 13 mm thick, and 43 mm lug to lug. The stainless steel case and bezel are polished, as are the outer edges of the applied hour markers and hands. The bar indices are filled with Seiko's own luminous material, LumiBrite, and the watch's baton hands also glow in the dark. For the crystal, Seiko uses its own mineral crystal creation, Hardlex.

The dial itself is a dark anthracite color with a subtle sunburst finish, which makes the dial look gray or black and tinted with green, depending on the light. The Seiko logo and Seiko 5 shield are located just below 12 o'clock, and there's a minute track printed at the outer edge of the dial. The word "Automatic" appears above the 6.

All watches in the Seiko 5 collection come with a day-date display at 3 o'clock. The weekday and date window on the SNXS79 comes with a polished frame, and the display itself features a white background that contrasts beautifully with the dark dial.

The crown is sunk into the case at 4 o'clock, which means it won't press into the back of your hand while you're wearing it. But since it's a simple push/pull crown (rather than a screw-down crown), the SNXS79 is only water-resistant to 30 m (3 bar, 98 ft), and thus only protected against the occasional splash.

The Seiko 5 SNXS79's Band

The SNXS79 comes on a three-piece link satin-brushed stainless steel bracelet with folded links and hollow end links. If you want to switch out the Seiko bracelet for something from another manufacturer, look for a strap or bracelet with a lug width of 19 mm.

Seiko offers the SNXS79 in a variety of different editions, which vary primarily in color.

The caliber 7S26 is a good entry point into the world of Seiko automatic movements. It's known to be reliable and boasts a power reserve of around 42 hours, as well a frequency of 21,600 vph. The 7S26 is equipped with a quick-set day-date function; it does not offer a stop seconds or manual winding.