The last time I bought a watch was my 2.5 watchmaker’s edition G-Shock and look how badly that turned out. This time I purchased a watch based purely on my own desires with no peer pressure from other watchmakers. I have thought about getting a tuna on numerous occasions but always thought they would be too big for my tiny wrists. It wears smaller than the 46.7mm case size and 12mm thickness would suggest due to the short lugs. It looks so chunky and wears so well on smaller wrists, that you might find that people start to confuse you with someone who has regular man sized wrists. I purchased this watch purely for the aesthetics. Other than a few vintage dive watches, I’m not really interested in this type of watch. I think the tuna looks pretty cool and I appreciate the unique styling in a world full of Submariner lookalikes. I love the shroud and the 4 o’clock crown position. I also really dig the steel bezel on this particular model. I know they aren’t very popular these days but I think it is a look that could do with a bit more attention.

As I picked this watch for the look over anything else, I opted for the solar powered movement. I’m not against quartz and I think that with a lot of dive watches it is the more obvious choice. Less unscrewing of the crown thanks to the increased accuracy and the lack of having to reset the time if you don’t have it on for a few days (10 months power reserve on a single charge). So in theory less chance of water accidentally getting into the case and less wear put on the crown seals. I am normally a vintage guy so I’m not normally in the position to be able to compare modern Japanese watches to their Swiss counterparts. This watch cost around $310 USD and I would compare the quality to something at around $800 to $1000 USD from a Swiss brand. It just feels really well put together. I know that Seiko had issues before with chapter rings lining up and QC issues of that nature but this one seems pretty well made. Much more so than the price tag would suggest.

Now for the negatives. As someone who mainly wears vintage watches, I don’t get to experience lume that much, unless it is the lume flaking off the hands and onto the dial of the watch. I had heard so much of the amazing lume from Seiko and how it was next level. I remember being gobsmacked by the lume on my friend @rockchickwatches Marine Master. It really blew me away when I got to experience it in a poorly lit bar. The lume on this isn’t anywhere near as good but it is a watch in a totally different price bracket. So I guess they use a different quality lume product on these ones. It is still much more impressive than any of my other watches. Next up is the dial. It has a bit of a weird texture to it. It isn’t bad but i’m not sure that it actually adds anything to the watch. Most of the time you can’t even see the finish, so it might have been better with just a flat black dial or maybe something a bit more interesting. The dial is just a bit of a non entity.

The rubber strap is OK and is comfortable enough. I’m just not sure if it is for me as it seems to attract lots of dust and fluff to it. So i’ll put it on a nato just as soon as I find one at 22mm. My last complaint is about the crystal and it’s probably not what you are thinking it is going to be. I don’t have a problem with the hardlex at this price point but more so with the spacing between the bezel and the crystal. There is a huge gap there and I can see it being a bit of a dirt trap. Not too much of an issue because as a 200m dive watch, I should be able to safely give it a clean from time to time. It is more a concern that it will act as a funnel to push dirt in under the bezel. All of these things are pretty small negatives as overall I think this is an amazing watch for both style and value.