Alright, let’s talk about this Seiko perpetual calendar watch I got. The one with five hands. It wasn’t my first Seiko, definitely won’t be my last, but this one caught my eye because I was just tired, plain tired, of fiddling with the date on my other watches. You know how it is, end of the month, especially those short ones, gotta pull the crown, click, click, click. Got old.
So, I saw this perpetual calendar thing. Sounded fancy. Five hands too. Looked complicated, but the promise was “set it and forget it”. Yeah, right, I thought, but I was curious enough. Didn’t buy it online, went to a proper shop. Wanted to feel it first. Felt solid, good weight, typical Seiko build – nothing flimsy. The dial looked busy with the extra hand and markings, but kinda cool, like a tool watch almost.
Getting Started – The “Fun” Part
Took it home. Box, papers, the usual stuff. Then came the setting. Oh boy. The manual was thick, like a mini-novel, and the print? Tiny. Needed my reading glasses, for sure. It wasn’t just setting the time. You had to tell this thing the date, the month, the day of the week, and even the leap year. This is where those five hands came into play, and it wasn’t immediately obvious.
I remember pulling the crown out to the specific clicks. You had to use the main second hand, which usually just ticks away, but in setting mode, it points to the month or the leap year status. Took me a good half hour, maybe more. Fiddling, checking the manual, fiddling again. Nearly gave up and thought I’d just set the time and deal with the date later. But no, I bought it for the perpetual thing, so I pushed through. Felt like defusing a bomb, honestly. One wrong move and you start over. Finally, got everything synced up. Hour, minute, second hand ticking, the little pointer hand showing the date, another hand pointing to the day. Felt like I’d accomplished something major.
Living With It Day-to-Day
Wearing it was easy after that initial setup hassle. It just worked. February rolled into March, 28 days, boom, next day it showed March 1st. No adjustment needed. Same for the 30-day months. It was actually kinda satisfying seeing it just know the date. The five hands? Well, you got the usual hour, minute, second. Then the date pointer, which I liked better than a little window sometimes. And the fifth hand showed the day of the week. Pretty useful, glance down and know it’s Tuesday without pulling out my phone.
It kept good time, quartz accuracy, nothing surprising there. Took a few knocks, I’m not gentle with my stuff. Got banged against a door frame once, hard enough to make me wince. Checked the watch, not a scratch on the crystal, still ticking. Good old Seiko toughness.
- The Perpetual Calendar: This was the star. It just worked flawlessly for years. Leap years included.
- The 5 Hands: Made the dial busy but functional. Date pointer and day hand were genuinely useful additions.
- Build Quality: Solid, reliable. Took daily wear like a champ.
The Catch? Battery Changes
Now, here’s the thing they don’t shout about. The battery. Eventually, it died. Maybe five, six years later? Can’t recall exactly. Took it to a local guy, quick swap, right? Wrong. He changed the battery, handed it back. Time was right, but the date was completely off. The perpetual calendar memory got wiped or scrambled. Turns out, you need to do a specific reset procedure after a battery change, basically re-teach the watch the date, month, year, leap year all over again. That mini-novel manual? Yeah, needed it again. Or better yet, take it to someone who knows these specific Seiko movements. Found a proper watch repair shop later, they knew the drill. Cost a bit more than the quick battery swap place, but they got it right.
So, Was It Worth It?
Yeah, I’d say so. Despite the setup headache and the battery change needing a bit more care, the convenience of never setting the date was fantastic. It looked good, felt tough, and did exactly what it promised. Those five hands gave it character. It wasn’t just another simple watch. It had a job to do, keeping track of time and the weirdness of the calendar, and it did it well. It’s still kicking around somewhere, probably needs another battery now I think about it. Might have to dig out that manual again…
