Searching for perfection: Seiko Kinetic - Pretty darn close to perfection!

Kalle love to see this kind of videos. Make one of my Sportura 007 that is in your shop for service so that the haters of quartz can appreciate the complexity of this kind of movement assembled by hand at the Grand Seiko studio.
Keep on ticking👍🏻

As a Seiko fan, I totally agree. The Kinetic system is a value compromise - accuracy, cost and reliability. Also nice that Kalle (a true 'time-lord' of the finest timepieces) gives respect to such everyday watches. Good new series Kalle.

I own a Kinetic Direct Drive wich comes with hand winding and power reserve indicator. So it offers the same user interactions like a mechanical movement but with better performance.

I've had a succession of Kinetics since the 1990s. Very reliable. Less dead and characterless than a conventional quartz watch, as Kalle says.

I've a couple manufactured 2013 and 2015 whose batteries are just now failing. Must get them replaced. There's a company in Cheshire, UK, who claim to be able to service any model of Kinetic, back to the year dot. I have a drawerful of interesting really old ones which I must get going again.

Latest one I got was this August - the one model still available new today from Amazon. Seiko recently told me that Kinetics are officially discontinued.

THE PROBLEM with Kinetics is that the battery dies or is badly compromised if you let the charge run down to zero (as with any lithium-ion battery). You do have to wear them regularly - no use throwing them in a drawer for a couple of years.

Out of curiosity, I recently got a couple of Citizen Eco-Drives. They also seem very good. They also can't be left in the dark for too long - battery will similarly die.

The Kinetics and Eco-Drives I have vary in accuracy between +1 sec per 4 days and +1 sec per 7 weeks. Just seems pot luck what you'll get.

You can deduce the production year and month of any Kinetic from the serial number. Info about how to do this online.

Very nice to see your open-minded enthusiasm, Kalle, for the technology of Kinetics, despite your natural abode being the sunlit uplands of exquisite, hand-made mechanical watches!

I always liked these watches but never managed to find one with a case and bracelet that I liked, the integrated models are particularly unattractive imho. I ended up buying a Citizen Ecodrive instead. I often think that Seiko deliberately tries to drive their customers away with many of their business decisions.

Thanks Kalle. Looking forward to more of this series. The wife’s dad watch is the Seiko Kinetic his firm gifted him for service. I serviced and replaced the capacitor and it runs great! Glad to see the movement get some recognition…

Over more than 25 years ago when I was young I bought my first watch; A Seiko kinetic. I don't have it anymore :(

Thanks for this video. Iv have no real interest in quartz movements, so have never really educated myself with them. But Iv wondered what the deal is with the kinetic. Now I know. I think the principal is great. Can see myself picking one up in the future.

My understanding was the Seiko Kinetics were a failed experiment!

What is the cost of swapping batteries on a 7n43 during the lifetime of a kinetic, comparing to the battery/capacitor change? The best, for me, are the 10years battery movents such as the Ronda 715Li.

I recently purchased a used kinetic, and all I had to do was replace the capacitor. Very nice watch, it's too bad they discontinued production.

New to this watch always loved Seiko....found the kinetic 5M42-0059 for a great price been wearing it for a few days now absolutely no issues so far. i"m cool with this watch.

Completely agree, Seiko provides excellent quality for the price. My first Seiko is a Kinetic and love wearing it. It also feels better for the environment- less batteries. 😊

Hi Kalle, you probably know this already, but a capacitor and a rechargeable battery are not the same thing. The physicist inside me hurts every time you say that 😅

A capacitor is an entirely different way of storing energy, with its own advantages and disadvantages. It is not dissimilar to storing energy by pushing 2 magnets together. The same is done within a capacitor, but then with charged particles!

A battery stores energy through its internal chemistry, which works quite differently on the scale of the device.

Seiko indeed used to use true capacitors in their Kinetics, but they've since switched to rechargeable batteries for performance reasons. Confusingly they've kept calling them capacitors! I guess it's become a part of their brand image.

i have some kinetic actura velatura diver padi kinetic

The kinetic is horologically very interesting, however their downfall is that battery likes to be kept above certain level of charge, and you can't maintain that unless you wear it daily...which is often not possible for watch enthusiastics.

The real funny is that they are WIRELESSLY RECHARGEABLE. Seiko made a dedicated charger so that the boutiques and the factory always ship them at full charge; however it is expensive to acquire even then(and impossible now). Enthusiasts have managed to "repurpose" certain electric toothbrush chargers to charge their kinetics. Imagine if they came with that, maybe those would have fared better against eco-drives.

Anyway, if someone runs a kinetic today chances are their teeth are in preem shape, and now you know why :)

Loved seeing this movement get some attention from a master, thanks Kalle I had to get one after I learned of the 'trick' it has up it's sleeve; If it's not recharged within a certain number of hours it goes into sleep mode where the hands stop moving. However, it's still calculating. Whenever you do wake it up by waving it a couple times, the hands automatically move to the correct current time . I get a kick out of this every time ! hah

Replacing the capacitor in my 25+ y.o. Seiko Kinetic (because Seiko refused to do it) is what got me started on my watchmaking journey. 👍

When it comes to fine imitation watches, AMZWATCH delivers. I've bought from them several times, and I've never been let down.

Kalle nice to see your coming into the daylight with SEIKO KINETIC Mandy the SEIKO NUT

Your passion and enthusiasm is inspiring! Thank you!

I've been wearing my Seiko Sports 200 Kinetic diver every day since I bought it in 1996 (it cost £325 back then). I hardly ever have to adjust the time and the capacitor has only been renewed once in that time. Why Seiko don't make Kinetics any more is beyond me.

There isn't any craftsmanship in the seiko r movement!

Once again, interesting perspective... Thanks for sharing Kalle! A question: To change the "capacitor", do you need to spot weld the new part again?

I’ve recently thought about the possibility of using an automatic mechanism to recharge a quartz movement, thinking it was a really interesting idea, turns out Seiko was doing it all along, very nice!

I have a couple of the Pulsar variants of this. I bought the first (YT57b) for use when I was sending my Breitling (Valjoux 7750) for a full service. I then left it on one side for a few years, just checking it occasionally, and was amazed at the timekeeping. I bought another that was new old stock, at a low price (YT58).

The downside of these watches is that you can only charge it via the rotor only, and not using the crown. This is a problem when the cell discharges and double-stepping begins. I have taken to wearing each of the watches once a week to keep them topped up. If ever I let them discharge too much I have to remove the cell and charge it externally.

Since then I have taken up watchmaking as a hobby, specialising in Bulova Accutrons. I now have 29, 28 of which were bought as non-working, and they all work now.

Got 3 of these, 2 Pulsar and 1 Seiko. I have had one of the Pulsars about 20 years and still going strong and spot on accurate. Not only reliable but really comfortable, pressed bracelet is perfectly ok and not heavy. Paid £55 for it and although I have a fair collection of watches Casio to Rolex the Pulsar is the watch I wear on a daily basis and would never part with. Love your videos 👍

I just picked up a used seiko kinetic Ref: SKA380P9 today actually for $20 bucks 🎉🎉

Can someone explain to me the advantages of kinetic vs a solar powered watch? I read that seiko kinetic is kinda unreliable if you are not wearing it regularly as the watch will not keep a charge. I get the impression that it is more novelty. If you want the accuracy of a quartz just get an eco drive I would think. Seems like it would be more reliable too.

My memory of the Seiko Kinetic was during their run they had a very high breakdown rate!

Ik bezit een van deze eerste Seiko's. Het systeem heette toen nog AGS, automatic generating system. Het horloge heeft serienummer onder de 10 dus moet een van eerste zijn. Gekocht in Singapore in de 90er jaren. Helaas heeft de battery het begeven maar na schudden loopt wel.

I thought these were discontinued

I'm in love with these Seiko Kinetic Timepieces. I have over 50 of them at the moment. All calibers 5M23, 5M42, 5M43, 5M62, 5M63, 5M82, 5M84, 5M85, 5D22, 5D44, 5D88, 5J22, 5J32, 7D46, 7D48, 7D56, 7L22 and finally a Pulsar YT57. It's great to see a watchmaker of your caliber, appreciating this technology! There are so many watch enthusiasts, that don't appreciate the complexity involved here. Maybe I'm biased, because of my background in Electronics Technology. You explain things so clearly Kalle, and I'm a subscriber for life.

Nothing said in this video is wrong!

People always say that watches are not necessary anymore. Especially mechanical watches. But I disagree, and for this reason: it is probably MORE necessary for us humans to experience the wonder and joy of mechanical objects than it is for us to tell the time. This has always been so. We need this connection; it’s in our DNA. Just as it is vital for us to experience art and music - other things you might think are not strictly necessary for existence. So, yes, we do need mechanical watches. Just not in the way most people think.

A lot of repairs I get are folks who dont wear them enough or don't understand the way they function. The caps go bad sometimes less than 10 years for some reason.

I would be interested in your opinion comparing the Seiko Kinetic and the Grand Seiko Spring Drive movements! Value, accuracy, reliability, etc. Great vid. Keep at it!

What is your opinion on the "solar" watches.......I have a few: Junghans, Citizen and even Seiko. My experience 20yrs, is that solar is better and of all solar, Seiko is the worst (their capacitors last less (both in years of work and in days of charge). But I am limited to the ones I have.... I do have a Kinetic, it's on the 2nd capacitor but it doesn't charge very well.....7d maximum (after a week of daily use). And as a watch junkie, I want to wear the all......not only this one.

I’ve heard that the kinetic has to be worn a lot to keep the battery from degrading. Doesn’t seem ideal if you have a watch collection or have a job where you don’t walk much. How long should a healthy batter last be for it needs a shake ?

Personally I think these particular Seikos are over done. They could have made things so much simpler by just replacing all those parts associated with the battery charging system with a high capacity lithium cell such as a 2025 size, similar to the arrangement in the Seiko Perpetual but without that complicated resetting up procedure of that model.
A common problem I have seen with those Kinetics is dry out of the lube on that large pinion driving wheel

I absolutely hate these watches.... you might aswell buy a normal quartz watch ... because every 5-8 years it needs to be serviced. Seiko gave the impression that this was an service free eternal watch ... which it isn't.

I had a Seiko Kinetic in the nineties. The condenser failed after the warranty period. The cost of the repair was 1/4 the cost of the watch. It happened a second time about a year later. The Seiko went into the round file, and I bought a pre-owned 1981 Rolex Datejust. It has never failed me, and I have never had it serviced.

SEIKO Kinetic & Automatic Japan
Great Watches 🎉❤🎉❤

Im new to watch and never heard of seiko kinetic before. I was skeptical about it. I found 5M43-0A49 on ebey, got about 15min left until auction end. Try to do some research and found your video. I decided to go back and win the bid. Got the watch and yes the second hand went 2 second as you said the capacitor is dying. So I went and ordered and new capacitor and replaced it myself, pretty easy considering Im not professional. The watch came back to life. Pretty cool movement. Real gem.

Thank you very much for the video and the information concerning the Seiko Kinetic technology. My Kinetic dream watch is the Kinetic Chronograph with 9T82 caliber which was a gift from my mother in december 2000. Now it got its second capacitor a few month ago in 2024. Costs were higher. The capacitor is mounted in the caliber and can not be reached directly open under the rotor. Because of this the service had to be realised in Japan😢...At last now it is working again...😊

Your channel brings the fun back that was destroyed by the depressive other watch channels, even watchmaker channels. Thank you. I already started to wear very well done china-made? fake watches of big brands, well working surprisingly and started to give a damn about the real watches and their fake stories at wrong prices. I loved and have worn mechanical watches since I was a small boy (not collecting). Although Quartz I am not a fan of it as my big day presents of my parents (Quartz) basically failed soon after warranty end, 6 months, then. The Kinetic I remember when it came out and I was interested in it, but with proven unreliability of Quartz (I thought then), a no go (then).

I would love a video on the Seiko Springdrive
Sorry I just found your videos on the Springdrve

I have a SEIKO Premier 7D48-0AA0. I bought it in 2006 and it still works perfectly on its original capacitor. 18 years this month. I'm a little puzzled as to why others are saying the capacitors need to be changed so often.

Never buy kinetic! it is a joke. You have to wear it all time and if you dont you will not have a working watch. It takes several days to bring it back in condition where it is running straight. I have more watches and therefore I do not wear it every day. I had issues with it from the beginning and it was around Seiko in Munich to replace the capacitor on guarantee. I cannot recommend it at any point, sorry!