Sea King watch review

6/8/2018 4 Comments

Sea King SK-1 300M Dive Watch Review

Sea King is a new microbrand which released quite recently on the marketplace via their webshop. The watch is around the $500 pricepoint and has a lot to offer for the money with quality movement and components alike. Here on the Watch Addict channel I try to find watches from Smaller brands offering something out of the ordinary or just watches that punch above their pricepoint, which I believe the Sea King does.

Official Webpage - www.SeaKingWatches.com

Case

The SK01 is cut from 316L stainless steel and has a 44MM case diameter. Too big? No , considering it only has a lug to lug width of 49.5MM it wears much smaller than a true 44MM watch. In comparison this watch wears really like a 42MM watch. The thickness comes in at 12MM and 13MM if you include the domed sapphire crystal which rests above this black dial. The sides are finely brushed while the slight Omega style 22MM lugs spiral with a polished finish which looks great. The crown is over at the typical 3:00 position with no crown guards, but is quite easy to function. This case design would of looked odd with crown guards so Im glad they left that design aspect out. This is a true dive tool watch so we get a very useable 300M of water resistance with that screw down crown/caseback for diving, snorkeling, swimming, or whatever water activity you may be doing. A nice little touch is the crown Sea King logo in a crisp matte finish on the crown. Bezel action is fairly decent with no play whatsoever nor alignment issues, each click is solid and precise as a true diver should be.

Easy To Grasp at any angle Coin Edge Bezel

Caseback is fairly simple and screwed down with some specifications and a matted/brushed logo. You can also see here the solid end links from the bracelet, which Is a must!

Dial

There is no hiding the fact this watch certainly takes hints from the older Omega Seamaster 300 ( The one Ray Donovan wore ) but that is not a bad thing. The dial is straight black with a hint of red on the long sweeping seconds hand and “Automatic” printed in red above 6:00. Its the small details like these red accents that really make a watch likeable. Large C3 SuperLuminova filled markers framed in a polished silver outline allow for easy legibility of time and use of the rotating 120 Click ceramic dive bezel. If theres one thing that this watch doesn’t need any more of , it’s lume. Even the polished ceramic bezel is lumed which shines a greenish hue along with the white markers. At night it really looks spectacular and lasts quite a while. Since this is using a SW200 Swiss Made automatic movement, our date window is at the 3:00 with a white background to match the indices and fine minute markers.

Movement

Its quite funny that the last watch I reviewed and really liked as well sported the Swiss Made Selitta SW200 movement. This movement is said to function better and more efficiently than its friend, the ETA-2824. It beats at 28,800 BPH, contains 26 jewels, and has hacking and hand wind capability of course. You can expect around 38 hours of true power reserve from the SK-01.

Bracelet

One of the nice features of the SK01 is that they certainly did not take any shortcuts when designing the bracelet. It is a solid screw link bracelet made of 316L steel and ALSO contains a beautiful ratchet divers extension which operates with ease. The clasp is also signed for small detailing. Now whether you dive or not, the extension is useful as you can adjust it in increments for on the go sizing if your wrist happens to swell up in the heat or shrink in the cold. This is somewhat similiar to the glidelock function on my Submariner, only they are designed quite different. For my 6.5 inch wrist I removed 5 links with ease thanks to the screws which I had no problem removing and putting back.

Conclusion

The Sea King is certainly a well constructed timepiece all around from the smooth brushed finish to the bracelet and polished tops. It was very hard for me to find something actually wrong with the SK-01 because it was executed quite well. I was a bit scared when I saw “44MM” at first before receiving the watch, but once on the wrist I was wowed at how perfectly it conformed and actually fit me. At a $519 pricepoint, only $125 or so above most microbrands using NH35 movements, I think it certainly will be desireable and offers a lot for the money. Then again there are microbrands using lesser quality movements such as 9015 Miyotas and charging more than this watch. If you like the overall aesthetic and small details this watch has to offer, I say go for it - I doubt you will be dissapointed.

4 Comments

Majir

6/10/2018 04:20:09 pm

Very nice review my friend looks great! Look forward to more nice watches

lamar g

6/12/2018 08:15:37 am

I like the look of the watch and all but the strap would of liked a taper i would need to put it on a nato

Tom

11/29/2018 05:41:37 am

This is a great buy .considering iv just bought a watch because it has a double dome for $420 and iv still got to put a coin edge bezel and ceramic vintage sub insert ... do i feel a prat .this watch has it all and proofed to 300m .. looks better than anything iv seen costing upwards of several grand ... i want one .classy

Dave D

3/6/2019 08:10:53 pm

I’ve been racking my brain since ordering this based on some comments by some fellow watch fiends. Nobody knew much about it so I said I would order it, as long as it didn’t take 4-5 weeks from China. Well I found out that they had a stash in North America and Priority Mail was just $7 or $8 extra. So I ordered this.

But for two days I was thinking that it was impulsive. Yet I have been selling of many of my watches, even if I loved their look, but I didn’t actually wear them that much. Why have 5 Ferraris in a storage facility if you only drive them 2 days per year and you pay to have the battery charged and the engine run every two weeks to keep the drivetrain fresh.

I had a bunch of watches like this, and although painful I have sold most of them. Now I really dislike the reliable but noisy Miyota 9015. It seems like 2 of 3 watch movements have unacceptably loud rotors. So I thought those were the next to go. I must note that the 9015, when adjusted is an excellent time keeper and I don’t buy that it’s the one way winding causing the problem, I believe it’s low quality bearings or lack of enough bearing in the rotor complex.

So I have a smaller 40mm NTH mil-sub that may end up going, although everything else on the NTH is perfect. Back to buyers remorse, maybe... I have looked at the Infinity from the consistent Obris Morgan and while I would have to buy a used watch these look pretty good initially, but much heavier. OM is a solid bet, but I would probably wait for one with a less scratched up bracelet than one I’m currently looking at. Lastly there’s Manchester Watch Works. Like the Infinity, this larger mil-sub diver uses an ETA 2824-2 Elaborated movement though only the first run of Infinities used Incabloc though I find that a bit hard to believe as all elaborated movements should use Incabloc at minimum if not nivachoc.

The MWW Ascent Beluga II looks pretty astounding with black or blue dials and I could buy one new for the exact same money. Like the Infinity, the SK-1, the Beluga II is a very small production. 50 black dials and 50 blue dials. The Sea King is 100 pieces. Apparently there hasn’t been much publicity or word of mouth as this watch has been out for 6 months and I was able to find one new from the factory.

Your article has tempered my cautions a bit now. If worse comes to worse, I will buy another Steinhart Ocean One black with Aluminum bezel insert and just change the hands over, like I have done with a previous watch I sold to a friend. I hope I am not making a mistake selling off the NTH. I just need a beefier watch though. It will be worn without much caution, though I am still fairly gentle with most of my divers.

I have a PVDed Glycine CS for salty-sandy surf water. Thanks for writing a very thorough article on this. MWW would probably be my second choice, with Infinity coming in last because of its bulk and having to wait and hope to find one that’s not shredded. I do have another 1000m diver, in bronze. Let’s not kid each other. I may go 11 meters deep diving for shells while snorkeling. I’m not really into SCUBA. The on,y wetsuit I would wear is a shorty suit for long boarding in Oregon or Santa Cruz and that’s only because I just turned 50!

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