Seiko Kinetic SKJ001P (5M43-0A40)

My collection of Seiko watches include this Kinetic diver known as SKJ001P and/or 5M43-0A40. I've written before that I really don't collect divers but there are certain watches that present themselves and I don't easily pass up the opportunity to acquire those I can establish a link to. I have had a fascination for AGS/Kinetic watches since the 1990s when I resided in Japan while I was a post grad student in Yokohama.

Dial showing date and day features as well as the functioning bezel.

Side view showing the screw down crown and the power reserve button

The other side view

Another look at the crown and power reserve button. These watches originally had a 7 to 14-day power reserve when they first came out. So far, I've monitored the watch and it seems to have a very long reserve. I assume that the seller had the capacitor changed and this one probably has a power reserve of at least over a month (my Landmaster has a 6-month reserve!).

Original jubilee bracelet with lug size 22mm

Case back showing the model and serial number

The lumes still work perfectly

Close-up of the bottom of the dial showing the watch model

Wrist shot

According to the online Seiko date finder, this watch was manufactured in January 1997 (21 years as of this writing), which is right on the button for when this watch came out as part of the 2nd generation of Seiko Kinetic divers' watches. I was also in Japan at the time and it was my first full winter in Yokohama. I recall these watches were quite expensive then (about a third of our monthly stipend for the really good model watches) and the models released for the Japanese market were still branded AGS instead of Kinetic. The Kinetics were for the international market and you could get them in most stores offering duty free items in Akihabara in Tokyo or elsewhere. I haven't had the water resistance tested for swimming but at least it should offer water resistance in more common situations such as washing my hands or walking in the rain.

 

[I have unloaded this watch last March 2021. It was sold almost immediately after I put it up for sale.]

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