Perhaps my greatest source of shame is the fact that I'm a watch guy. What can I say? I like having a pretty, shiny thing on my wrist that tells the time without also telling me how many unread emails I have. Also, unlike smartwatches, a real watch will still work in another decade, even if you buy a relatively cheap one. Since I'm also into cars, you'd think I'd be all over Seiko's upcoming Datsun 240Z special editions, but man, you can get so many watches for $1,150, and for that money, I really think you can do better.
I mean, if all you want is a Seiko with a Datsun logo on it, then this might be your best bet. You could also save $155 and just buy the non-Datsun version. It's the same watch, but it doesn't have the Datsun logo on it. And the watch itself seems solid. Even with the 4:30 date window, it's the best-looking Seiko release I've seen in a long time, and the movement has a 72-hour power reserve, which means, if you take it off when you get home on Friday, it should still be ticking away come Monday morning. It also comes with a sapphire crystal and 200 meters of water resistance, so it'll pretty much go anywhere and do anything. The bracelet option even looks decent, which you usually don't get from Seiko.
That said, they're calling it a Speedtimer, and yet it isn't a chronograph. Instead, the inner bezel works as a countdown timer, which no one is actually going to use. Just like the Alpinist, I also get the feeling that inner bezel is going to move around constantly, meaning you'll probably mostly use the second crown to realign the bezel instead of actually counting time with it. Oh, and it's also still a Seiko that costs more than $1,000. That's a seriously competitive price point, with more non-Seiko options than I could possibly hope to count. Maybe the world's biggest Datsun fans will see the value, but I just don't.
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Mechanical Chronograph
That first watch isn't the only Datsun 240Z special edition that Seiko plans to release in September, though. You can also get a chronograph version with either a mechanical or solar movement, and while it doesn't have room for the Datsun logo, at least this version is a chronograph. You probably won't use that function regularly, but it does give you the option of actually timing laps and such, which fits the Speedtimer name and history far better. And while you can find a million cheaper quartz chronographs, mechanical chronographs are much less common.
You do lose half the water resistance of the other Speedtimer, and the power reserve drops to only about 45 hours, but if there's a Seiko x Datsun collab worth buying, it's probably the mechanical chronograph. Seiko has history with the Pogue, and you get an actual in-house mechanical chronograph movement. Except the price on this thing is an eye-watering $3,200, an entire $700 more than what Seiko charges for the non-Datsun Speedtimer mechanical chronograph. Maybe you like the black more than the stainless steel, but do you like it $700 more? I highly doubt that.
Plus, at $3,200, you're well into pre-owned Omega Speedmaster territory. The Seiko is probably more unique and isn't a dork watch for nerds (sorry, Speedmaster fans, but you know it's true). And yet, every single person who sees you wearing your shiny new Seiko Speedtimer is going to ask you if it's an Omega, and then it'll turn into a whole thing where you have to explain it's actually a Seiko, but it's an incredibly nice Seiko and arguably a better deal than the Speedmaster, but no it's not really a Speedmaster copy, and you promise it's a real watch.
But hey, if you're obsessed with Datsun and Seiko, here you go. You can finally combine your two loves (even though it's probably best to let watches be watches and cars be cars).
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