SEIKO Presage Automatic Ice Blue Cocktail Time "Sky Diving" SRPB43J1

This is a very striking watch, which catches the light alluringly, showing off the sunburst dial to full effect. The blue needle second hand is an elegant touch. The ice blue colour is subtle but pleasing. The movement is utilitarian, but perfectly acceptable at this price point and the finish and large signed crown nicely done. The only real negative is the ghastly strap, a shiny blue patent leather effort which is both stiff , uncomfortable and I'd have to say slightly embarrassing!. Happiness is instantly restored if this is replaced with a quality blue suede leather strap.

This watch was purchased as a present for someone else, so unable to give a fair review. However the recipient seemed very pleased with the purchase, which arrived very quickly and well packaged, and included all documentation, manual and guarantee paperwork.

The main point about this watch is it is gorgeous. The mechanism I received was fairly ordinary, not particularly accurate but acceptable. It's a Seiko movement with Hack and hand wind, this is an improvement on some of the previous Seiko automatic movements in that you can stop the second hand in position and more accurately set the time (Hacking) the hand wind is standard on most Swiss automatics but newish to Seiko automatics this enables you to wind the main power spring with the crown.The strap is leather and VERY shiny with a deployment buckle which will preserve the life of the fitted strap, as you won't need to bend the leather so often to fasten it.I've seen a lot of youtube reviews on this watch and in particular the most noted moan was about the strap, well I LIKE IT ... but I bought a replacement to preserve the original.Pros:* 2 Year warranty* Great price at only £329 (I paid less)* Gorgeous dial and hands* Very elegant, definitely a dress watch brilliant for wearing everyday in the office* medium sized 40mm give or take, so not huge* Nice leather strap* Deployment mechanism* Hacking and hand winding movement* Water resistant to 5atm (the strap isn't water resistant)* 20mm lugs so aftermarket choice of straps and bracelets is hugeCons* No luminous dots so not visible at night* fairly average accuracy* Not always easy to read as the hands are silver on a silver (ish) background* Arrives in a very cheap Seiko box, no presentation styleHighly recommended overall

It's a great looking Seiko watch but beware the strap. It's very shiny, almost like patent leather, not quite sure what they were thinking.