Seiko & Citizen Watch Forum Message Archive

As LesZ has written in his wonderful reviews of his Seikos, the company seems to delight in making 100's of dial variations of Seiko 5's and divers.

There was a debate on two different forums recently about a guy's SKX011J. Everyone was telling him it wasn't 'Made in Japan,' because it didn't say "Made in Japan" on the dial at 6 o'clock even if it did say "Japan" on the back case.

Wayne says if it is an SKX011"J", then it was made in Japan, if it is an SKX011"K", it's not.

The guy said his WAS a "J", and had Japan on the caseback, but still everyone was telling him it wasn't made in Japan.

That seems clear. But, it gets more tricky. Of course, SKX#### isn't written on the watch, that is just a little paper tag that comes with it in some cases.

I've seen these divers with "Made in Japan" on the dial at 6 o'clock, and "cased in Hong Kong" etched into the caseback. I've seen the same with ones which say "Singapore" on the dial and "Hong Kong" on the back.

I've seen a lot which don't say nothin'. LezZ said his came with a paper sticker on the back which said "Made in Singapore."

It seems to me, Randall, that you COULD get one that said nothing on the dial or case, but had a Japan 7S26 movement inside, which was actally cased in Singapore, Hong Kong, or China! In fact, I think it's likely.

Or, possibly, the other way around, one which has a Singapore-made movement, cased in Japan and says "Japan" on the caseback. Seems far fetched, but ... I think only someone from Seiko could tell us for sure.

As Don says, with the old mechanicals (pre-7S26) you KNOW they were made in Japan.

Well, whatever the case may be, these are fine watches with a great movement for a very reasonable price.

Regarding my post above, I recently purchased a "Made in Japan" SKX007J. In my opinion, the case finish, bezel action & screw in crown, are much nicer than on my SKX007K. I used to think otherwise. But, I really like my Singapore-made one too.

As for difference in the movements in each, I don't know. I plan on taking the backs off and looking at them in the not too distant future, then I'll post some photos and my impressions.

Ryan