At 11mm thick, it’s got the compact dimensions to make it wearable with suit and shirt cuffs, but there’s enough heft for it to stand up to significant abuse. Seiko opted for its own in-house Hardlex crystal instead of acrylic.

It’s not quite as hard or scratch resistant as sapphire, but it’s far more durable than mineral glass and looks better, too.

The Crown

Seiko’s tradition of placing the crown at four o’clock continues here, but there are a few quirks that have to be noted at this price point. There is no manual-wind feature here, which means that the watch has to be shaken gently to engage the automatic winder in the movement.

That’s probably a good thing, as the crown is very small and somewhat hard to grip. There’s also no screw-down functionality here, which limits water resistance to only 30 meters, so the watch will be fine in the rain but should stay out of the pool.

Stock Strap

Now, we come to the strap, which is easily the SNK809’s weakest point. It’s not surprising to see a cheap canvas strap at this price point, but it is surprising just how bad the strap actually is.

The black nylon material looks and feels cheap, which clashes with the mostly premium feel of the watch itself. It’s rough and uncomfortable out of the box, and can snag on clothing and other surfaces.

After a few days of wear, it becomes softer and more comfortable, but it’s worth looking at an affordable replacement. The good news is that the SNK809 looks great on a variety of straps, including rubber and leather watch straps.

We didn’t say all of that as a suggestion that Seiko should have fitted a bracelet to the SNK809. Budget watches can be great at many things, but bracelets at the lowest price point can feel like they’re made out of tweezers.