# Seiko Dolce SACM171 JDM watch review



## amangupta (Nov 6, 2012)

I came across this watch while I was searching for a nicely designed 3 hand watch. Seiko is one of my favorite brands, and as soon as I saw model this on sale at Seiya Japan, I knew my search has ended.

This watch is about telling time, and nothing else. It has a high accuracy quartz movement (+/- 10 sec/year), sitting inside in a small 33.5mm stainless steel case, which is also very thin at 5.3mm. I really dig the two layer case design as it gives the case a small flourish. The crystal is Sapphire, with Anti-Reflective coating which actually does a good job of cutting reflections. Comes with a shiny Caiman leather strap. The whole thing weighs very little, and you can barely feel it when wearing. On the wrist, the watch doesn't feel too small (the thin profile helps), and given the legibility and simplicity of the dial, you find yourself using the watch frequently to tell the time.















The watch only has three hands telling hours, minutes and seconds, and no other complication. The dial is flat with a silver matting treatment which makes it very easy to tell the highly polished hour markers and dauphine hands apart. The minute marking is done using tiny black dots which are printed on the dial. I find that the length of the hands is perfect for the placement of markers. The printing for SEIKO brand and DOLCE model is also done discreetly, and doesn't look gaudy at all. Both the dial and crystal are flat. It has the feel of a budget Vacheron Constantin Patrimony watches, though the finishing of the dial is not as eye catching, and I would have loved if the minute markers were raised metal dots instead of black printed ones.















The movement has been keeping time well, as you would expect from a high accuracy quartz movement. It's within a second of the time on my phone after 3 weeks of running, and any difference could due to the error I introduced while setting the time. The second hand hits the marker about half the time, and is very close the rest of the time. Vibration in the movement of the second hand is only noticeable in the first quadrant of the watch; in the rest of its travel it strides along confidently.

The strap is of middling quality, and I feel it neither adds nor distracts from the look of the watch. It's comfortable to wear and has the right amount of stiffness. The buckle also has a two layer stepped design and looks a bit art deco.









Since this watch is for Japan domestic market only (given the case size, I doubt it would ever be launched in western countries), it had to be bought at specialist dealers. I found the cheapest price at Chino Watch Co., and the buying experience was pretty smooth. They send a Paypal invoice in some hours after you buy the watch online, and I received the delivery in about a week after the payment (in San Francisco, USA). At $356 including shipping, I feel this watch is very good value for money, given the quality of manufacture and real life usability of watch.


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## Nokie (Jul 4, 2011)

Nice review of an elegant looking watch.


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## jrfisher810 (Apr 14, 2016)

This is great, thanks for the review. I have been considering one of these to have as a dress watch because it is thin, not too expensive, and I will be able to just pick it up and wear it when I have a dressy occasion (which is not very often).


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## depwnz (Apr 14, 2016)

Wait, does it have a sweeping second hand?
BTW Chino's service is top-notch for me as well. Quick & responsive follow-up, blazing fast shipping, good packaging with Japanese postcards. 10/10


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## amangupta (Nov 6, 2012)

depwnz said:


> Wait, does it have a sweeping second hand?


No, it has a ticking hand like most quartz watches


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## teslakite (May 18, 2011)

Beautiful watch - I've been thinking of getting this for my GF (or the gold version SACM150, which shares the same case). What's the lug width on this piece? Info on the internet vary from 16-18 mm.


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## Funan (Feb 12, 2017)

Hard to find a classier watch


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## alpinistfan (Nov 5, 2015)

Beautiful and spot on review. The SACM171 wears larger than its measurements suggest. The dial is beautiful and well balanced. It is the ultimate grab and go watch. The dialshiled finishing works really well on preventing any unwanted scuffs/scratches to the polished finish.


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## stone1 (Aug 4, 2016)

Watch is a rare classic, the dial looks good I love it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## BarelyGA-ME06 (Sep 11, 2015)

Thanks for the review! I wasn't familiar with this model before seeing your post. Nice looking piece and great dress size.


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## seandell16 (Oct 8, 2010)

Great review, what would be the best way to replace battery and strap in the Los Angeles area / Southbay ?


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## Pierss (Aug 12, 2016)

Great review. Thank you. It looks really professionally.


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## m0tty (May 4, 2014)

Excellent review, I'm intrigued by this dress watch. Thin, simple, high accuracy, maintenance-free, I'll be thinking seriously about trying out this watch.


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## rollyme (Jun 15, 2016)

Nice qualities for a dress watch, thanks for sharing.


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## amangupta (Nov 6, 2012)

teslakite said:


> Beautiful watch - I've been thinking of getting this for my GF (or the gold version SACM150, which shares the same case). What's the lug width on this piece? Info on the internet vary from 16-18 mm.


17mm straps fit the best. It's an odd size but I was able to find a number of good leather strap options on amazon.


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## appleb (Sep 30, 2015)

How well do the seconds hand hit the markers on this watch? I'm interested in purchasing this watch, but for the price I'd expect it the seconds hands to be aligned cleanly.


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## SamRHughes (Nov 6, 2017)

appleb said:


> How well do the seconds hand hit the markers on this watch? I'm interested in purchasing this watch, but for the price I'd expect it the seconds hands to be aligned cleanly.


On mine, the seconds hand hit the markers "on average." It was neither biased towards one side of the mark or the other, generally speaking. That was good enough for my level of OCD.

The actual tick-to-tick variance was higher than I see on a Casio GG-1000 or OCW-S100. I don't have it anymore, but if I remember correctly it was affected by gravity a bit.


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## Barbababa (Jan 6, 2019)

I may be a bit late here, but do you remember what size buckle this one takes? I know it´s 17mm lug with, but whats on the other end?


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## gman1978 (Aug 24, 2021)

Barbababa said:


> I may be a bit late here, but do you remember what size buckle this one takes? I know it´s 17mm lug with, but whats on the other end?


I have one, the buckle inside measurement is 14mm


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## Barbababa (Jan 6, 2019)

gman1978 said:


> I have one, the buckle inside measurement is 14mm


😂 I was bumping the thread 2 years after the last post and now you do the same, one year after mine 
I have one too, I wear it on a custom Hirsch 17/14


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## RG2107 (Aug 8, 2021)

Old thread but im looking to possibly add this watch to my collection. From videos I've seen the seconds hand is quite off on the crown side of the watch. Is that a thing for all quartz below a certain price range? Don't have too many experiences with quartz but my OCD deffo kicks in with this one. Makes me a bit uneasy this. Love it otherwise though. How bad is it really?


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