I had two in the last year or so, a Solar Tuna and a Arnie reissue. The first one ran constantly at +0.4spd; the second was better at +0.3spd (both within the +-15spm). As a bonus, the Arnie had the second hand hitting precisely all the markers.

 

In my experience Citizen Eco Drive movements are more accurate.Having owned 3+ of each the Citizens are consistently better time keepers.
Another factor to consider with Seiko solar is that quite a few models have dials that you can see the solar sections in the dial at certain angles.

 

Seiko's solar technology is at least a decade behind Citizen's Eco-Drive, at least inasmuch as the appearance of the dials are concerned. Most of the dials on Seiko solar watches seem plasticky to me.

 

I have a SNE095 that I got from Joma in 2019. It would not keep running so they swapped it with another and it has been working fine. I keep it under a lamp in my home office and seems to keep charged, I use it when I go to the store or run errands. It is fast about 100 seconds per year or about 9 sec/month. It has the V158 movement.

I bought a Pulsar solar in 2000 (I thought it was later, but my wife said it was 2000) and I wore that until it looked so beat up I bought the solar and a couple of other watches. The Pulsar still works and is fast about 170 sec/year.

 

Mine has been absolutely bulletproof and very accurate. I wish there were more models actually.

 

My SSC017 is decent. Between the beginning and ending of Daylight Saving Time last year it was slow 150 seconds which calculates to -.63 spd which is pretty good in my book. Sure, at the end of the period I would be late a couple minutes but it's difficult to argue with less than 1 second per day.

 

I haven't actually measured my SSC017P but back of the envelope, that sounds very similar to mine. I don't wear it a lot, it stays in the watch box under the light, and it loses about three minutes a year. Not bad, as you say, but that said, it is one of the least accurate solar watches I own. The Citizens always run a little fast, but less than a minute a year.

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but to me solar tech always seemed dumb and more like a marketing thing.

It can be very useful for watches with great power consumption, with things like auto-light, radio sync etc, but on a normal quartz watch what’s the point ?

It is really, really easy to make a watch that lasts at least 10 years on a battery. Many brands like Casio, ETA, Ronda, Miyota have normal quartz movement that can go 10 years or more on a single battery.

Solar batteries can last between 10-20 years before they need replacement.

So I look at the replacement batteries price. Batteries for solar watches in the part of the world I’m in go for 30-50 dollars, while normal batteries (for those watches that can last 10 years or more) go for 2-3 dollars.

A solar watch would also be more expensive given the other parts, brand etc are similar

I’m also looking at the process of replacing the batteries, most of the times it’s more difficult with higher risc for the solar.

And last, after 10 years or so you absolutely NEED to change the gaskets on the watch anyway if you still want some protection from water, moisture, dust, otherwise i’s just a matter of time until the electronics will die or the mechanics will seize.

So to me, it makes much more sense for a grab and go watch with no service requirement for a long time to get one of the 10 years battery watches. It’l go for 10-12 years and when it stops, you replace the battery and the gaskets for much less than a single rechargable battery. You’ll also have no worry of it dying because you kept it in a box for a few months (all the ones I have/had would not go anywhere near what they estimate without light)

I very much agree with some of your observations, but disagree about some of the conclusions.

I don't think I would ever buy a solar watch that was not a chronograph-- I did buy one, and was gifted another, I don't wear either of them. All my non-chrono watches are mechanical, so I hear you about the power consumption. The watches I use for driving, eMTB, skiing, surfing, etc. at twilight are almost always chronos, and usually have lights. And I use the chrono function a lot.

I get what you're saying about a 10-year service interval-- and thanks for saying this out loud, because most of us, particularly if we're rotating watches, don't need to service our watches every three years or every five.

What you may not be factoring into the equation is the kind of damage a conventional battery can do to a movement if you just leave it in a watch for a year or so without changing it. And it's really easy to do that.

My beloved Seiko Sports 100-- from the pre-solar days-- was destroyed by this. Multiple attempts to clean and fix it have failed. I may try once more, but this turned out to be a much more immediate and practical danger than gaskets failing, which has never happened to me, and I swim with all my watches. Perhaps contemporary watches are much better at this.

So some great observations here, but I disagree with the conclusion you draw from them.

I was not that impressed by the Eco-Drive technology I had. None of them lasted anywhere near what they estimated in the dark, and the one that I wore the most and always had a good charge, it completely died after 3 years. Died as in the movement seized, mechanically. I had another one that I got used, I don’t know for sure how old it was but I estimated it was about 7 years old. After a year, the battery died and I had to replaced, paid for it as much as I paid for the watch, and I did the replacement.

On the plus side, the dials looked great to disguise the solar panel (all of them had textured dials), the seconds had hit the markers almost perfectly, and the time keeping was better in all of them compared to some Seiko quartz (not solar) I had.

I am more impressed with Casio, I have a few solar that seem to do much better in keeping the power reserve when not exposed to light for some periods, and all of them still work great, one of them is already 14 years old and going strong.

I have no experience with Seiko solar so I cannot comment. I would also say that everything I wrote is just my experience based on a limited experience with just a few watches from the brands, it may or may not be representative of how the brands perform.

I agree r.e. Casio power reserve, but I've only had one Eco-Drive fail, and I have, like, 15 of them. One of them is 15 years old, chronograph, and has never been serviced, keeps fantastic time.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I can live with a watch that is off 1-2 minuets at the end of a year. I have been wearing automatics for the last few years and they are not that tight at all.
The Seiko SNE215 has my eye but I have not pulled the trigger yet. I am trying to get a closer look at the face to see how it looks at an angle. Some have mentioned that you can see the solar cells so I would like to get a better look.
I looked at Citizen as well but most seem to be 41mm or better. 41mm I feel is just a bit big on my wrist. I would prefer not to go bigger than 39mm.

 

My Safarnie charges well sitting on a table by a window behind a translucent curtain for it's always charged at 100%. The Astron 5X's battery is hit by daily synchronizations and had to be placed before the curtain to compensate for this circumstance.

 

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but to me solar tech always seemed dumb and more like a marketing thing.

It can be very useful for watches with great power consumption, with things like auto-light, radio sync etc, but on a normal quartz watch what’s the point ?

It is really, really easy to make a watch that lasts at least 10 years on a battery. Many brands like Casio, ETA, Ronda, Miyota have normal quartz movement that can go 10 years or more on a single battery.

Solar batteries can last between 10-20 years before they need replacement.

So I look at the replacement batteries price. Batteries for solar watches in the part of the world I’m in go for 30-50 dollars, while normal batteries (for those watches that can last 10 years or more) go for 2-3 dollars.

A solar watch would also be more expensive given the other parts, brand etc are similar

I’m also looking at the process of replacing the batteries, most of the times it’s more difficult with higher risc for the solar.

And last, after 10 years or so you absolutely NEED to change the gaskets on the watch anyway if you still want some protection from water, moisture, dust, otherwise i’s just a matter of time until the electronics will die or the mechanics will seize.

So to me, it makes much more sense for a grab and go watch with no service requirement for a long time to get one of the 10 years battery watches. It’l go for 10-12 years and when it stops, you replace the battery and the gaskets for much less than a single rechargable battery. You’ll also have no worry of it dying because you kept it in a box for a few months (all the ones I have/had would not go anywhere near what they estimate without light)

 

There are lots more solar / eco drive watches to choose from than quartz watches that take a ten year battery AFAIK

In fact when I was looking to get a ten year battery watch I found the range quite narrow

 

Yeah, but solar watches, Seiko, Citizen, and Casio are cool!
So there 😁

 

While on the topic of seiko solars, what is the battery life of solar chronograph if you leave the chronograph running.

And I did a quick search and didn't find it, is there a solar, that isn't a chronograph that has the higher rate sweep.

 

I found that the Seiko solars liked a bit more sun than their rivals from the likes of Casio and Citizen but it is only a bit and nothing to be concerned about.

 

I was not that impressed by the Eco-Drive technology I had. None of them lasted anywhere near what they estimated in the dark, and the one that I wore the most and always had a good charge, it completely died after 3 years. Died as in the movement seized, mechanically. I had another one that I got used, I don’t know for sure how old it was but I estimated it was about 7 years old. After a year, the battery died and I had to replaced, paid for it as much as I paid for the watch, and I did the replacement.

On the plus side, the dials looked great to disguise the solar panel (all of them had textured dials), the seconds had hit the markers almost perfectly, and the time keeping was better in all of them compared to some Seiko quartz (not solar) I had.

I am more impressed with Casio, I have a few solar that seem to do much better in keeping the power reserve when not exposed to light for some periods, and all of them still work great, one of them is already 14 years old and going strong.

I have no experience with Seiko solar so I cannot comment. I would also say that everything I wrote is just my experience based on a limited experience with just a few watches from the brands, it may or may not be representative of how the brands perform.

 

Is the V158 a good watch movement?

I've had a few watches with it over the years and never any issues.

 

First off, I love my Seiko Arnie Solar. I‘m pretty sure the solar battery would last a fair bit longer than 10-15 years. Yes you will have to service and pressure test watches before you would need a new battery (if you want to guarantee 200m water resistance). Truth is after 10 years even if you service a dive watch I wouldn’t dive with it, unless you see with 100% certainty the results of the pressure tests. So really for normal wear (not swimming) you could keep a solar Seiko for years past any replaceable battery watch if the battery health is kept well. I would research or reach out to Seiko about solar battery longevity.

If you are buying the watch for the movement, look at watches with all metal jeweled movements. My Union Terminal watch running a 5 jeweled Swiss Ronda quartz is rated for 7 years, but it also has a power save function when you pull the crown out. So will probably exceed that easily considering I store it with the crown out and only set it when I’m wearing it.

 

Truth is after 10 years even if you service a dive watch I wouldn’t dive with it, unless you see with 100% certainty the results of the pressure tests. So really for normal wear (not swimming) you could keep a solar Seiko for years past any replaceable battery watch if the battery health is kept well. I would research or reach out to Seiko about solar battery longevity.

I don't think a chronograph is the right watch to dive with anyway as you generally can't use the pushers under water or at least shouldn't as well as the dial being a bit busy for immediate recognition of time and the relation of the minute hand to the bezel. You really want to know when you're done with a decompression stop and can move on. Trying to pick the minute hand out of a dial full of sub-dials can be a bit daunting in the dark or greatly reduced light.

But any dive watch needs to be pressure checked regularly to be on the safe side though a watch is really only a backup these days and should never be your only method of time keeping under water. At least not where your life is concerned. So if the only watch I had was a chrono, I guess I'd go under with it but I'd prefer an SKX, Sumo, or some other less-busy dial. Even my SUN023 Kinetic GMT Diver is easier to see at a glance than the SSC017.

 

Vision get worse with age. Thankfully what hindered me when I was young, for my left eye was myopic about 4 dioptres, now helps me when looking at small objects and characters. I'm glad you can retake all the activities you like @Catalyzt

 

Posted this on another solar thread the other day, but thought it would apply here as well….

This is my current set of solar watches. From left to right in bottom photo: Casio GW-M5610, Citizen BN0118-55E, Seiko SNE499, Citizen BN0100-51E, Seiko SNE107, Citizen BN0151-09L and Seiko SNE279. (Pardon the poor quality photos)

I used to keep them in a glass topped watch box in my bedroom across the room from a window. All my Citizens have the E168 Eco-Drive movement. Never once have any of the Citizens gone into the low power mode (second hand skips every other second). All my Seiko’s have the V157 or V158 (day/date version on the SNE107) solar quartz movement. The SNE279 is my oldest at 6 years and never had any issues. The SNE107 started doing the low power tick repeatedly just over a year ago and would stop occasionally. I charged it for a few days but still had issues. I almost threw it out, but leaving it a window for weeks seems to have cured it’s problem. I used to keep all my watches in a glass topped watch box in my bedroom, but I was afraid they weren’t getting enough light.

I decided to move all of them to my bedroom window where I use these Orbis Morgan watch stands to charge (sadly no longer available). I live up north in Canada where we have short daylight hours in the winter and long summer daylight hours. The SNE107 has been fine since then (it’s a 2016 build according to the serial number if I recall correctly). So not sure if it just needed a really good charge to keep going or the battery has degraded. I have the, facing the glass window and they seem to get plenty of indirect light without being blasted by the sun all day.

I would say the general consensus on this thread is that Citizen Eco-Drive is generally considered to be more reliable. All my Citizen E168 movements have a claimed 6 month power reserve on a full charge, but none have ever gone into low power mode. My Seiko V157/158 movements have a claimed 10 month power reserve on a full charge. Only the SNE107 has stopped or gone into low charge mode. I’ve had the Casio GW-M5610 for over a year and it’s always at full on the battery charge level indicator. There’s many members of the forum who buy dead on arrival solar watches and revive them just by putting them in a window for a few weeks. So I’d say the technology is generally very reliable (of course there will be some duds out there).

Not scientific by any means, but there are many threads on this forum that claim the Citizen Eco-Drive models usually outlast the Seiko solar quartz movements. Lots of people say their Seiko solars quit in between 3-5 years while the Citizen Eco-Drive counterparts easily did about 10 years. So who knows the truth? For watches that cost $200-$300 I’m happy if they last 5 years. It’s is probably more cost effective to replace the whole watch than service them with either Seiko or Citizen (a service on a solar quartz diver is about $150-$200 with either Citizen or Seiko). My tastes also usually change so I’d want something else anyhow. I appreciate the accuracy and durability of quartz and don’t have to worry about an expensive service like the many mechanical watches I own.

Citizen definitely makes much better dials. The solar cell is not visible on any of them that I own (nor the two Citizen Eco-Drive watches my wife owns). On all my Seiko’s, you can turn the dial a certain way and see the solar cell underneath the dial. It’s disappointing Seiko can’t hide the solar cell as well as Citizen can.

 

I stopped by the local Seiko AD today and looked at the solar watch. They had one which caught my eye but I didn't catch the model number. Although their watches sit in a lighted case, the watch was running at two second intervals which did not inspire confidence. To be fair might just need a good sunshine bath to restore the cell but when buying new I find no reason to compromise and take a chance.
I left the shop disappointed and thinking it over I will go with a quarts model which is just fine with me. Thinking of the titanium SUR371.