SEIKO CONCEPTUAL SUR353P1 BLUE DIAL WOMEN WATCH

What is the procedure for setting the calendar?

Both indications come off the same crown, at its halfway position: turning one way steps the date along, turning the other way moves the weekday. The reliable method is to stop one place short on each, then draw the crown fully out and run the hands forward until the right date and weekday appear together, which has the useful side effect of proving the watch is on the morning side of the clock rather than the evening. Time last, then crown home. One timing rule applies: Seiko's general instructions for analogue watches say not to alter the calendar between 9:00 pm and 4:00 am, the stated reason being that it may not change properly if you do. Seiko issues no separate manual for calibre 6N33, so that is general guidance rather than a figure published for this movement — and the remedy is the same either way: move the hands clear of the window first.

Will it survive a swim?

Easily. Seiko's general guidance for a watch rated at 10 bar extends to bathing and shallow diving, so lengths in a pool, a shower or a soaking on the way home are all comfortably inside it, and steel has nothing that minds getting wet. Scuba diving is the boundary — Seiko excludes it at this rating and directs you to its Diver's range — and the 100-metre number describes a pressure the case is tested against, not a depth to swim to. Three habits protect it: crown fully home before the water, hands off the crown while there is water or soap on the case, and a rinse under the tap when you come out of the sea or a chlorinated pool.

Can the dial be read in a dark room?

No. Seiko lists no luminous material for this reference, so there is nothing on the hands or the baton markers to hold a glow, and once the lights go off the dial shows nothing. It cannot be added afterwards, so it is a point to settle before buying. Anyone who wants the time legible at night should look for a reference specified with LumiBrite.

How durable is the glass?

Sapphire is about as hard as a watch crystal gets. It is grown synthetically rather than cut from anything natural, and the hardness is what keeps the view clear year after year through the hundreds of small contacts a watch makes without you ever registering them. The one thing hardness does not provide is toughness against impact: a direct hit on a tiled floor or a stone worktop can chip or crack it even though nothing has scratched it in years. Normal care, in other words, and a crystal chosen for hardness rather than for toughness against impact.

How long before the battery runs out?

Seiko quotes about three years. Many of its quartz watches flag the end of a cell before it dies: the seconds hand starts moving in two-second hops instead of single ticks, with the time itself still correct. Seiko points out that the feature is not present in every movement, so count it a bonus rather than a dependable alarm. When a change is due, bring the watch to any City Chain store for servicing — the screwed case back has to come off and go back on against a sound gasket, and the water-resistance rating depends on that being done properly.

What are the wearing dimensions, and who sizes the bracelet?

The measurement that decides how a watch sits is the span between lug tips, which here is 37.5mm; the 29.8mm figure describes the dial, not the footprint. Depth is 8.5mm, the bracelet runs 14mm wide at the lugs, and everything together comes to 67g. Shortening the bracelet means extracting links. City Chain offers complimentary bracelet sizing at any outlet, and it is worth having your warranty book with you. The clasp folds in three and releases on push buttons, so it closes onto itself with no pin and no hole to stretch.

Is there a guarantee?

Yes — three years against manufacturing defects on any SUR353P1 bought from City Chain Singapore, which is an authorised Seiko retailer. What that covers is a fault present in the watch as it was built. What it does not cover is damage from a drop, the wear that accumulates over years on the case and bracelet, or a battery that has simply reached the end of its life. Warranty work requires the card and the receipt together, so the sensible thing is to put both somewhere safe the day you buy it.