Seiko's (Budget) Finest! ~ The Credor "Signo" Watch Review

[@MrKkramme]

Good video. Thanks. I have many Grand Seikos and other Seikos, so appreciate one offs like this!

[@smolwatch]

Groovy, always like to reach fellow fans of the brand. Thanks for watching!

[@AliasEveWatches]

This is such a good review! Subbed! Congratulations on getting this piece. We've got the same wrist size and we have similar piece. For the strap, I got mine custom made for 17mm.

[@smolwatch]

Thanks a bunch! I'm glad you enjoyed. I always enjoy yours, too. I'll have to look into some custom options for the strap, for sure. Have a rad one!

[@morgan97475]

Credor is under-rated. Kinda cool to have Richard Dreyfuss giving us a watch review.

[@smolwatch]

Agreed! I just got here from the Oceanographic Institute, obvi. Ha. Thanks for watching!

[@morgan97475]

@@smolwatch But did you bring the bigger boat...?

[@smolwatch]

@@morgan97475 I'm mostly just some kinda half-assed astronaut, so I brought a cage? And a tiny Seiko watch, apparently. Ha.

[@mybrainlikesthings]

This is real. This means something. 😄

[@christopherjohnson4276]

Im so glad I found this review. Ive spent the past few days looking at JDM Seikos, GS, and my eyes popped when I saw some of these Credor for a price I could afford. Snazzy, love it. ❤️ ⌚️

[@smolwatch]

Groovyyyyy. Thanks for watching and enjoy your new piece if you decide to snag!

[@thisisnothere14]

Ive had one of these for just over a year! Totally slept on brand for the most part relative to the GS and other seikos etc. Insane value much like buying a toyota century! Compared to other special Jdm models held in high regards

[@smolwatch]

Exactly! So refined. One of my go-to dress pieces now, for sure. Glad you're enjoying yours and thanks for watching!

[@andrewfishkin6559]

Nice review. I’ve been looking for a dress watch close in size, but not as delicate as the 1956 Omega Constellation that I inherited from my father. That watch at 35mm and 10mm thick is classy and elegant, but also destined to pass further down the family tree. I also wanted quartz, and had my eyes on the 37mm and 34mm Grand Seiko models, but those are a few thousand instead of a few hundred dollars. Then I saw this video, and not long after, bought this exact model. The shiny black band will come off immediately when the watch arrives, and either a Milanese mesh or a matte leather strap will go on its place (looking at 17mm options now). As for the watch size, the 35mm Omega looks totally fine on my 7.25” wrist, especially with Milanese mesh adding visual presence, and I don’t see why a 33mm Credor won’t do the same thing. This would be a standard size in the 1950s or 1960s, and wrists weren’t any smaller then than they are now.

[@smolwatch]

Credor Club in the house. Thanks for watching and hope you enjoy your new piece. I feel ya on the band. Let me know if you find some solid 17mm replacements, for sure. Color me curious.

[@andrewfishkin6559]

@@smolwatch Actually, I shaved down an the edges of an 18mm matte black and very plain 18mm Seiko strap and it went right on and looks great. I also ordered a high-end ostrich leather strap from The Straptailor in the UK as this thing really deserves a proper dress watch strap. The watch is beautiful and should go into regular rotation with it being the smalles (32mm) and my Rolex Milgauss my largest (40mm). All look quite good and properly proportioned unless swapping immediately from small to large or vice-versa.

[@smolwatch]

Just revisiting. I bet that Straptailor one is a winner. I actually recently nabbed a 17mm black suede strap from CNS Watch Bands that I'm pretty happy with, and it was very affordable. Another option. Glad it's living alongside that Milgauss (what a watch, too!). All the best. :)

[@JimIBobIJones]

Credors are not all made the same. I would not compare a vintage model with what is coming out under the Credor brand today or even what was made after 2000. 1) Credors before the 2000s were significantly poorer in quality than Credors after the 2000s. This is true for Grand Seikos as well. Before the turn of the millenium, whilst Credor and Grand Seiko were the "top dogs" in Seiko's line up, they were not made separately from the other Seiko watches and their quality were in a similar range to "standard" Seiko watches. 2000 saw the launch the Seiko's "Microartist Studio" which focused heavily on developing truly high end movements and watches to really elevate Seiko's top tier offerings to compete with the top end of Swiss brands in the face of the resurgence of watches as luxury goods. 2) Modern Credors (mid 2010s onwards) are in a completely different league to everything else. Seiko did a soft repositioning of the brand. Grand Seiko and Credor used to be the same tier but following a different design philosophy. Grand Seiko followed Seiko's "Grammar of Design" and was more conservative in their approach, whereas Credor used to be the avant-garde line. Starting in the mid 2000s though, Seiko, and in particular the micro-artist studio, re-positioned Credor as a haute horology sub-brand above Grand Seiko. This includes the likes of their Tourbillion watches, the sonnaries and the Eichi (which is Seiko's take on simple but refined to perfection inspired by Dufour's "Simplicity" watches In summary: pre-2000s Credors are equivalent to King Seikos, 2000 - mid 2010s are equivalent to Grand Seikos from that period, anything current is closer to Patek or Vacheron.

[@smolwatch]

Great info and thanks for watching/sharing! Love to get more history. I'm no expert. Can definitely see the big gulf between the lower end, older stuff like this piece and the stratosphere-level quality of things like the Eichi II (such a rad piece!). Have a swell day out there, Jim. :)

[@KillingTimeWithNorman]

Looks gorgeous!

[@KillingTimeWithNorman]

Yeah aren't Credor like Seiko's high end line? Great looking piece! Sounds like a good deal.

[@smolwatch]

They are, for sure. They have that totally zany $50k piece (that looks amazing, I admit, but will never own, ha). But weirdly, there are references like this one available for much cheaper all the time on eBay.

[@KillingTimeWithNorman]

@@smolwatch Very cool!!

[@TheMonsterHunterTV]

@@KillingTimeWithNorman Credor has a weird identity. They are there to produce classy timepieces with sometimes unusual dials and materials. That's their philosophy. So there are quite cheap vintage versions to high end handmade ceramic versions that cost like 50k. So it's not quite as defined as Grand Seiko.

[@KillingTimeWithNorman]

@@TheMonsterHunterTV Ahh k

[@TheMonsterHunterTV]

@@KillingTimeWithNorman if you are a seiko-enthusiast i highly recommend getting one. If you aren't then there are better options out there

[@danielthompson803]

For a simular price you can get an as new condition seiko dolce with the same movement

[@smolwatch]

True. I prefer the Credor, but I definitely think those Dolces are great options, as well; I've got a vintage version that I like to wear on fancier occasions, too.

[@shawnlavigne9069]

8j81 is an excellent movement. This watch is an upscale sacm171.

[@smolwatch]

Most def. I'm partial to this one over that more contemporary reference, for sure, but those are neat. I've been tempted before, ha. Thanks for watching!

[@taoprsn]

In China second hand market, you can get this for $150

[@smolwatch]

Great price! Worth it, for sure.

[@Engineersoldinterstingstuff]

Just got mine from Japan. Fabulous watch in its simplicity. From 44 mm cartoon watches small size must be the new modern - it sure as h### cant be 50 mm unless the put weels on them.

[@smolwatch]

Rad, glad you're enjoying yours, too! It's a nifty piece, for sure. Thanks for watching. :)

[@MrAnecro]

Watching while wearing ny few hours new credor watch

[@smolwatch]

Dope, enjoy it and thanks for watching!

[@simonzinc-trumpetharris852]

Worth the money just for the movement.

[@smolwatch]

Absolutely, agreed! Thanks for watching.