I've owned Seiko watches exclusively for nearly 30 years. They're reliable and long-lasting: this watch is only the third I've owned. The first lasted something like 14 years before it began to fail, the second one still works fine (though it chews through batteries a bit faster than it used to... as it's 17 years old, I can't complain!).

I have every expectation of this solar watch giving me as many years of service as its predecessors. So why am I downgrading it?

THE WATCHBAND. Don't get me wrong: it looks nice, and is very easy to put on and take off. However, it is not adjustable at all!

I have larger-than-average wrists, but my old Seikos always fit at their larger settings. This watch is snug. Not painfully so, but enough so that I often wind up taking it off when I'm working on the computer. Someone with smaller wrists might find it annoyingly loose. From everything I've been able to find online, the only way to tighten it is to remove links - which looks like a huge pain.

Bear in mind, this is probably an issue with any of the newer Seiko watches (and quite possibly other brands as well) that have the "deployment clasp" closure.

Update 1/2017: I glanced at the watch late the other evening and was bemused to discover that it was 6:00 or thereabouts. Yes, the watch had died quite suddenly and without warning a few hours earlier. I reset it to the correct time and left it in bright light but it hasn't moved. I'll see if it can be repaired but don't hold out much hope - I'm assuming it's an issue with some hard component versus, say, a charging issue as I'd expect that to fail more gradually.  So, 4 and a half years versus 10-15 years for my previous (battery-powered) Seiko watches. Very disappointing.