# Luminox 'Sea Diver' vs. Seiko Black Monster (long)



## Deanster (Oct 18, 2004)

*Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (long)*

I'm a bit of a watch fanatic, and I recently bought one of Luminox' new stainless steel 'Sea Diver' watches as an update to my older plastic Luminox 'Navy Seals' watch. My previous EDC watch was Seiko's outstanding SKX779 Black Monster, and I'm using both that and the older Luminox as my points of comparison for the new one. Hope this proves interesting to my fellow gear junkies and flashaholics - I generally don't like to post reviews based on short ownership, but my experience was enough outside my expectations, and as there are NO reviews of this watch anywhere I could find, I thought I'd share. Check in a few months from now for longevity-based observations. 

The classic 'Navy Seals' Luminox 





These watches hardly need a description - they're a bit cheap-looking, black plastic case, black plastic bezel, hard plastic (not rubber) strap, quartz movement, all in all, they'd be a perfectly forgettable watch except for the amazing 'traser' tritium-gas-filled vials which provide consistent, bright luminescence 24/7, and aren't dependant on being 'activated' by light, and then fading over a couple hours time, as the luminescent paints do. I've written before here that while these aren't my favorite watches in general, the 'everlasting' light makes Luminox the king of the night, and my only choice when I think I'll be in the dark for more than a few minutes. Although not an especially tough watch design, mine has held up very well through much abuse since I bought it in 1998 for something like $180 retail in Hawaii. Now about $215 retail, on Ebay for $165-180 new. 

The Seiko Black Monster




I've had my Black Monster for almost two years now, and it's a board favorite over at 'Poor Man's Watch Forums', and I know there are a few here. I honestly believe it's the best-made watch under $200 I've ever seen. It's incredibly heavy, has an automatic movement (Seiko 7s26), has HUGE patches of very bright and long-lasting luminescent paint (by far the best I've ever seen), and looks and feels absolutely rock solid, like you could throw it through a window, and the window would break, and the watch would be fine. Indeed, it's almost too heavy and solid for some folks to wear comfortably. Amazing watch, great bracelet, and I got mine off ebay for $125 - they seem to go more typically for $180 or so. I think the next-better watch out there is probably an Omega Seamaster Pro at $1600 - it's clearly a better watch, but at 8x the price, it's not THAT much better. 

The new Luminox 'Sea Diver'




I really wanted a cross between my old Luminox' amazing nighttime capabilities, and the heavy stainless good looks of the Black Monster, and after a bit of looking, only Luminox has the Traser lights, and the new 'Sea Diver' line seemed to be the best fit. After a bit of looking online, where many Luminox Dealers did not yet have it in stock, most prices ran in the $285 range ($350 list price), I finally settled on 'brandsplace.com', which had by far the lowest price at $225 - I'd never heard of them before, but took a chance on them, figuring I'd let Amex sort it out if there was a problem. Somewhat to my surprise, it shipped the next day, and arrived on schedule. 

I was very disappointed right out of the box - The Luminox signature blue plastic display box looked cheap, and somehow it made the watch look cheap also. The watch is a bit light in the hand, and has an overall so-so look and feel. I actually spent some time wondering if I'd gotten a fake watch, because the bezel was so cheap and tacky-feeling, and didn't have a Traser dot in it - instead just a weird little plastic blob. I went to the Luminox web site, and saw that the product specifications didn't say it was a stainless bezel, as they do for some other models, and also didn't specify a traser dot in the bezel, as other models with the dot do. 

OK - so it's not a fake - just has a cheap metal bezel with no dot. 

Like any good flashaholic, my next move is to head into the closet to test out the brightness of the trasers - I'm amazingly surprised to see that they are dim, and surrounded by a box of brightly glowing (from the sun in my living room) luminescent paint. Luminescent paint on a traser-equipped watch? WTF? I've never heard of such a thing! It must be a fake! 

Back to the web site, which mentions not a word about luminescent paint. Nothing anywhere on the web about this. But now I'm in a darkened room, and the traser lights are shining brightly, and the lume boxes are glowing also, and I realize that this is actually a Luminox answer to one of the major deficiencies of the traser system - performance in transitional light. 

The trasers glow very brightly in darkened spaces, and to even moderately dark-adjusted eyes, can almost be 'too bright'. However, if you're in a mixture of dark and shadow, or are suddenly in the dark before your eyes have a chance to adjust from bright outside light (like a tunnel or movie theater), the traser glow just isn't bright enough to compete. The problem with luminescent paint has always been that it glows super brightly for about 5 minutes after being exposed to a light source, then fades down to nearly nothing within a half-hour for cheap paints, or about 6 hours for the Black Monster's huge high-end paint blobs. It's great in transitional lighting, but runs out of juice for extended periods of dark. 

By putting both lume paint and trasers on the Sea Diver, Luminox has created a watch with the best of both worlds. If it's bright enough outside to leave you blind in the dark, it's bright enough to have the lume paint shining like a beacon in the dark. By the time your eyes adjust, the lume has faded, and the trasers take over. It's sheer genius. After a couple weeks with the watch, I'm blown away by how much better this watch is to read in dark or changing light conditions than either the Navy Seals or Black Monster. 

I also realized that my initial feelings of the watch being lightweight and cheap were seriously tainted by taking off the Black Monster to put on the Sea Diver. The Black Monster really is a monster - 5.6 ounces of Stainless! Compared to other, more-typical stainless watches, the Luminox feels about the same. It's also worth noting that the odd butterfly clasp mechanism means that you don't have the typical big clasp bulge on the underside of your wrist - so far it's been secure, but only time will tell. I fear that the relatively lightly-constructed clasp mechanism may not be as long-lived as one would hope. 

The bezel remains the one huge let-down of this watch. I'm not quite sure what it is, but it feels awful light and cheap to be stainless - it might be a very light, hollowed-out stainless, but I doubt it. The little plastic blob at the 'zero' indicator is very slightly luminous - but fades to dark in just a minute, making it useless as an indicator of bezel position in all but full light. I really do use the bezel all the time, so not having a traser there is a significant problem for me. 

The bottom line - the Luminox has taken over from the Black Monster as my EDC watch. It's dark most of the time here in Seattle over the winter, and excellent visibility in all conditions of dark, semi-dark, and transitional lighting are critical for me, and the Luminox Sea Diver is, like it's predecessor, the King of the Night. With the larger traser vials laid on the surface of the dial, instead of small ones buried in a plastic ring surrounding the dial, the Sea Diver beats the heck out of the older Luminox for brightness, and looks vastly better as well. My only wishes for the Sea Diver to be the 'perfect' watch for me would be a better-built bezel (Perhaps I'm spoiled by the Black Monster, which has the best bezel out there, regardless of price, IMHO), with a freakin' traser dot, and then a slightly more-reassuring clasp, and a traser on the second hand would be a nice touch also. 

All in all, I'd give it an 8, and a 6 on price/performance - for $350 list, nothing about it should feel cheap. At $225 shipped, I still feel like I paid about $50 too much for what I got - the crappy little not-really-luminescent plastic blob on the bezel where a traser should be will annoy me for many years to come. That said, I think it will be annoying me from my left wrist, as my watch of choice. 

I'll try to take some photos of all three together later today and post them.


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## MeridianTactical (Oct 18, 2004)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (long)*

I have the Black Monster myself (And I have a few for sale on my site) I love it!! so much so I grabbed a few. I like a big watch. 

The above Luminox watches are a rip off of the Rolex Yaught (SP?) Master which I think is wrong...

My .02


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## Deanster (Oct 18, 2004)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (long)*

Interesting - I'm not a Rolex fan, and hadn't noticed the design homage to Rolex previously. It is a little much of an imitation, but I don't think anyone would ever mistake one for the other. 

The Black Monster is an outstanding watch, and mine will stay in the rotation, especially in the summer months, but I really do think that Luminox is the only way to go in the dark. 

BTW - the Black Monster is typically not available at retail in the US... some pop up in Seiko dealers or outlets, and they're available as grey market product from importes, but the chance to buy one from a reptuable source doesn't come very often. I'd suggest y'all run - don't walk - to Meridian Tactical and take advantage of the opportunity.


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## John N (Oct 19, 2004)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

I'm curious why you opted for the SS over the Ti Luminox?

-john


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## K-T (Oct 19, 2004)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

Thanks a lot for the great review, I caught the Seiko Monster series some time ago and need to get one of them, your review comparing that watch to some other very known brand is good. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif


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## flashlight (Oct 19, 2004)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

[ QUOTE ]
*John N said:*

I'm curious why you opted for the SS over the Ti Luminox?

-john 

[/ QUOTE ]

Price difference maybe? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Wish I could afford any one of these watches /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif


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## Lux_Luminous (Oct 19, 2004)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

Hey!

Don't forget the Orange Monster!







"Lux" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif


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## Deanster (Oct 20, 2004)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

I have a couple Ti watches, and although they are great for looks, I find I really like the solid feel of SS better. Ti is also a bit on the soft side, and scratches and dings fairly easily - super strong in tensile strength, but not so hard. 

Combined with the price difference, the SS is an easy choice for me.


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## TOB9595 (Oct 20, 2004)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

Great review, Deanster!
I learned a lot from it.
Very well done
thanks
Tom


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## John N (Mar 29, 2005)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

Hey Deanster,

Would you hazard to guess if this watch also has the lum surrounded gas capsules? It's maddening that they don't mention this feature!

Thanks,

-john






Ti F-117 Stealth @ luminox.com
(c) Luminox


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## Deanster (Mar 29, 2005)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

Hi - 

I'm hesitant to guess, but the white outlines around the hour markers look a little different than the lume on my Sea Diver - I'd guess 'no', but that's just an uninformed guess. Take a look at the Sea Diver photo - the lume is the white around the traser vial. On the F-117 watch, there's a black space, and then the white paint - I'm taking this to mean that it's just white outline paint on the face of the watch, rather than lume. 

Sorry I can't be more helpful!

On other matters, according to their site, this one has the 'Luminox dot' on the bezel, which I take to mean a traser. The bezel also looks right for a traser dot. 

I can't tell you how irritated I was to find that the product description for my Sea Diver said 'luminous dot' - technically true, but not at all what I expected. For a company selling fairly expensive goods with a rep for quality, I found this bit of subterfuge very unattractive. 

I'll never again take it on faith that Luminox is being straight, and will examine anything I'm buying from them with utmost caution. 

That said, I still like my Sea Diver very much, it goes in heavy EDC rotation, and is my preferred after-dark watch. I'd just be a lot happier if the gosh-darned bezel dot was a traser instead of the crappiest GITD plastic I've ever seen.

Sorry, all that's not responsive to your question, and I'm a little surprised how irritated I am about the bezel issue, six months later. Deeeeep Breaths! Deeeeeep Breaths...


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## rscanady (Mar 30, 2005)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

I too have the Orange Monster with steel band and love it, just saving up now to get a Doxa Sub 600T (Thats what i really want!) Oh yea Sahara is coming out soon and they will all be sporting Doxa Subs also. Cant wait.

Ryan


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## GarageBoy (Mar 31, 2005)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

The lume on the monster is pretty damn good already!


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## MR Bulk (Apr 7, 2005)

*Re: Luminox \'Sea Diver\' vs. Seiko Black Monster (l*

[ QUOTE ]
*John N said:*
Would you hazard to guess if this watch also has the lum surrounded gas capsules?

Thanks,

-john



[/ QUOTE ]

The white "frames" on my F-117 don't light up - sadly...


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