Back in Feb 2021, I bought this Gold Seiko Naut (SNKK52). This was back when I was in my watch-hoarding-phase and I thought this shape is pretty rare and the $93 + $14 shipping price tag was a steal. It was nicknamed the "Seiko Naut" because the case somewhat resembles the Patek Philippe Nautilus. (Not to be confused with the Seiko Nautilus mods).

After unboxing it, I realized it didn't suit me. I thought it was too flashy for me with its 40mm case size and I didn't have the personality to pull it off. It reminded me of Wonder Woman's cuffs! (Imagine Gal Gadot deflecting bullets with her cuffs)

*I do own some gold watches, but they were smaller and in a more muted shade of gold so they weren't as attention-grabbing.

So it went back inside the box, stayed on the shelf, forgotten for the next 2 years. 

Fast forward to July 2023, I see my sister-in-law wearing chunky gold earrings and a chunky gold ring and I suddenly remembered the SNKK52 sitting on my shelf! With her olive skin tone, the gold brought out the warm undertones which was very flattering... 

... as opposed to my cooler skin tone, where the in-your-face yellow gold brings out the bruises on my hand rather than the pink undertones.


How do you check what kind of skin tone you have? Check the veins on your hands! If your veins are bluish/purplish, you've got cool undertones and would look better in silver/white gold. If your veins are greenish, then you've got warm undertones and would look better in yellow gold. Some people have a mix of both, so they can wear whichever they like.



However, this is just one aspect. I think the personality and the confidence of the wearer also play a factor on whether one can pull off this much gold.

So would I buy the stainless steel version of the Seiko Naut? (SNKK41, 43, 45, 47 or two-tone 48 and 50) 

Probably not, because I already own a watch with the non-hacking, non-winding 7S26 movement... but then, I'm not the kind of watch enthusiast that collects watches based on their movements anyway.

Another turn off for me was that the folded link bracelet on the SNKK52 was such a pain to resize! The folded link bracelet on all the other Seiko 5's I've handled weren't this difficult to adjust. I spent about half an hour trying, damaging several tools, but in the end decided to give up. Unfortunately, with its irregular lugs, I'm stuck with the original bracelet (Unless I get custom straps made).

Seiko SNKK52 Specs:

  • Case Diameter: 40mm
  • Lug to Lug: 42mm
  • Thickness: 10.5mm
  • Lug Width: 10mm (Not that this has irregular lugs)
  • Bracelet: 24mm at the widest point, tapering to 20mm
  • Water Resistance: 30 meters
  • Crystal: Hardlex
  • Movement: 7S26 (Non-hacking, non-winding, do the Seiko shake to get it moving)
  • Bracelet: Gold-plated folded links

Anyway, here's the short video I made about the SNKK52!