Is This Bargain Seiko Sub-Brand Actually Better Than Seiko?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ค. 2024
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Thansk Sam, for the tip, but this one kinda falls between a number of stools. Sure, it is reasonably made, and the 7S26 is a reliable old bus to power it, but the bracelet is destined only for the bin, and unlike an Amphibia, which makes up for a bad bracelet with charm and quirkiness, this Alba does not. So buy a Vostok, buy an Aliexpress homage, or save your pennies and buy a Seiko 5 instead. Sometimes Aldi is false economy. Cheers, Jody
![[SUB] 베몬이 교관님 멘탈을 탕탕 후루후루~٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶ FOREVER 웃게 되는 갓기들의 수련회 | 돌들의침묵 | BABYMONSTER(베이비몬스터) 'FOREVER'](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FISAO7BwIxE/mqdefault.jpg)
Update on Alba Watch - It has now been just over 2 month since I got the watch and adjusted the time to my Swiss quartz watch, I have again compared the time keeping - Happy to report that the automatic movement has not deviated in the plus or minus, keeping exact time - just a great watch for the price !
What would you say about the level of finishing/detailing and the quality of the stainless steel on the watch since you've seen it up-close?
Thank you Jody for powering through and pumping out content. Get well soon.
Thanks Armand! The show must go on 🤣
For a few $$ more I would go for the Steeldive. It's a great tuna homage with NH35 and 300m. I can tell you don't feel well and I admire your work ethic. Praying for your quick recovery! By the way Jody I do shop at Aldi and your comparison is spot on. It brought a few chuckles on this end.
Alba, Lorus and Pulsar. The 3 of them are made by Seiko and the 3 of them are still a great value for the money. Great video!
Alba Watch last update: Almost 4 month now. I have checked the Alba watch and compared the time keeping against my Swiss Quartz watch and noticed a pronounced deviation of around 2.5 - 3 minutes going slow, not sure why the sudden change. I suppose it eventually had to go into a deviation of sorts. However it is not posing a big problem as you need to adjust the calendar date at least once every 2 or so month for the shorter month and when doing so you can adjust and correct the time too. Still a great watch and not loosing or gaining 30 seconds a day as per the specifications.😊
Mr. JOMW! I was a regular watcher a while back and have returned! (Though I haven't *really* stopped watching, just wasn't able to catch the videos on the day posted).
Thanks for inspiring me to get into budget watches and watch modding! I now own 6 NH35, and 2 PT5000 powered watches now all built in the comfort of my own studio, with specs that would blow any retail watch at its price point out of the way! I'm very proud of them and it's all thanks to you for the inspiration! In addition, I've built watches as gifts to family and friends and they love em!
I’d recommend Steeldive too. I have the Capt Willard homage and it’s an amazing value.
Same here!
It's more comfortable too, with the Crown protection.
I have a Submariner homage and 6105 homage from Steeldive. For the price, the quality is just right. And the full-lume bezel is the cherry on top. Steeldive are now selling the Willard homage with a PT5000 movement on AliExpress, around $100 too!
I saw these appear at my local jeweller a couple of weeks ago and thought I'll wait for JOMW. I'm a sucker for a vintage seiko and I'm disappointed some of their TV dial models aren't available here in Australia from the distributor.
My Seiko 5 was destroyed and I needed a quick watch asap as cheap as possible and have an Alba and so far I’m happy with it.
Here in Japan at least in my scenario my Alba came in a Seiko Box and the guarantee card mentions both names.
That Alba looks good to me, specially at that price. Thanks for the review!
Great review as always and kudos for continuing to upload videos while being under the weather. 👍Get well soon!
Not sure if they're made anymore but I've always thought the Alba bullhead chronographs are interesting.
For $65.00 these days, the only thing you can buy with the Seiko name on it is a silicone strap with an oversized buckle and a metal keeper.
Wishing you a speedy recovery and cheers for the fun review as the Aldi reference brought a smile to my face. 😁
Ha! Thanks mate. I had a laugh with it too.
I remember how thrilled I was when I bought my first automatic watch, a Seiko SNK805. Same 7S26 economy movement and an even more paltry 30m water resistence rating. It's saving graces? Principally the exhibition caseback, which allowed me, as a mechanical watch noob, to marvel at the rotor, tiny gears and balance wheel spinning away hour after hour, month after month, year after year. That and it's over-acheiving Lumibright lume and whatever incremental increase in scratch resistence Hardlex offers over normal mineral crystal. It's still in my collection and I love it.
Everything's relative, Jody. The Alba is probably a lot more appealing to the neophyte watch enthusiast than those of us who've been in the game for a while. But I agree at it's price point a budding watch collector can find far better options. If Seiko had deigned to slap an exhibition caseback on this Alba-branded watch, it would be a more intriguing proposition.
Thank you very much for this 'eye-opener'. I have the Seiko 5 SRPK53K1 (Pepsi Bezel) and was looking at the Alba AL4209X1 (Tokyo Neon) with a Jubilee bracelet - as I liked the colour combination, but the points you have raised here are very interesting and make a lot of sense. Subsequently, I have dropped the Alba purchase. Thank you very much, once again.
Very glad to see you improving, Jody. The watchworld just wouldn't be the same without you. I too, am an avid shopper at Aldi's. IDK about the ones "Down Under," but the Aldi locations here in" the states," have non-food related items, where I find the best deals on all kinds of household items. Sheets, rugs, air-conditioners, cutting-boards, mixers....you name it. Most of the items, very well made for the price. 😄Seriously!!! For a minute I got excited, (as I've never heard of Alba) but then I remembered, that we are dealing w/ Seiko here. Lol. I just don't understand why they don't abandon the old "rolled-links" at this stage of the game. SMH. Bravo, Jody.....bravo👏!!!
Aldi Australia is very disappointing.
They are all very small shops with a tiny range of products. 30% of the floor space is taken up by the weekly junk non-food specials.
They occasionally get some great cheap high quality food items, but, they're only ever stocked for a month or two before deletion ! 😠
This was the first I’d heard of Alba, so I looked them up while watching the video. I found the same Tuna homage that you reviewed on Amazon Canada and it was $351.90!! That’s a hefty price to pay to have the hair removed from my left forearm.
Giving us some serious Sean Connery vibes with the voice, Jody! Get well soon!
Alba I believe replacing Pulsar as Seiko's budget brand in Australia? Bit of a pity as I love a Pulsar.
Thanks for the great video Jody! Hope you get better soon.
Hello, very good video as usual, with a lot of details and macro shots (that we love !). Hope you are getting better soon. Take care of yourself.
Get well soon, friend
Thanks mate!
Put some u.k. prices on it, lots of viewers over here love your channel. If you can that is. Love the vids make a lot of my collection choices on your reviews, top class stuff.
I always enjoy your videos, Jody. Will you review a Long Island Watch Islander at some point? I have a few of those already, and they seem excellent to me, but I'd love to hear your analysis. Get well soon.
That logo on the casebook is the Pulsar logo.I remember Pulsars in the 80s and 90s being half the price and as good as Seikos.
I purchased the 20 bar green dial ALBA automatic about 3 weeks ago, with the crown located at the 3 hour position. I could not be happier with this watch, it was cheap as it was on special at $155 AU. Now the the night illumination is fantastic, it lasts the whole night through, amazing ! I set the watch time to my swiss made quartz watch and after 9 days checking the time fluctuation I found it has neither lost nor gained time, another amazing feature !. I'm going to leave it running for more days and weeks and will check it against my quartz watch periodically. According to the write up it is about +/- 40 seconds per day., but have not experienced this kind of deviation as yet. Not sure then if ALBA made some kind of improvement or if the watch is a fluke !
So what was the result??
I was going to ask on a recent video when we were going to see Seikos (Pulsar, Lorus and I’d forgotten about Alba). These are presumably the reason Seiko is raising prices so it becomes mid-tier, these cover the budget market and Grand Seiko have high-end (with Credor in the horological space). They’re creating their own market from bottom to top.
Good to know if the movement in my first gen Seiko Monster ever dies I'll have no problem finding a replacement.
This Alba looks exactly like my citizen promaster that I have just purchased, it’s even the same colour.
Your voice is already legendary, but you sound like a synthesized narrator for an awesome anime! Quite interesting. I do hope you feel better 🙏🏼
The lume on both my Alba and Lorus are standard lumibrite and full dial. So I don't get what is going on there. Got the Lorus for $40 and the Alba for around $90. Both quartz, though.
Our buddy still giving one if if best watch content even though he was sick. Get well soon ❤
Thanks mate! 💪💪
We already miss your smooth and positive voice, get well soon m8❤️
Thank yoooooouuuu!
Sir 🙏
Which will be best to buy Alba Or Seiko?
How is the Seiko Srpd 53k1 Pepsi model?
Reminds me when I was a kid I wanted a Sony Walkman for Xmas and received an Alba Walkman instead with no rewind button 😂
Devastation. I wanted a Mongoose BMX, got a Raleigh 😭
The Good Old Days Lol.
You could turn the cassette and use the fast forward function in order to rewind the other side
I wanted a GT performer bmx bike and got a Mongoose
When I had a personal stereo back in the day I used a device that enabled me to turn my cassette tapes back by hand. My tape machine had a rewind ⏪ feature on it, but I figured it was saving me a heck of a load of battery 🔋 power in the process.
I'm sure they're great watches, but no one should buy a Vostok today with a clean conscience.
I still have a couple and tons of parts, but I just can't bring myself to wear them anymore
Review the titanium alba! The titanium field watches they make are fantastic buys! Personally i have the black dial non solar version on the bracelet but they make a luminous dial as well thats quite a bit of watch for 120 canadian dollars! Insanely light and has been a trusty companion of mine!
I gotta say. Your voice giving out has its charms! Get well soon!
There's a frog in there! The Alba range is really decent, I'm just missing the sapphire. But at the prices the Alba's sell for, I can easily overlook that.
Have you had a look at the Foxbox Tuna from the Aldi ...er I mean Alibaba Lige store? It has the r4emovable shroud & a solid end link engineers bracelet and looks like the steeldive, mine was $34.85 Aussie dollars landed here, It does have a quartz movement though and when I checked the Steeldive they were $177.43 so you were lucky Jody. I had bought all the bits to build one but it will sit on the back burner for a while now.
How can you purchase an alba watch. I’ve gone on the website but it seems like it doesn’t have the ability to buy from the site. Can you link a way to purchase?
Hope you are feeling better, great reviews
I've been curious about the alba. Get well soon. I found that the additional booster, you will never get sick again.
The logo on the back of the watch is the wave logo from the silverwave edition watches back in the 70’s
I know the 7S26 ain't much to write home about, but damned if I haven't beat the absolute hell out of my Seiko SNK805K2 and she's still not in need of a service after about 7 years of ownership. Well, maybe 2.5-3 years of hard wear, then a lot of time on the winder. I appreciate that watch so much, it was my first automatic.
Thank you so much for the introduction to this brand. A decent alternative, imo.
In my opinion Lorus (easier to find in the U.S. and Europe) and Alba are pretty good value Seiko sub-brands (if you get the right watch i.e. Lorus Lumibrite and Alba make a Titanium version of it) and are often priced where Seiko used to be. Plus they are brands watch enthusiasts recognize. Bracelets are like Casio bracelets ... which is why with the savings you ALWAYS swap then out.
I have a Lorus “Tri-lum” solar watch which is running well since I bought it at least 28 years ago.
I tried searching for it, but I can't find a review video of that Orange Steeldive. I'm so interested in that watch...
get well soon Brother. One of the models that they launched has exact tiffany blue dial. I suppose it’s sold out.
Always enjoy your videos - wishing you a speedy recovery. But until your voice returns, have you considered doing an asmr style video?
Ha! Time Teller tried that a few years bac. Don't think it went well for him.
5:26 The wave on the back is Seiko’s icon system of showing how water resistant the watch is
Pulsar and seiko both use this icon system as well
Get well soon, Jody! Awesome content as always. 👌
Wasn't that mask thing from Aldi in "Die Another Day"? Not like you to miss a filmic reference! Trust the voice comes back very soon and has stopped hurting.
Get well Soon … pls suggest whether SRPD51 is better to buy now?
That's the problem with the budget sub brands. The Aliexpress watches are undercutting them. They provide better materials and movement for the same price.
Thanks for the great watch content mate. Get better soon
I have an Alba from 96 , titanium case full lumed dial field watch and it's awesome, lume lasts all night
Damn, this deep voice is Radio worthy! 💪 quick Recovery, Sir 🙏
Even through ailments, you're cranking out valuable content. Impressive my friend 👏
I had no idea that this brand even existed I'll check them out. Thanks 🙏
Well done Jody. Feel better
It's not often you hear a Vostok described as having "better lume". That really says it all about the lume on the Alba ...
Ahahhahha, indeed!
Some of the Wired stuff looks appealing too; their integrated bracelet chronos for under $200 are more like the Seiko of yore (except with solid endlinks!). I think these subbrands will bring the real budget value now that Seiko wants to push their brand upmarket.
Same with Orient. Their $200 dive watches and neosport chronograh "daytona" are what Seiko used to be
wow. I assumed the WIRED was a review article on the magazine, so did not click on. thanks mention. I really like them, the simple no date is great.
Have a speedy recovery mate
Maybe have a look at another Seiko budget brand, Lorus. They have some nice looking automatics for around £100 or under.
Great timing, started digging into the Alba for the first time just two days ago! I do think there's great value there if you go for the right pick. The AS9K80X1 is so kitsch, but would be a fun going out watch, and I wouldn't be too sad if it got lost probably.
Am I also tempted by their Studio Ghibli money grabs? Yes, yes I am.
Good review Jody, sounding a bit Frank Sinatra there! Not bad for the price I suppose but agree on the Steeldive. I got the yellow dial one, great quality, great lume, I went for the yellow rubber strap instead and it's also very good quality. I dived with my Steeldive too. Definitely better value than this one. They're up to about 116 USD now for the yellow and orange version unfortunately which is about $180 AUD, damn you inflation! That makes the Alba a better prospect for those on a budget maybe, but it depends on what you expect for the money, and Vostok isn't exactly perfect either.
Get well soon fella. Keep up the good work
5:21 I would call that Billabong logo Homage 🤣
Ha! Indeed.
I have many Amfibias.... all are rusting after making it wet, finishing quality is very bad... and impossible to adjust the movement....
Steeldive looks really good, thxs for the review.
I've always found something endearing about the venerable 7s26. If they had one of these for $65 that looked like an SKX I'd get one for the novelty of it... if I hadn't bought an SKX013 clone with an NH35 on Ali for around that price a few weeks back. If only one of those sub brands like this or Lorus could bring those back and be to the SKX what the Black Bay 58 is to a Submariner!
What brand did you pick up the 013 clone from? I'm looking for one at the moment
@@MattGDesign Tandorio
if I spotted that watch in our local Aldi I would definitely check it out. However my wife wouldn't be all that happy with me, oh no not another watch Robert!, would be her reply.
Can't believe the price that you managed to get the Steeldive for!! Do they have regular sales or is it just a case of checking on the website daily? Hope your voice and throat get better soon.
An opportunity to recommended a watch for small guys here. Alba aefd530(black bezel) or aefd529(silver bezel). Solar 200m(iso certified) diver at 38mm. A seiko submariner homage from the 90s. Killer specs and a good price and looks the part
I know how you feel Gary laying in bed fighting Covid and bingeing on youtube ... hope you feel better soon.
Great video, get well soon. Don't you think it's about time for another in depth t-shirt video? I'm sure you have lots of new ones by now.
get well soon mate. u really dun sound very good.
Check out some other Alba models. I have an Alba field watch that I dearly love!
Great review, as usual, Jody! :)
Between the clasp and the movement, I just don't see the appeal. If you're okay with a homage, you could get a Pro Diver that at least has a hacking movement and the NH35. It's got the same shitty clasp, but at least it's a *little* bit of an upgrade.
My mate recently bought an Alba with proper Arabic (and I mean 'Arabic') dial here in Qatar and to be honest it is absolutely awesome - QR 220-00 or equivalent to US$ 60-00. It is an absolutely amazing piece!!!!!!
Not to doubt you Ian, but, what's the model and what are you comparing it to ?
@@edwardfletcher7790 Morning Edward. To be honest I don't know the model but will find out and come back to you. I guess I'm comparing it to other watches in a similar price bracket including comparable Seiko models and others.
Jody, just saw your surname up on the screen and it looked familiar so regoogled and lo and behold it is familiar. Really loved your academic writing on Iris Chang (vale). Hope your submission on your PhD went well. That's a very hard slog mate. Channel. PhD. Dunno how you do it but you're a champion.
Thanks Tom! Currently back on campus doing a few small corrections on the thesis. Should graduate before Christmas!
Can you recommend to buy this I have low budget?
Good video! I too am not sold on this homage company, your video actually convinced me to get the steel dive homage.😂
Feel better soon, my good man.
Suggestion Jody - measure the max wrist size of standard bracelets in your reviews. I presume you have a manikin in your dun err basement. I'm looking at a Citizen that isn't available in the UK and neither the online retailer or Citizen have responded to my query. I would be less than pleased if I bought it, liked it but it wouldn't fit and I had to sell it on.
As each day goes by I am leaning further toward getting a Steeldive.
Good review! 👍🏻 I’m just not a fan of Seiko watches, Toyota Cars, or AK pattern rifles.
Jody!!! Please Review the Alba AEFD529 solar diver..
Be good for mods. I have some pulsar watched as well and will be buying Alba soon
I've been wearing the same Hublo every day since '88, never a problem.
There's some interesting JDM Alba models to look at
Hope you're going to review the steeldive tuna
i always hated your starting hello . bizarrely i love your new sick tone Voice ! this entire episode is much more pleasing to my ears!
have had my wee alba manta ray for years now great wee watch
Is there a Zelos Aurora Ti review coming?
And there I was thinking that we are starting this with a Sean Connery voice over...
Ha! I wish.
Here in the UK we have Seiko's sub brand Lorus, which looks very similar to Alba, but definitely not sold in Aldi. Lorus has been around for a long time, but was taken over by Seiko some yrs ago and is now doing some mechanical movement watches here. I don't think Alba is an Aldi watch brand made by Seiko. It's just being sold by Aldi, possibly just in Australia. I've seen Alba is sold in Asia and some models very similar to Lorus, prices to. I think Lorus & Pulsar metal bracelets tend to be cheap with hollow links. But having said that there are some Seiko's now being sold with same cheap feeling hollow bracelets unfortunately
I agree with the Voice. Get well soon☘
As soon as I saw Alba I think back to those crappy cheap VHS cassette players and CD players
When I first heard your voice in this video I was thinking you were doing the Sean Connery impression again. Ha.
Just my standard mate! Ahahaha!
I don't know how you managed to snag one for what you got it for, as they're listed on the Alba Australia website for $240 AUD. This may be cheaper than a Seiko but certainly not bargain basement.