Seiko Sportura SLQ017

There were only 1,500 made world-wide, and only 400 of them foundtheir way to the US. It's a shame because I think this is an absolutely fantasticlooking timepiece, and I've always had a soft spot for Seiko ever since I workedfor them at their world headquarters in Japan for the better part of a year. Thiswas some time ago, however, and unfortunately, all I left with was an inexpensivestainless steel Chronograph (which I still really like), and a few of those funkyAlba Spoons which people in Japan were falling over themselves trying to get backthen.The Sportura, as the name implies, is a sports chronograph, which means it's primaryfunction (aside from looking very cool) is to time events. If you're an Olympictrack coach, you're still going to be better off with something in the digital realmwith multiple splits, etc., but if you just need to time the occasional yacht raceor something, the Sportura will work, and look, just fine. Features and specificationsKinetic rechargeable quartz movement. That means it's a quartz watch, but youdon't have to change the battery. It's stores energy like a watch with automaticmovement (an oscillating weight rotates in response to wrist movement, generatingenergy), but it uses that energy to actually power a quartz crystal as opposedto winding a spring. The watch can keep time up to a month on a full charge withoutbeing "recharged".Chronograph which goes up to 12 hours, 6 minutes, and12.2 seconds in 1/10 second increments.Separate date window display. This isnot a perpetual calendar watch, though, so you will have to fix the dateafter a month with 30 days or after a leap year.Solid stainless steel.Sapphire crystal (anti-glare treated).See-through case back. Observe the gutsof this watch while it's in action.Double-locking, push button release, solidstainless steel band.Water resistant to 100m (330ft, 10 ATM, 10 BAR).This is a great looking, very unique watch, and as long as you don't need overlysophisticated timing functionality (the stopwatch works almost identically to my$270 Chronograph -- the Sportura SLQ017 retails for $3,500), it'll perform justfine for you. Of course, the trick is going to be getting your hands one of the400 in circulation, but as we all know, where there's a will, there's eBay.Additional resources:The SporturaSLQ017 product page.TheSLQ series Operation Guide. Unfortunately, I don't own this watch, and even more unfortunately, it's likelyI never will.