After lusting after this watch for a while, I finally decided to pick up the Seiko Seitona panda dial chronograph, the updated SSC961, which recently replaced the very popular SSC813. Now, I’m not going to go too in-depth about the watch in terms of specs because that’s covered by basically every reviewer, and as far as I know, they didn’t change from the SSC813 to this SSC961. So if you’re interested, you can read the specs for yourself.
What I do want to cover are some of the updates or changes that don’t seem to be listed or talked about.
I just want to start by saying that from the videos that I’ve seen on YouTube about the SSC961 specifically, they seem to portray that this is basically the exact same watch as the SSC813, but made in a different factory. However, based on the many SSC813 videos that I’ve seen leading up to the purchase of my SSC961, I want to address a major change that will help you guys in deciding to buy this watch or not, and that is with the solar subdials.
In many of the videos about the SSC813, reviewers would point out that, because the subdials are themselves the solar cells that are utilized to capture light and help keep this watch running for so long, they give off a blueish/purplish tint, something that stands out on a watch that is predominantly white and black. Reviewers would mention that they wish that the subdials were actually black.
I can say that in my copy of the SSC961, I can’t see any blue or purple tint to the subdials. You can tell that they aren’t pitch black like the painted-on markers on the rest of the watch face, but they do seem to be a lighter shade of black. Imagine something is black but semi-transparent. That rich black tone is just knocked down a bit. I hope that makes sense.
The other thing that I’ve noticed is that with the SSC813, you can actually see defined lines in the subdial as if that’s part of the solar cells. That was a slight annoyance for me because it’s somewhat unsightly and just takes away from the watch’s general look and appearance. However, I can say that with my SSC961, those lines are no longer there.
So, with the updated SSC961, we seemingly get a more accurate black and white panda dial as the subdials no longer feature a blue/purple tint and the seam lines are also gone. I can’t speak for you, but those previous concerns about the solar subdials were a part of my buying decision and what made me hold off on the SSC813 for so long. So the updates with the SSC961 are greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately for me, my particular watch has to go back, and hopefully I can get an exchange because this one actually has a spec of white dust right on the black seconds subdial, which is kind of annoying because it’s one of those things that now that I know is there, my eyes automatically look for it.
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Seiko SSC961
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