Recently, I bought a Seiko 5 Sports SBSA199 (I believe it’s the Japanese-made version of SRPJ83) from Amazon JP, sold and shipped by Amazon JP itself as a new watch.
Today, the watch arrived and at first glance, it looked great. I tested every function and found no problems. However, when I checked the back of the watch, I noticed three notches on the back case that had some shiny spots. Upon magnification, they appeared to be scratches. I have uploaded some images that highlight the scratches with numbers, both magnified and not magnified.
Now, the question is whether this watch was opened by someone before being sold to me or if it’s simply a Seiko QC issue. Or, am I expecting too much from an entry-level automatic watch?
By the way, I also own a SRPG37k1, which does not have this issue. TBH it’s a little bit sad as I specifically created an Amazon JP account to purchase this watch, just to think that Japan-made means better quality.
TLDR: Amazon JP sold me a non original sealed watch?
Get a Seiko that’s actually made in Japan (not just “movement Japan”). The Amazon description is very misleading, often citing the movement origin and not where the watch was made and QC’d.
The watch also has “Made in Japan” markings on the dial and case, so I guess this means it is made in Japan. Maybe for lower-end models, the quality control is worse. By the way, thank you for the reply.