Compared to the SNKN01, the SNKM97 sheds a lot of the youthfulness of the N01 and replaces it with something adventurous. Its green sunburst dial provides the perfect backdrop for the gold hour markers and hands, looking as if it just came off of the Vegas strip. It reminds me a little bit of the Alpinist, which I’m a huge fan of- it looks even better than the sunburst-silver on the SNKN01.

The gold on the dial does such a good job of giving the face character. Too much gold can be hard to wear; Seiko has done a great job of styling the SNKM97 so that the gold really pops without popping a bit too much.

I wish it was slightly smaller, though. 43.5mm is pretty big, and the squarish case exaggerates its dimensions. The 7S26 will fit into small cases (the SNK809 is 37mm). My tiny wrists can barely wear it (only with a long-sleeve, ha), but I rock it anyway. It helps that it wears smaller with a strap in place of the bracelet.