I’ve just returned from Budapest and while I’m still reeling from the endless architectural masterpieces, relaxing thermal baths and mouthwatering food there, I thought I’d share with you some details about my adventure and the Seiko Presage watch that accompanied me.
Why Budapest?
I feel very fortunate to have travelled around most of western Europe already in my 20’s, but there are still a few countries yet to be ticked off my bucket list. One of these, before a couple of weeks ago, was Hungary. Before my trip, I knew very little about Hungary other than that the capital was Budapest and I should expect to find a lot of Goulash on the menu. Aside from that, the culture, attractions, food and even flight time was a complete mystery to me.
Budapest, Hungary - Credit Guest Author
So why did I choose Hungary over say places like the Netherlands or Austria on my bucket list? Truthfully, because of price. Flights and accommodation in Budapest were incredibly affordable and I’d heard it from more than one source: “it’s only £2 a pint”. Sweet, count me in. Google images also suggested the city was incredibly beautiful… but then again if you search Sheffield, you’ll also find pretty filter-overlaid images that don’t look much like the street I lived on during my student years. But there I was, spontaneously booking myself a trip to Budapest with less than two weeks to wait.
Why my Seiko Presage?
Since I booked the four-day break pretty last minute, and I didn’t really consider the volume of work and social engagements I had planned up until my departure flight, I didn’t give myself much time to deliberate on which watch out of my very small collection I would take with me. My Seiko Presage Cocktail Time has been almost permanently strapped to my wrist ever since I purchased it back in April and I had yet to take it overseas to see how it wore when it wasn’t just accompanying me in my home office or walking the dog around the village.
Seiko Presage - Credit Guest Author
I first got hands-on with the Seiko Presage Cocktail Time Diamond Twist watch (reference SRE009J1) back in January when it first launched, and I immediately fell in love with it. I’d always wanted a Seiko, having reviewed many – mainly men’s models – over the last half decade. I’ve always appreciated the Japanese watchmaker’s ability to deliver beauty and accuracy at an incredibly accessible price. I had yet to find a Seiko watch that suited my wrist however, and while I love sportier designs like the Seiko 5 Sports and the Seiko Prospex, the Seiko Presage has always spoke to my more sophisticated side.
The Seiko Presage Cocktail Time Diamond Twist watch collection ticked pretty much every box I had for my next timepiece purchase. I wanted something small that I could wear easily daily and something with a little sparkle for those special occasions – but not too much sparkle that my eyes would hurt (this is something many luxury brands get wrong in women’s watches). The Presage’s 30.3mm stainless steel case sits nice on my narrow wrist and as someone with a strong distaste for mother of pearl dials, finding a creamy white display with no pearl in sight was amazing. Instead, the dial is subtly textured for a slight shimmer and set with 10 tiny diamond dot indices.
Seiko Presage - Credit Guest Author
It's just a beautiful watch and I feel good wearing it. It’s automatic winding movement has also been a lot more reliable than I expected. It houses the freshly-launched Calibre 2R05 with a 41 hour power reserve and an accuracy of +45/-35 seconds/day. Seiko have always been good at delivering precise movements, but this one has an accuracy window a lot wider than most others. Because of this, I half expected it to lose or gain time fairly often, but I haven’t noticed this once. Would the heat in Budapest change this though?
The Seiko Presage in Budapest
As well as packing a comfortable watch, my advice to anyone heading to Budapest is pack a good pair of shoes. You can walk for hours. The city is split into two, with the River Danube running down its middle. On the west side, you have Buda which up in the hills boasts Buda Castle, Matthias Church and the famous Fisherman’s Bastion. Then to the east, over an hour’s walk away, the area of Pest is home to Heroes Square, Vajdahunyad Castle and the popular Szechenyi Thermal Baths.
Budapest, Hungary - Credit Guest Author
We walked a lot, and with temperatures hovering around 34 degrees Celsius, we got pretty sweaty during the day. Thankfully, my Seiko Presage barely took any notice of the heat or my slippery wrist. It wore extremely well and felt comfortable even though it’s worn on a metal bracelet and it never once felt hot or lost time. In fact, it looked all the better in the sunshine with the beautifully textured dial, diamond indices and angled bezel catching the light nicely. It generally just looked and felt good during everything we did, from climbing the 30 minutes hill up to Fisherman’s Bastion to relaxing on a sunset river cruise down the Danube.
The only occasion I can note where I felt my Seiko Presage let me down was during a visit to one of the thermal baths in the city. With a water resistance of only 50 metres, I didn’t think taking it for a dip in the hot waters would be a good idea. And thankfully, there was a useful locked changing room system that let me feel safe leaving it behind. Would it have been nice to take the watch out with into the baths? Sure. But we all know water resistance isn’t a familiar sight in dress watches.
Budapest, Hungary - Credit Guest Author
All in all, my Seiko Presage was a trusty companion for my trip to Budapest and it perfectly transitioned between the day-time exploring to the more dressed-up evenings of food, drink and sunsets.
