Ahh a semi forgotten watch that sat in the back of the drawer in one of my watch boxes.
NY0040 Mini Review:
TL;DR
Nice beater diver, get a SKX007 unless you have to have a lume dial.
+ISO diver for ~150bucks
+Applied indices
+Lume dial version
+Lovely blackened hands and indices on the lume dial version
+Lume is just as good as the SKX
+Timing bezel clicks into place solidly and very little play
+Interesting bezel grip
+I am a sucker for the Promaster logo... especially in orange.
+Dark day/date wheels
+Looks much less ridiculous on rubber than SKX due to the lugs being higher.
+Better rubber strap than the Z20/Z22
+2mm Promaster line springbars (1.2mm at the tip). Seiko 2.5mm (1.1mm tip) flangeless bars can be a pain to remove without drilled through lugs. I bought a few of these bars in 20 and 22mm for use on my Seikos when I want them on straps. They're easier to squeeze into leathers than the 2.5mm bars as well as easier to remove.
-Good luck finding a compatible bracelet. I have one, but I have it on my BN0000, where it needs it more than this watch (too small on rubber). It is an old style bracelet with folded links that will probably aggravate anyone who've gotten used to solid links.
-Uh, clunky Myota movement. Single direction autowinding. Both winding and free spin opposite of winding make some really loud noises. I still like 7S more than this, despite this has hand winding (no hacking). Crown action is not well dampened and feels chintzy.
-Really grindy and clunky day/date change.
-Case back polishing and stamping looks like it was done by a disabled 6 year old doped up on sugar. Case itself is fine though.
~Wears small for a 42mm watch. However, it is only 1mm thinner than the SKX but wears much thinner. Very sensibly sized on the wrist.
~20mm lugs. Some of my favorite straps are only available in 22mm...
~Lollipop at the opposite end of second hand.
~Better dial alignment to the chapter rings than you get on the K code Seikos. This particular example has about 1° off in the 6o'clock marker. Rest are dead on. Giving this a pass due to the low price.
~Aside from the aforementioned clunky movement, it feels like a higher quality watch than the SKX.
~Lefty crown. I am a clusterpluck of handedness due to semi unsuccessful attempt to correct my evil lefty ways as a kid. I usually wear watches on the left wrist, unless the watch has lefty or 2o'clock crown.
I want to hate this watch but really struggling to do so. It has this almost retro charm without actually being retro. I've been tempted by the blue dial version (NY0045 I believe), and thankfully it sold before I made my decision. These are getting a bit harder to find now. It is really too bad, since just some minor changes with a better movement would make this a superior watch to the SKX. SKX just has less annoyances and has tons more aftermarket parts to correct them.