Seiko’s New Dive Watch Borrows a Page from the Brand’s High-End Sibling

There are a number of ways in which Grand Seiko distinguishes itself from its more affordable sibling, Seiko. The most obvious are the higher levels of finishing and the more premium movements used.

But another Grand Seiko hallmark that’s largely absent from Seiko’s catalog is the use of Japan’s natural world for inspiration when creating dials. Grand Seiko’s best-known dials — the Snowflake, White Birch, Mount Iwate and others — were all inspired by the nature that surrounds Grand Seiko’s Japanese manufacture.

Now, Seiko is borrowing a page from its luxury sibling for the latest limited edition of its retro 1965 diver by using nature as the inspiration for a breathtaking new dial.

Seiko

Dial up the beauty

For the dial of the new Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver’s Watch Save the Ocean Limited Edition, Seiko looked to the pristine ocean waters that surround the Japanese island of Okinawa for inspiration.

A popular spot with divers, the bright blue waters ended up being the perfect muse for the dial on this ISO-rated diver’s watch. Seiko calls the brilliant azure shade “Tranquil Teal,” and it’s been applied here with a sunburst finish. While the dial doesn’t feature the more prominent textures found on many Grand Seiko dials, zoomed-in images do show off a sunburst pattern that appears to be more deeply engraved than usual.

Seiko

The gorgeous, ocean-inspired dial is paired with a matte gray bezel insert for a cool, calming appearance with white markings throughout the design, including on the LumiBrite-filled hands and applied indices.

The dial is gorgeous, but I do wish Seiko had color-matched the date window to the dial as it has on other versions of the 1965 Heritage Diver. The white date window here makes its awkward 4:30 placement and unusual round shape stand out far more than it would if it were finished in Tranquil Teal.

Seiko

In addition to the pretty new dial color, the watch is also fitted with Seiko’s new microadjustable clasp. The clasp features a more flush-fitting security lock and a push-button mechanism that allows for six on-the-fly adjustments of 2.5mm each, for a total 15mm of travel. That’s … a lot.

The finishing on the opened clasp is nothing to write home about, as it looks more like a diver’s extension than a modern microadjustable clasp. But if Omega can essentially give the same treatment to the clasp on its new $10,000 Planet Ocean, then I can excuse Seiko for doing so on this $1,400 watch. This is a big upgrade over the old clasp.

Seiko

Outside of these updates, this is the same as other references in Seiko’s 1965 Heritage line. The case remains in 40mm super-hard-coated stainless steel with a screw-down crown at 3:00, the water resistance is a robust 300m, the movement is the Seiko Cal. 6R55 automatic with three days of power on tap, and the crystal is sapphire with anti-reflective coating on the underside only.

Pricing and availability

As indicated by the name of the watch, the Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver’s Watch Save the Ocean Limited Edition (SPB545) is indeed limited in production. But Seiko often uses the term “limited” very loosely, and such is the case here. 4,000 of these watches will be produced, so getting one shouldn’t be too difficult.

The price is also reasonable. With an SRP of $1,400 on the SPB545, you’re looking at just a $100 increase over the standard black-dialed SPB451 and blue-dialed SPB453.

Seiko

Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver’s Watch Save the Ocean Limited Edition

Specs

Case Size	40mm
Movement	Seiko Cal. 6R55 automatic
Water Resistance	300m

• $1,400 at Seiko

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add Gear Patrol as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Related Topics