The Seiko Prospex SPB series represents, among Seiko Prospex mechanical diving watch collections (Tuna excluded), the third most accessible diving watch, halfway between Seiko Turtle and Seiko Sumo, on the one hand, and the Seiko Prospex SLA021J1 (formerly known as Marine Master) and the Seiko Prospex SLA025, on the other.
I’m pretty sure that the Italian watch community is not as familiar with an SPB07 or an SPB08 as they are with a Seiko Turtle or a Seiko Sumo, simply because those timepieces are new to the Prospex family of products.
Not only is the Seiko Prospex SPB the latest addition to Seiko‘s accessible Prospex watches, but it also is a very classic take on the professional diving watch theme. Inspired by Seiko‘s first diving watch, the venerable 1968 Seiko Diver‘s 300M, a Seiko SPB08, especially, is the classic-looking and wearing diving Seiko watch par excellence, with the Diver‘s Recreation 1968 being the top end, featuring a modern Hi–Beat caliber and a single-piece case, as was the original.
Among a Seiko Prospex SPB07 or SPB08 pluses are its proportions: it looks, at first sights, like a more aesthetically refined variation of a Marine Master, it is far more classic in comparison to other Japanese heavy-duty tool watches since it boasts a slimmer and more finely grooved rotating bezel, and slimmer case.
If you love Prospex watches, but you’re looking for a dressier diving watch, an SPB08, for example, is a classier option than a Sumo whose 2019 edition has the same price point and comparable specification.
Seiko introduces a new limited edition watch based on the SPB07; it’s named Seiko Prospex SPB097J1 Twilight Blue and dedicated exclusively to the European and US markets: I believe this is the first time Japanese will desire a non-Japan limited edition Seiko Prospex and not the other way round.
There’s no Japanese nature or landscape to celebrate here, rather a piece of European beauty, given that bezel and dial of a Seiko Prospex Twilight Blue are inspired by the sunset on the Isle of Malta.
Designers conceived a successful and warm color combination: the bezel inlay is black and orange, the dial’s color is a pale blue, yet the whole package works well.
The case is 44mm wide but looks smaller, and the success factor is the case side’s design: it is slightly curved and rather thin, considering we are talking about a professional Seiko diving watch, and stops at 13,1mm (0,3mm less than a Turtle‘s), making it the most elegant diver’s watch in the Prospex collection.
Seiko‘s designers didn’t add any Prospex logo on the crown, something that I approve; it makes the Twilight Blue look like a stylish vintage-inspired ISO 6425 compliant watch.
Last but not least, this is the most accessible Seiko diving watch to feature a zaratsu polished case, a technique that guarantees a distortion-free mirror finish. Production is limited to 2019 pieces, each retailing at € 1,200. The only suggestion I can give if you want yours is the following: hurry up!
(Photo credit: courtesy of Seiko Watches)
Gaetano C @Horbiter®
