Seiko Brings Updates to Heritage Prospex Diver Collection

Seiko is bringing some welcome updates to their popular Prospex diver collection this week with three new references. The trio will set a new foundation for the range, which takes its inspiration from the famous 62MAS diver released in 1965, tightening up some of the proportions without much change to the overall design that many of us fell in love with when first released in 2020. The refinements made here underline the importance of this collection in cultivating a more premium identity within the Prospex family. As a result, the price also gets a small bump. Most importantly, Seiko has addressed the little niggles we had with the watch, showing a level of care and attention that’s worthy of note. 

The SPB143 of the prior generation launched alongside three other references, and represented the first step in Seiko’s plan to split their dive watches into a new segment, with the Seiko 5 range sliding in underneath to replace the beloved SKX collection. The new SPB watches brought a more premium construction and the 6R35 movement, along with price tags that breached the $1,000 mark. This opened the door for a slew of new collections that leaned into various areas of Seiko’s illustrious dive watch history (one of which we detail right here). While this move wasn’t universally celebrated, the watches themselves were. 

The SPB143 and its ilk hit the sweet spot in many ways, but they weren’t without fault. One of the biggest criticisms of the watches were their somewhat tanky stature on the wrist. This was a result of the somewhat blocky profile (including the lug design) and extruding caseback that stood about 13.5mm in thickness. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but certainly lacked the silky presence of something like the case of the SPB317, for instance. With this new generation of SPB divers, this case has been thoughtfully revised in such a way to address this. 

The SPB453, SPB451, and SPB455 boast a new trimmer case that shave a fraction of a mm from the overall thickness, but more importantly, get a thinner case wall and more shapely transition to the caseback, which should dramatically improve the wearability of the watch overall. The diameter has also dropped to 40mm from 40.5mm, and the lug to lug has been brought down to 46.4mm. We’ll have to wait for some hands-on time to speak further on the benefits of these changes, but having spent years with the prior reference, these are changes I look forward to welcoming. Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that, even with the thinner case, the depth rating has increased from 200M, to 300M. 

The new references, which are launching in black (SPB453), blue (SPB451), and sunray black/gilt in a special edition (SPB455), also get a slightly redesigned dial. The date has migrated to the 4:30 position in a small circular aperture with a disc that’s been color matched to the dial. This will undoubtedly be the most controversial component of the new watch, but it’s not without precedent. I personally find that this layout reads as a dateless design, with the small date aperture nearly disappearing when not needed. There is nothing to inhibit the legibility of the blocky hour markers and no functionality has been sacrificed. 

Inside, Seiko has updated the movement to the 6R55, which provides a bump in power reserve to 72 hours (from 70 hours). I’d wager many of us would prefer a more consistently accurate movement over more reserve, but your mileage may vary here. The base price has risen to $1,300 for the SPB453 and SPB451, and will be $1,400 for the special edition SPB455. Availability is expected by this summer. Seiko