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For 2020, the 55th anniversary of the brand’s first dive watch, Seiko has also been working on another take on two vintage watches from its Prospex collection. We take a first look at both the more classic “1965 Diver’s Modern Re-interpretation” and the “1970 Diver’s Re-interpretation” with its distinctive asymmetrical cushion case.

- Roger Ruegger

Like the 6105 from the ’70s, the SPB153J1’s second hand comes with a red dot that contrasts nicely with the green dial.

Seiko's SPB143J1 is an interpretation of the brand's first dive watch from 1965.

It’s certainly no secret in the watch industry that re-editions of vintage dive watches tend to perform extremely well commercially, especially when they’re limited and from a brand with a huge fan base. Seiko has been applying this success formula since 2000, back then with the introduction of the SBDX003, a 500-piece limited edition of the Marinemaster that was part of what was used to be called the brand’s “historical collection” for the domestic market, and basically a modern take of the brand’s first 300-meter dive watch from 1967 (today’s version would be the SLA021J1 “Seiko Prospex Automatic Saturation Diver’s 300m,” after Seiko discontinued to use the name “Marinemaster”). Needless to say, this particular version of the 8L35-powered watch with monobloc case is now more sought-after than ever.