The Great Wave: 60 Years of Seiko Diver's

The Great Wave: 60 Years of Seiko Diver's

Deep-Sea Excellence for Pro's: The New High-Performance Diver SLA081

The first of these new watches, powered by the new Caliber 8L45, joins Seiko’s flagship series for diver’s watches, Marinemaster, which combines exceptional performance with refined design and craftsmanship. Its exterior traces the familiar contours of an early and iconic Seiko diver’s watch that was introduced in 1968, while its construction finds inspiration in another innovative Seiko diver born in 1975.

The dial inspired by shinkai, or “the deep sea”

The dial features a blue gradient that deepens toward the outer edge, capturing the mysterious and beautiful underwater world.

The watch features a new textured dial whose pattern evokes the deep sea. To ensure reliability and safety, the indexes are formed as part of the dial through a molding process and will stay firmly in place, even under impact. A thick, clear paint adds a lustrous finish to enhance the beauty of the dial while achieving an unprecedented level of depth.

A case construction using Seiko’s latest watchmaking technology

The watch features a one-piece titanium case construction that ensures water resistance to depths of 600 meters, suitable for saturation diving. As a mark of its professional-grade capabilities, the word "PROFESSIONAL" is inscribed on the dial. Just like Seiko’s historic diver’s watch introduced in 1975, it features a specially developed L-shaped gasket to prevent helium infiltration, eliminating the need for an escape valve.

Professional Update: New Movement & New Clasp

The new Caliber 8L45 represents the pinnacle of Seiko’s mechanical watch movements. It incorporates Spron, Seiko’s proprietary alloy, designed for durability against breakage, rust, and wear, ensuring resilience in harsh underwater conditions. A thinner, longer mainspring provides 72 hours of power reserve, while an improved method for securing the movement within the case enhances durability. In addition to its longer power reserve, Caliber 8L45 operates within a tolerance of +10 to -5 seconds per day.

The new clasp allows for an adjustment of up to 15 mm. With the press of a button, the bracelet can be easily extended or shortened in six 2.5-mm increments – without any tools. This ensures the watch remains comfortably on the wrist, even with changes caused by diving pressure or weather conditions.

Supporting JAMSTEC’s Arctic Research

Seiko Prospex actively supports various marine conservation initiatives by contributing to the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) research team, and this watch is set to become part of JAMSTEC’s Arctic research program in 2025.

Seiko and JAMSTEC share a remarkable history of innovation and resilience. In 1983, two professional diver’s watches rated to 600 meters of water resistance were successfully tested on the Shinkai 2000, a research submersible operated by JAMSTEC. In 2014, both automatic and quartz 1,000-meter saturation diver’s watches were mounted on the Kaiko 7000 II, demonstrating exceptional performance by operating flawlessly at depths exceeding 3,000 meters, surpassing their guaranteed specifications.

1968 Heritage Automatic GMT Diver‘s 60th Anniversary Limited Edition SPB509

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1965 Heritage Automatic Diver‘s 60th Anniversary Limited Edition SPB511

The two Heritage Diver's models follow in the footsteps of groundbreaking Diver's from Seiko that were launched in the 1960s. The watches showcase a fresh dial design – one in silver color and the other in blue – drawing inspiration from the wave mark, a symbol of reliability found on the case back of Prospex diver’s watches. The silver-dialed model pays homage to Seiko’s first diver’s watch from 1965, while the blue-dialed version reflects the design of the 1968 diver’s watch.

For the 60th anniversary, the two limited editions shine with unique dial colors and patterns, such as Silver Wave (SPB511J1) and Blue Wave (SPB509J1). The watches feature a compact size, complemented by new bracelets that offer enhanced wearing comfort. The new clasp allows for a more precise and convenient adjustment of the bracelets in no time.

Both are powered by the long-trusted Caliber 6R family. The watch with the silver-colored dial is equipped with Caliber 6R55, while the blue-dialed model features the GMT Caliber 6R54. The GMT hand of the latter can be set independently without interrupting the other hands, allowing the wearer to see, at a glance, the time in a second time zone. Both movementsdeliver a power reserve of 72 hours and are water-resistant to 300 meters – an improvement of 100 meters compared to previous diver's watches equipped with Caliber 6R54. The watches have Lumibrite on the hands and all 12 indexes and feature a unidirectional bezel with a luminous pip.

About the original 1965 and 1968 diver’s watches

Known to fans as the 62MAS, the 1965 diver’s watch incorporated an automatic mechanical movement and delivered 150m water resistance. The watch was designed for maximum reliability and legibility in the harshest conditions and proved its reliability when used in the Antarctic during the 1960s, laying the path for the development of future landmark watches. 

The 1968 diver's watch was a groundbreaking professional watch with a high-beat automatic movement and 300m water resistance. Known for its distinctive design, including a rotating bezel and a screw-down crown at 4 o'clock, it set new standards in dive watch innovation.

Specifications SPB511
Limited Edition of 6.000 pcs. worldwide
Caliber 6R55
Automatic winding type with manual winding mechanism (Magic Lever)
Power reserve more than 72 hours
Stop second hand function
24 jewels
Date display
Stainless steel (super hard coating)
Three-fold clasp with secure lock, push button release with slide adjuster
300m Diver‘s / 30 bar
Curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on inner surface
Screw-down crown
Unidirectional rotating stainless steel bezel with aluminium inlay
LumiBrite
Limitation on case back
Diameter: 40,0 mm; Thickness: 13,0 mm
RRP: 11.695 kr.

Sales Start May 2025

For further information:

Special web page:
https://www.seikowatches.com/dk-da/products/prospex/special/60th_anniversary_limited/index

Seiko Prospex web page:
https://www.seikowatches.com/dk-da/products/prospex

Note:
The specifications and price information in this release are as of the published date and are subject to change.