A continuation of the Seiko Black Series diver’s watch with retro inspiration.

Seiko has shown a tireless drive to launch new watches time and time again, and it has already launched a slew of novelties starting in 2022. We’ve seen the return of King Seiko as a permanent collection, the Speedtimer Chronograph with a vibrant blue dial, and existing models adapted into new colorways. Seiko shows no signs of slowing down and has now released a new set of retro-inspired dive watches, including the Seiko Prospex Black Series Limited Edition SPB253J1, SPB255J1 and SPB257J1.

To address one thing, the line of watches also includes a fourth model, but we’ll address that in a separate article later today. The Quartet watches follow the same principles, but we think it’s appropriate to keep them separate for now. This is also not the first time Seiko has released a collection marked with a black series, as it has released the Prospex Samurai SRPH11K1 and Monster SRPH13K1 as well as the Prospex SLA035J1 and SPB125J1 in the past.

With its many recognizable and often iconic designs, the Prospex collection of watches, Seiko increasingly embraces its historical pedigree. The three watches on hand here, the SPB253J1, SPB255J1 and SPB257J1, originate from various classic Seiko dive watches from the 1960s and 1970s.

Seiko PROSPEX Black Series LE SPB253J1
The first is the SPB253J1, which borrows from the existing Prospex 1965 Modern Re-interpretation model, which in turn is modeled after Seiko’s first dive watch, the 62MAS. The 62MAS is clearly a very important reference in the brand’s long and storied history, and has inspired a series of modern remakes in recent years, such as the cool SPB239J1 that launched last year.

The Seiko Prospex Black Series LE SPB253J1 features an all black stainless steel case with a diameter of 40.5mm and a height of 13.2mm. The colour pallet is a mix of beige, grey and orange, similar to the black range we saw earlier. It’s all still very clear thanks to big indexes and pointers and lots of LumiBrites. Power comes from Seiko’s Calibre 6R35 automatic movement, which provides a healthy power reserve of 70 hours. It is worn on a brown textile strap with a second black rubber strap.

40.5mm x 13.2mm – stainless steel case, black finish, brushed and polished – unidirectional rotatable bezel with 60-minute indexes in grey and orange – screw-down crown at 3 o’clock – sapphire crystal – 200 meters Water Resistant – Black Dial with Beige LumiBrite Markers – Black Hands with Beige and Orange LumiBrite Inserts – Seiko Calibre 6R35 Automatic Winding – 24 Jewels – 21,600vph – 70 Hours Power Reserve – Brown Textile Strap, Optional Rubber Strap .

Seiko PROSPEX Black Series LE SPB255J1
In second place is the Seiko Prospex Black Series LE SPB255J1, inspired by the 1968 Seiko ref 6159-7001. Another important piece in Seiko diver’s watch history, moving the crown to the 4 o’clock position, with a larger diameter compared to the 62MAS, almost laid the foundation for the brand’s diver’s watch design philosophy.

The case is again in black-coated stainless steel, but with a diameter of 42mm and a height of 12.5mm. Again we see a black dial with large applied round hours and a set of black hands. For example, contrast the use of different colors from the diving scale on the bezel and hands. It uses the same automatic movement as the other two, so there are no changes. The 6R35 movement uses 24 jewels and runs at 21,600vph. Again we see brown textile straps with black hardware and rubber straps as replacements.

42mm x 12.5mm – Stainless steel case, black finish, brushed and polished – Unidirectional rotatable bezel with grey and orange 60-minute markers – Screw-down crown at 4 o’clock – Sapphire crystal – 200 meters Water Resistant – Black Dial with Beige LumiBrite Markers – Black Hands with Beige and Orange LumiBrite Inserts – Seiko Calibre 6R35 Automatic – 24 Jewels – 21,600vph – 70 Hours Power Reserve – Brown Textile Strap, Optional Rubber Strap.

Seiko PROSPEX Black Series LE SPB257J1
Currently, the last limited edition of the series is the Seiko Prospex Black Series LE SPB257J1. This is a direct descendant of the Seiko 6105-8110, famous for being worn by American soldiers in the legendary film Apocalypse Now and during the Vietnam War. It was a solid, reliable choice in combat, and has since served as the inspiration for many new releases, being nicknamed Captain Willard in the process.

The stainless steel case is of course black coated and measures 42.7mm x 13.2mm. It sounds like a fairly large watch, but the integrated short lugs make it very wearable. Unlike the other two, the crown is protected by an extended strap from 3 o’clock to 5 o’clock. There are no changes between the three in terms of color, movement and strap. So, again, the Seiko 6R35 automatic movement, with a brown textile strap and a black rubber strap.

42.7mm x 13.2mm – Stainless steel case, black finish, brushed and polished – Unidirectional rotatable bezel with grey and orange 60-minute markers – Screw-down crown at 4 o’clock with crown guard – Sapphire crystal – 200m water resistance – ​​Black dial, beige LumiBrite markers – Black hands, beige and orange LumiBrite inserts – Seiko 6R35 automatic movement – ​​24 jewels – 21,600vph – 70 hour power reserve – Brown textile watch Strap with black rubber strap replacement. best online watch store