BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Just when you thought you were safe from a slew of new Seiko watches, we’ve got a new Seiko watch to show you. It’s a historic re-creation watch which mixes some old designs with some new touches to make what seems to be a re-creation in name only. Sorry, that was a bit cynical of me; lots of events are happening around me that are slowly getting into my head and not getting out. Luckily I’ve got this creative outlet to channel it all; I’m not very good at building things on Halo Infinite.
SJE099
Emotional leakage aside, Seiko’s new trio of diving watches looks pretty darned good. They’re supposedly based on the old 62MAS diving watch from 1965, although, if we’re looking at proportions, then perhaps not. Still, all three references of the new Prospex Marinemaster, SJE097, SJE099 and SJE101, are professional diving tools, and that means certain things.
All three watches have a rugged and dependable 39.5mm x 12.3mm stainless steel case that’s water resistant to 300m and a multilink stainless steel bracelet to keep them securely on the wrist. All three watches also have a metallic diving bezel and a box-shaped sapphire crystal over their dials which themselves have Lumibrite lume applied to the hands and markers.
SJE097 has a silvery white dial with a stainless steel diving bezel, SJE099 has a blue dial with a matching blue bezel, and SJE101 has a black dial with a colour-matched bezel. Do you know what else is colour-matched? The date window on every watch, hallelujah someone understands the difference this makes in aesthetics. Thankfully, sensible Seiko saw sense with this one, or something.
Powering all three watches is the self-winding calibre 6L37 which is based upon the 6L35 calibre. Seiko says they’ve upgraded the shock protection within the movement, which is good; the 6L37 also runs at a higher beat rate than the 6L35 with a 4Hz beat rate. The power reserve is around 46 hours, and the accuracy is between -10/+15 seconds per day. The movement is also visible through a sapphire crystal caseback, which is good.
All three watches are priced at €3400 apiece and are available from Seiko boutiques in December of 2023 and through worldwide retailer networks from January of 2024. Also, the silver-bezelled (I think I invented a new word) SJE097 is limited to 1000 examples worldwide, while the other two models are a permanent addition to the collection. I think the SJE097 is my favourite; while blue and black are quite timeless, the silvery white dial brings an elegance the other two lack; it reminds me of the white-dial IWC Ingenieur from earlier this year, which was my pick of the bunch there, too.
