Seiko has added to its popular collection of Prospex dive watches with the debut of three new references featuring a multiple-timezone GMT movement, which also boasts an updated and impressive three days of power reserve. As we often see with its premium sibling Grand Seiko, this latest collection from Seiko draws inspiration from natural and manmade landscapes with the black (SPB383), green (SPB381) and ice blue (SPB385) versions all taking cues from cities, polar ice and tropical oceans.
It was last year that Seiko first introduced a GMT movement into its universally accelerated Seiko 5 Sports collection and in 2023, we see the same function make its way up into the higher-end professional-spec dive watches of the Prospex line. It’s a smart move, with the GMT function that allows you to track at least two timezones arguably the most functional day-to-day feature to have in a wristwatch, meaning you can know what time it is at your head office or where your loved ones are at a glance.
The 42mm cases measure 12.9mm thick and have been entirely redesigned from previous generations of this 1968-inspired dive watch, with lugs that have super sharp lines between their brushed top surfaces and polished flanks and a wider ceramic bezel that’s easier to grip thanks to the more pronounced knurled edges. The case is sealed with a solid caseback that guarantees the watch 200m of water resistance and the crown protrudes from the 4 o’clock position in line with Seiko’s entire dive watch range, while all three references arrive on a solid three-link steel bracelet.
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The additional thickness of the bezel makes the dial appear slightly more compact, but legibility hasn’t been impacted thanks to the Lumibrite-filled hands and hour markers, with a quiet date window tucked away at 4:30 and a contrasting GMT hand easy to read. Some might take issue with the fact that the bezel has remained a 60-minute counter dive bezel instead of a 24-hour GMT bezel, but this new Seiko GMT Prospex dive collection gives you the best of both worlds, with a 24-hour track printed out around the minute track of the dial itself.
While the fresh case and dial are compelling enough on their own, Seiko hasn’t pulled punches with the new 6R54 movement which doesn’t just give you an extra GMT hand that you can set independently of the time but also increases the power reserve to a whopping three days (72 hours). With solid antimagnetic resistance of 4,800 A/m, there won’t be much that this new collection can’t handle.
The black and green dial references feature relatively traditional dial tones, but the dial of the ice blue reference has a heavily textured surface inspired by the polar landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctic. As a member of the Save The Ocean collection, it arrives with a textile strap in addition to its steel bracelet that has been woven entirely from plastic taken from recycled plastic bottles.
The collection of Seiko GMT Prospex dive watches is available from today, with the black (SPB383) and green (SPB381) models arriving with an RRP of $2,500 while the ice blue (SPB385) reference is a limited edition of 4,000 pieces worldwide and has an RRP of $2,800.
