Seiko is the real MVP. SRP775.

I've been busy.  

Bless me Father, for I have sinned.  It has been more than 8 weeks since I've last written for BottomTimer.com.  I live a life of shame.  Though I've been  I could make excuses and say I've been busy with dive school and a different class schedule but no one likes excuses.  What people do like are watches.  What people really like are diver's watches.  In fact, I argued for their validity and place in your dive bag (and your wet, salty wrist) in my last article.  If you remain unconvinced, this will help.

Seiko is, in many ways, was and is one of the most legitimate diver's watch manufacturers out there.  One could argue that Rolex or Omega have a longer or richer history with diving but when it comes to putting affordable (key word), functional, long lasting watches on divers, Seiko is king.  If you don't believe me go ahead and search "vintage Seiko divers" on eBay and behold the thousands of Seiko watches which have survived the deep and though cosmetically a little worse for wear, tick on.

Case in point.  

This is for good reason.  Seiko makes incredible watches for little money.  When I say make, I mean they literally create from raw materials almost every thing which goes into and on their watches from movements, to crystals, to dials, to hands, to bracelets, to straps.  These days that's a rare claim even in Switzerland and when it happens it costs you an offensive amount of money and in most cases makes it ridiculous to even consider bringing your prized possession into the ocean's murky depths.

The Seiko SRP775.  

Allow me to provide an example.  If you're into watches and don't live under a rock, you're aware of the new 6309 inspired line of divers called SRP77x or more affectionately known as the "Turtle".  Considering the face melting amount of hype around these new watches (even Hodinkee wrote them up) I won't bore the reader by repeating the minute details.  However, I've recently acquired one (I bought it, for whatever reason the big brands aren't sending me anything yet...) and hope to inform the reader of the insane value, functionality, and dive-ability of the new watch.  This article is intended to summarize my first impressions and I'm planning a new piece once I've taken it diving a few times.

For one, the thing looks amazing.  I went for the classic pseudo gilt dialed model, the SRP775, on the surprisingly good bracelet.  I'm a longtime Seiko fan and the lucky owner of a very original 6309-7040 so the aesthetics weren't a stretch for me to get into but they just nailed it.  The small added "X" on the dial, representing Seiko's Prospex line, has been a bit of a turn off for some but I think it adds a little modernity and makes the new watch not strictly a reissue. The gold on black dial and bezel highlights are subtle and classy.  Also, the gilt aspects of the dial really fade away in low light which is desirable whilst diving since you normally don't need to remind yourself of the watches manufacture whilst submerged.

A nicer bracelet than it has any right to be.  

The new watch is also supremely wearable.  Seiko divers have in the past come under some fairly given criticism regarding their insanely long straps and sometimes cheap, flimsy feeling bracelets.  The bracelet on the SRP fights well above its weight class.  It's heavy, nice looking, very comfortable, and fairly adjustable.  The wetsuit extension is on the other side of the clasp compared to usual but it's articulated and works well and therefore doesn't give me any trouble.  I'm interested to see if it'll go over my 7mm wetsuit, which for me is the minimum in California waters.  The bracelet does unfortunately have the pin and collar system for the links but once you get over that and get it adjusted, it's good to go.  It also fit my 6.5" wrist perfectly and had plentiful removable links from both sides.

My SRP is also keeping really solid time, having gained only about 5 seconds in the first 24 hours of being worn.  The 24 jewel, 41 hour reserve movement hand winds and hacks which is awesome (and somewhat uncommon) for a Seiko diver.  Although you probably can't assume you'll get as good of time keeping, a quick regulation by a competent watch maker would almost guarantee COSC level performance.  The bezel action is a perfect 120 click setup with just enough play to ensure I can line it up nicely.  There's no sense talking about the nuclear lume, it's amazing.  Like most Seiko divers, the chapter ring doesn't line up exactly right but it's not much of a concern underwater and we're talking about diving right?

I originally didn't like the turtle nickname as I didn't feel that turtles are all that tough... but then the internet gave me this!  

Overall, I'm very impressed.  This is a perfect option for a watch and for a secondary dive timer (assuming you're also running a dive computer).  If the wetsuit extension doesn't give me enough extra length I'll probably dive it on a Z22 or 22mm zulu strap of some kind.  It's also a really nice everyday watch and knowing it's a capable diver means it'll be more than sufficient for life's ordinary challenges.

The real mind boggler is how much your brand new SRP775 will cost you, which is somewhere to the tune of $350US if you use the sales forums or eBay.  I think MSRP is $495.  Either way we're talking about a watch which does everything your five to ten thousand dollar Swiss diver does (don't start with me and helium release valves...) and looks damn good doing it.  For less than the cost of a nice buoyancy compensator you can add a solid diver's watch to your collection which will easily outlive the rest of your dive gear.  Even if you're a devoted Swiss watch guy, go get one of these, go diving with it, and see for yourself what all the Seiko fans have been talking about.