Seiko certainly knows when it’s got a good thing going and while it might n't need to mess too much with success, it certainly knows how to give its watches a cool and fresh look. For evidence, seek out today’s expansion of the Seiko Black Series with three of the brand’s most popular watches. Much the way Seiko blacked out the Tortoise and King Samurai last year, Seiko is going dark with coated versions of the 1965 Divers SLA067, the Divers SPB335, and Alpinist SPBJ337.
If you were to take bets on which of Seiko’s models would get the blacked-out treatment next, these 3 watches should have been on top of your list. The darkish coated cases are matched by textured dials that provide an appropriately tough look to reimaginations from the 1965 62MAS diver, it is successor the actual 6105-8000, and the fan-favorite Bjergbestiger field watch.
At the highest-end price spectrum, we have the particular SLA067, which is a lot like the SLA065. Measuring 41. 3mm wide as well as 13. 1mm tall the watch has a striped dial along with alternating black sand black and smooth finished distinctive and is powered by the Calibre 8L35 together with 50 hours of power reserve. The SLA067 will be a whopping $3, 100 to get one of the 600 limited edition pieces. The SPB335 is like the 333 before this but with a black and anthracite two-tone insert and uneven dial. The actual coated black 41mm case houses the 6R35 movement with 70-hour power reserve and will run you $950 for one of 4, 500 timepieces. And then there are the good ol’ 39. 5mm by 13. 2mm Alpinist SPB337. With the same motion as the SPB335, the blacked-out Alpinist, created in 5, 500 pieces, goes for $925.
There are not much that can be said about these watches that hasn’t already been said of the predecessors (and the watches which inspired them). I hate to admit how basic my taste can get but slap any black coating on most wrist watches and you may have got me itching to buy one to feel like a super secret special agent. The color combination of the black and grey tones with the turquoise-y green LumiBrite is cool in a way that takes a bit of the tough guy edge off things. The face texture is a nice touch, with a bit of the Audemars Piguet “Tuscan” vibe however here in a more dark-of-night aesthetic.
The SLA067 is certainly a higher-end offering and a lot of commenters have and will continue to comment on their surprise that will someone would spend $3, 100 on a view that says Seiko on the dial, yet Seiko dark continues to crank them out and on the face, people continue buying them. There will also be griping about the limited version numbers being so - well - near-unlimited-feeling. It certainly does feel a little silly, but I’m all for more watches being made available to enthusiasts if they want them.