Review: Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver’s Special Edition SPB455

We had the opportunity to take a close look at the newly released Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver’s Special Edition SPB455, and bring you this comprehensive review.

Review: Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver’s Special Edition SPB455

The Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver’s Special Edition SPB455 retails for EUR 1,600. Seiko also released two other Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver’s Watch: SPB451, SPB453 with blue or black dial and bezel, retailing at EUR 1,400. We covered the novelty releases in March with the release details and our commentary.

Seiko’s history traces back to 1881 when the founder Kintaro Hattori founded Hattori Tokeiten in Ginza to sell and repair timepieces. The brand Seiko first appeared in watches in 1924, when Hattori created a new manufacture which he called Seikosha. This was a fresh start after surviving the Great Kantō earthquake of 1924. For the first time, he used the brand name, “Seiko”, which appeared on the watch dials. The word “seiko”, in Japanese 聖 (sei) means “holy, sacred” combined with 子 (ko) meaning”child”, though other kanji combinations can also form this name. In the Seiko brand history literature, the name translates it as “precision and exquisite manufacturing”.

As part of this 100th Anniversary celebrations of the brand name, Seiko has released novelties in all the Seiko brand families, viz King Seiko, Astron, Prospex and Presage. This review focuses on the one of the three new references in Prospex family that were released. The first two are regular editions with black and blue dials with matching colours on the bezels. And the third, which is the subject of this review is the Special Edition, featuring a charcoal-grey-coloured dial with gold-coloured accents on the bezel, markers and hands. This Special Edition also comes with an additional fabric strap made from recycled plastic bottles.

The case, dial and hands

As mentioned in our commentary, the watch is very similar to the the Seiko 62MAS (autoMAtic Selfdater) first released in 1965. This is a popular watch, and Seiko has released several reinterpretations, notably the SLA 017 in 2017 and again as the SLA065 in 2022. However, for this SPB455 release, we see the case size adjusted slightly to 40mm instead of 41mm. The thickness of the case is also reduced by 0.2mm. And despite the reduced dimensions, the water resistance is increased to 300m, up from 200m. This is an interesting engineering feat. The date display has also been relocated from the 3 o’clock position in place of the hour marker, to a location between the 4 o’clock and 5 o’clock marker.

But the basics are still there. The case is robust, with a tapered tonneau style shape and a screw down crown. The bracelet feature a three link design, and feels very secure when latched on the wrist. As the bracelet pitch is now made smaller, it is more pliable and wraps very nicely around the wrist very comfortably.

The superb legibility of the design is still very strong. After all, this is a diver’s watch, and being able to read the time, especially time left for a dive, is a matter of life and death. The markers are huge, with generous Lumibrite infilling. As are the hands. The hour and minute hands are thick, also with lume infilling. Even the centrally mounted seconds hand carry a paddle on the outer edge of its length which has heavy lume infilling. And as required for a dive watch, the bezel is uni-directional, with distinct clicks and feature clear, legible markings, with the 12 o’clock triangle marker equipped with a luminous pearl. The markings, in gold has excellent contrast over a the black bezel.

The special edition comes with an additional strap made entirely of recycled plastic bottles which is made using a traditional Japanese braiding technique called Seichu. The braiding has a rich texture and sheen is the result of the technique which the strap shares with the traditional obijime decorative cord which holds a kimono sash in place. The strap has an interesting and distinctly Japanese aesthetic and texture. It also boasts of a tensile strength nearly four times that of regular Seiko fabric straps.

The movement: Caliber 6R55

The movement used is the Seiko Caliber 6R55. This is a workhorse movement and was introduced on 2023 with the King Seiko. This movement uses the framework of what Seiko refers to as the “high performance” 6R series calibers.

The 6R55 is considered to be an upgrade from the caliber 6R35, although by comparing the specifications, we think the differences are very small. The biggest difference is that the 6R31 has no date, and the 6R55 has one. The power reserve of the former is 70 hours, while the 6R55 is specified at 72 hours. There is no opportunity to examine the movement to determine if finishing is at different levels. But we fully expect the Seiko movements not to be finished to haute horlogerie levels, but to a competent engineering standard allowing it to work within specifications reliably.

Concluding thoughts

This is a handsome diving watch. The case size of 40mm is about right, and it wears nicely on my flat 7.5 inch wrist. The bracelet is pliable and comfortable. The watch has a heft which gives confidence when donned. And the construction of the case is sturdy. The bezel clicks are very reassuring and gives confidence that the watch is ready for daily use and abuse adventures. Or in serious diving situations. The colour scheme with the gold accents allows a bit of glitz on the tool style diver watch, and is a nice touch.

To us, the pricing at which this watch is pitched at, EUR 1.6k represents good value, and the watch should perform well and wear nicely for decades.

Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver’s Special Edition SPB455Specifications

Caliber 6R55
Driving system: Automatic
Vibrations: 21,600 vibrations per hour (6 beats per second)
Power reserve: 72 hours (3 days)
Number of jewels: 24

Specifications
Stainless steel case and bracelet with super-hard coating
Stainless steel bracelet with three-fold clasp with push-button release, secure lock, and extender
Curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on the inner surface
Screw case back, screw-down crown
Lumibrite on hands and indexes
Diameter: 40.0mm, Thickness: 13.0mm
Water resistance: 300m diver’s
Magnetic resistance: 4,800 A/m
Additional recycled polyester strap included