Dive watches have come a very long way in 55 years. It was 1965 when Seiko first dipped their toe into the waters of serious dive watches when they released the Seiko automatic 6217 62MAS, water resistant to 150m. Featuring large luminous hands and hour markers, a rotating dive 60-minute bezel and a rubber strap, it already had all the ingredients of the modern-day dive watch. To pay tribute to this special watch, and the legacy of diving watches that it gave birth to, Seiko have released a collection of limited edition watches inspired by important historic references, three of which are faithful to the originals, and one, the Seiko SPB149J, is a modern interpretation of the 62MAS from 1965. As it is a modern interpretation, it is worth some closer scrutiny to see how it stacks up. The link to the original Seiko dive watch is immediately obvious, with the blocky case sides, squared-off lugs and prominent crown at 3 o’clock. While the crown was originally placed there, by 1968 Seiko had shifted the crown to the 4 o’clock position that we are used to seeing to this day. The black 60-minute bezel is also consistent with the original…
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