Seiko’s Prospex series of professional dive watches is renowned for two things: its exceptionally high quality-to-value ratio and its large number of passionate fans. And while there are a few perennial standouts in the Prospex family, some parts of the collection ebb and flow based on style and popularity. One such model is the so-called ‘Samurai’, a contemporarily styled 200m diver produced for a few years from 2004. Released in a range of dials variants, and in steel or titanium cases, the watch earned its moniker because the handset reminded wearers of the distinctive angles of the aforementioned warriors’ swords. Also, it’s an unwritten rule that wherever possible, Seiko model nicknames need to explicitly evoke their Japanese origins. As is so often the case with discontinued models, the Samurai developed something of a cult following, and prices for pre-owned models started, slowly but surely, to rise. So when Seiko announced at Baselworld earlier this year that the Samurai was back as a complete collection, it’s only slightly hyperbolic to say that the people rejoiced. Certainly people who care about well-priced, no-nonsense watches (which it turns out is quite a few) were pretty happy. That’s the backstory, so how about the watch?…
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