Review of the new Seiko Marinemaster Professional 1000m Diver’s

At Deployant we are big fans of Seiko.  When it comes to diving watches, Seiko makes some great pieces.  They have developed a cult following due their great build quality and overall value for money.   Some of the watches have unofficial nicknames among collectors like the “Monster” and “Tuna”.  We take a closer look at the new Seiko Marinemaster Professional 1000m Diver’s, made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first dive watch made by Seiko in 1965.

This is a serious dive watch that means business.  As its name states the watch has a depth rating of 1000m, which makes it suitable for saturation diving.

One interesting feature of the Marinemaster is the lack of a Helium Escape Valve (HEV) on the case. This due to the specially designed L-shaped gasket and screw-down glass fixing ring which keeps helium out of the case.

The case is made from Titanium.  Seiko were the first company in the world to make a dive watch from Titanium in 1975.

This new version of the Marinemaster has a shroud made from ceramic. This helps to prevent the case from suffering shocks and stops the unidirectional bezel from being shifted accidentally.  This new rose gold coloured version, will be most likely christened the “Rose Gold Emperor Tuna” by collectors because of distinctive case shape, the depth rating and the colour of the bezel, crown and screws holding the shroud in place.  The “Tuna” moniker came about because collectors thought the case shape resembled a can of tuna.    The watch is  48.2mm in diameter and has a thickness of 17.4mm.

The dial is very legible, featuring large markers.  The indexes for 3, 6 and 9 o’clock are baton shaped, the 12 o ‘clock index is arrow shaped and the remaining hour indexes are circles.  The hour hand is arrow shaped and the minute hand is a elongated sword shape. The look is completed by the running seconds hand.  All of the indexes, the hands and the bezel arrow are covered in a new version of Seiko’s Lumibrite which glows for 60% longer than past iterations.  The date is located between the 4 and 5 o’clock position.

The case is a one piece construction, to enhance the water resistance of the watch. It features a “Wave” symbol on the caseback, which stands out from the rest of the technical markings around it. This means no viewing the movement of the watch through a sapphire caseback.  The movement powering the watch is the caliber 8L35.    It is a self winding movement, which can be manually wound and has a power reserve of approximately 50 hours.  It is made and assembled, as is the complete watch, by Seiko’s leading craftsmen at the Shizuku-ishi Watch Studio.

A great piece of engineering and a very well manufactured dive watch.  The rose gold hues provide a nice contrast to the black ceramic shroud and hard black coating of the watch.  The watch is finished with a extra-strength black silicone strap with rose gold coated buckle.  It looks great on the wrist for a causal afternoon or in its natural habitat in the ocean strapped to a divers wetsuit.

For more information please visit Seiko.

 Seiko Marinemaster Professional 1000m Diver’s: SBDX014
・Caliber 8L35
Driving system: Automatic with manual-winding mechanism
Vibration: 28,800 vibrations per hour (8 beats per second)
Power reserve: Approximately 50 hours
Number of jewels: 26 jewels
・Case
Titanium with rose-gold color and black hard coating and ceramic case
One-piece case structure (no-case-back construction)
Sapphire crystal with anti-fogging coating
Screw-down crown
Water resistance 1,000m for saturation diving. Magnetic resistance 4,800 A/m
Diameter: 48.2mm, Thickness: 17.4mm
・Band
Extra-strength silicone strap