Seiko is saving its full publicity drive for 2015 watch collections until a full presentation at Baselworld.
But WatchPro has teased out some clues to the key announcement, which will be a collection of Prospex timepieces that arrive 50 years after the company became the first in Japan to create watches fit for divers.
No details other than the picture featured here have been released about the Prospex 50th anniversary editions. However, they will follow in the footsteps of some illustrious models dating back to 1965.
Seiko’s first dive watch in 1965 was an automatic with an outsized crown, rotating bezel with a special gasket and wide hands and dial markers. The launch of this model marked the start of Seiko’s pursuit for ever greater reliability and safety. They were certified waterproof to 150 metres.
A year later, the watches proved their reliability under pressure by being selected to accompany an important Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition.
By 1968, Seiko had secured its watches to a depth of 300 metres, but it was the 1975 models that made the Seiko name synonymous with diver watches when a titanium model earned 20 patents for innovations that improved ruggedness and reliability and increased their useable depth to 600 metres.
Seiko has always moved with the times. A 1990 model offered a digital display with a depth sensor. Another digital piece in 1995 recorded a diver’s history underwater.
Although no further details have yet been released about the 2015 anniversary models, it is reasonable to assume that the watches will be as rugged, reliable and trustworthy as ever, but also as innovative and smart with the latest technology.
