This one is the latest from the Monster line, falling into Seiko’s Prospex collection and meant every bit for hardcore professional use.
It’s because of the Seiko Prospex Monster Blue Vintage that people tend to move away from other dive watches. The Seiko guys out there indulged full tilt into giving the Prospex Monster an outstanding build quality as much as imparting to it an over-the-top aggressive look. And with the nickname Monster, the watch urges you to be as unsympathetic towards it as you can be; after all, it’s a combination of all the iconic traits that earned both Prospex and the Monster watches several nods of respect from watch enthusiasts all around the globe.
The main improvement you’ll notice in the Prospex Monster is in the upgraded movement. The 24-jewel, 21,600 BPH/3 Hertz caliber 4R36 is much desirable as an automatic movement than the 7S26 caliber among its precursors, since 1996. Unlike the previous movement, it hacks and hand-winds and can store 41 hours worth of power on a fully wound mainspring.
The Prospex Monster displays date both in Kanji or English; choice is yours. It is 1 mm smaller in diameter than the first generation Monster and stands 13mm tall. The lugs are set width of 20mm apart.
The case has a fine satin brush finishing, giving it a serious look – the way a tool watch should. There are unique grooves on its sides facilitating a more comfortable grip on the bezel, which is itself a semi-shroud design protecting the Hardlex crystal from head-on impacts against hard, flat surfaces. It rotates buttery smooth in an anti-clockwise direction; has zero free-play and its details are even better than in other Seiko watches. Aesthetically, it gives the watch a two-tone appearance.
The hefty, knurled crown at four o’clock is a screw-down type; it offers a better grip under wet conditions and makes time-adjustments easy.
The case design is iconic and it resists water till 200m. At the back, it features the famous tsunami emblem that accompanies other Seiko divers as well. And the lug holes…well, they make swapping straps an easy job.
On the dial, there are no more those shark tooth; instead, bold and prominent hour markers over a deep sunburst bluish dial makes for a spectacular show. Needless saying that the markers glow as bright as a torch in the dark and the hands are no exception. The signature trapezoid at 12 glows the brightest, for it’s also the largest among the markers. The LumiBrite lume coating not just glows BRIGHT; it also glows for hours at a stretch. They light up the entire dial and makes it easy viewing the day and the date; aided with the magnifying cyclops on the Hardlex crystal now at 3, it is a new placement which had never been on the previous Monsters.
The steel bracelet; is at par with the Monster standard and compliments the watch beautifully; its brushed links with polished sides give the Deep Blue Monster the look and feel of a a proper tool watch.
Overall, an enhanced Monster that’s several notches higher than any other serious dive watches offered at the same price point.
The watch mentioned in this post is listed below. Click to see details and buy them:
