The Diver bug bit more than its fair share. So, the remaining slide rule nitty-gritty takes backseat. We look at Diver-s and start with Seiko-s to honor their iconic stature in this department.
Once into it, let’s clear the confusion on various Seiko Dive-s rising out of nicknames, often interpreted wrongly, jumbling models with movements. ISO rated Divers are technically no easy, digestible bites, so just an overview of that and the classes and forms it created.
Note: Seiko assigns only numbers to models. The popularity often brought it nicknames and Seiko officially adopted some of them. For example, the Snow Monster (limited edition model).
For an easy classification, let’s break Seiko divers into three distinct divisions. The entry levels are under $300 (7Sxx movements), mid-level above $300 but within $700 (4Rxx, 6Rxx movements & Kinetic) and professional is $900 and up. There’s the quartz, the Kinetic and the autos, but all are equally durable. It’s never compromised.
The entry-level Seiko is so far the most popular kind among Diver watches overall. These are famous for packing the value within. Seiko builds that into their watches. The 7Sxx movements beat at 21K/hour; allows hand winding but doesn’t allow hacking. There’s the 7S25 (21 jewels, date only), the 7S26 (21 jewels, day & date), the 7S35 (23 jewels, date only) and the 7S36 (23 jewels, day and date) in the entry level Seiko Dive-s.
Other than the Black and Orange monsters, the 48mm Frankenmonster (the large shroud bolts on the side give its name; ref: Frankenstein‘s monster neck-bolts); earlier name – FrankenTuna is also a fine example of the 7s36. IMHO, it’s a brutally awesome kind of a watch. The lume is super-excellent; also works as reading light after a full charge.
The Seiko Scuba Diver 7S26, another example. It is an all-time blockbuster ever since it debuted in 1996. It’s a 200m diver with a unidirectional locking bezel (with 120-click graduation) and lumed indicator on the bezel. But what really gives it its identity is an oversized screw-down crown (and guard) at 4 o’clock with oversized and heavily lumed hands and markers. It is maximum performance and robustness in a single pack.
Since time (and space) is short, interested ones may take dive towards other Diver-s from here. Next day, we enter the mid-level and see a couple more examples.
