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Seiko, through their Seiko 5 Sports line, recently unveiled a watch that, five or six years ago, probably would have broken the watch internet. The SKX Series is a collection within the Seiko 5 Sports lineup that directly references the SKX line of Seiko divers, which are perhaps the most iconic of all enthusiast focused watches. The SKX Series under the Seiko 5 Sports banner is not new, but this new quartet of divers feels like the most direct callback to the classic SKX007 and SKX009 yet.
When the SKX watches were discontinued, it was the talk of the watch internet. And the (re)introduction of the Seiko 5 Sports line, as a pseudo-replacement, also drove a lot of conversation, much of it dismissive, or yearning for the “old days” of Seiko when the truly affordable SKX watches (real dive watches, we were always reminded) could be purchased easily by any budding collector. These new watches which connect directly to that SKX lineage say a lot about the state of the brand, and their reception to this point, I think, says even more about the community.
Before we get too deep into the meta-commentary of what these watches mean in enthusiast circles, let’s quickly get some basic objective stats out of the way. The new references (the SRPL83, SRPL85, SRPL87 and SRPL89, which feature blue, black, yellow and orange dials, respectively) all measure identically to the Seiko 5 Sports watches which debuted back in 2019. That means cases coming in at 42.5mm in diameter, 13.9mm thick, and 46mm lug to lug. The case shape and profile will be familiar to anyone who has dabbled in Seiko sports watches over the last several decades.
Unlike earlier iterations of the Seiko 5 Sports watches, however, these new references have aesthetic cues that link them directly with the SKX watches of the past. In practical terms, that means a narrower bezel and larger dial, in addition to some color options which really evoke the heyday of the SKX line. The orange and yellow dials, paired with that narrow black bezel, could easily fool many a collector from 20 feet away that they’re looking at a watch born sometime in the 1980s. The giveaway, of course, is the modern Seiko 5 logo near the 12:00 position.
And there’s the rub: this is a modern Seiko 5. Which means, unlike the old-school SKX watches, these watches are making certain concessions that hardcore fans (and actual divers) take issue with. No screw down crowns to be found here, and we get 100 meters of water resistance. To be clear, that is plenty of water resistance for just about anyone and is more than adequate for daily wear, but it’s a half the depth rating of the humble SKX, which was a genuine, ISO certified dive watch.
What I think is really interesting about this release, though, is not the aesthetic or even functional characteristics of the watches themselves. It’s the fact that Seiko is so casually referencing the SKX line as products that are deep into the brand’s rearview mirror. I had the same feeling learning about these releases that I often do when I’m scrolling through Instagram and see that Pitchfork or Stereogum is marking the 20th or 25th anniversary of an album I loved as a teenager or in my college years, disturbed by the rapid progression of time, and shocked that “Turn on the Bright Lights” is anymore than 10 or 12 years old.
The SKX watches are well and truly part of Seiko’s past at this point, and so is the watch collecting community’s reaction to releases like this one. When I started writing about watches professionally, putting the word “Seiko” in a headline meant that whatever watch being discussed would be, well, discussed. There was real excitement for just about any Seiko release, and invoking the SKX either directly or indirectly would be the kind of thing that we might devote an entire podcast to, or at least wade through post after post, and perhaps meme after meme, on social media.
But the new Seiko 5 Sports SKX Series watches went public about three weeks ago now, and the internet has not been lit up with commentary. It’s another Seiko release that has kind of come and gone without much impact, begging us to ask the question: what does Seiko mean to the watch enthusiast community in 2025? They are still, for sure, an enormously important brand. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that the end of the SKX and the introduction of the new Seiko 5 Sports watches, along with a simultaneous climb upmarket in their other collections, represents a dividing line that changed the character of the brand and how we interact with it in a significant way.
I still own and enjoy a bunch of Seikos, including divers made in the SKX era that have a ton of charm. But I’d be lying if I said I genuinely miss Seiko being at the center of watch enthusiast culture, because their replacement, an array of wildly diverse micro and independent brands, has been so rewarding to tap into.
It’s completely possible that a few weeks or months from now, Seiko could unveil an entirely new watch that gets the entire community every bit as excited as it was when a watch like the 62MAS derived SPB- divers were introduced a few years back. If and when that happens, some of the catastrophizing here might seem premature. But at this very moment, I think it’s pretty interesting to consider this relatively quiet period from Seiko, and what that means for the watch enthusiast community writ large.
Pricing for the new watches in the Seiko 5 Sports SKX Series starts at $385. Seiko
