Seiko certainly knows when it’s got a good thing going and while it might not want to mess too much with success, it certainly knows how to give its watches a cool and fresh new look. For evidence, look no further than today’s expansion of the Seiko Black Series with three of the brand’s most popular watches. Much the way Seiko blacked out its Tortoise and King Samurai last year, Seiko is going dark with coated versions of the 1965 Divers SLA067, the Divers SPB335, and Alpinist SPBJ337.
If you were to take bets on which of Seiko’s models would get the blacked-out treatment next, these three watches should have been high on your list. The dark coated cases are matched by textured dials that give an appropriately tough look to reimaginations of the 1965 62MAS diver, it’s successor the 6105-8000, and the fan-favorite Alpinist field watch.
At the highest-end price spectrum, we have the SLA067, which is a lot like the SLA065. Measuring 41.3mm wide and 13.1mm tall the watch has a striped dial with alternating sandy black and smooth finished textured and is powered by the Calibre 8L35 with 50 hours of power reserve. The SLA067 will set you back a whopping $3,100 to get one of the 600 limited edition pieces. The SPB335 is like the 333 before it but with a black and anthracite two-tone insert and textured dial. The coated black 41mm case houses a 6R35 movement with 70-hour power reserve and will run you $950 for one of 4,500 watches. And then there’s the good ol’ 39.5mm by 13.2mm Alpinist SPB337. With the same movement as the SPB335, the blacked-out Alpinist, produced in 5,500 pieces, goes for $925.
There’s not much that can be said about these watches that hasn’t already been said about their predecessors (and the watches that inspired them). I hate to admit how basic my taste can get but slap a black coating on most watches and you’ve got me itching to buy one to feel like a super secret special agent. The color combination of the black and grey tones with the turquoise-y green LumiBrite is cool in a way that takes a bit of the tough guy edge off things. The dial texture is also a nice touch, with a bit of the Audemars Piguet “Tuscan” vibe but here in a more dark-of-night aesthetic.
The SLA067 is certainly a higher-end offering and a lot of commenters have and will continue to comment on their surprise that someone would spend $3,100 on a watch that says Seiko on the dial, but Seiko black continues to crank them out and ostensibly, people continue buying them. There will also be griping about the limited edition numbers being so – well – near-unlimited-feeling. It certainly does feel a little silly, but I’m all for more watches being made available to enthusiasts if they want them.