When SCUBA diving was on its rise, back in the 1960s, many watchmakers got busy in bringing out spectacular timepieces that matched the demands of divers, who needed a highly legible watch underwater. Of the many names, Seiko was one of them, and in 1965 they brought out the 6217 – a high-end Professional Divers watch.
Soon enough the PROSPEX , which is the marriage of the words Professional Specifications, became a collection that raised the bar in terms of innovation and quality. It was the first diver watch that switched from the standard steel case to a titanium case. The watch also was the first to see a quartz movement under the hood in a professional dive watch.
Ceramic shroud for deep-sea diving and hybrid analog digital watch with an alarm, are among the many firsts that Seiko brought around in the dive watch series. But the best part about the whole setup was that Seiko used their own in-house movements to power the watch.
The iconic series continues to woo its fans and challenges the passion of sports enthusiasts from across the globe. The ‘Monster’ series is of particular interest, as it was celebrated over the years, and its evolution has paved the way for intrinsic innovations.
The Two New Monsters on the Block
What we discuss today are two new watches in this ‘Monster’ series – The SRPD27 and SRPD25. Let’s talk about The Prospex Automatic ‘Monster’ Diver SRPD27 first. This timepiece comes with a stainless steel case and beautiful black sunray dial. On the face of it, the SRPD27 looks like a close cousin of the Prospex Diver SRPD29, which has an all-black finish.
As far as looks go, the difference is the blue rubber strap, instead of the all-black avatar. The SRPD27 is designed with a 42.4 mm stainless steel case and hosts the latest generation Monster case. The solid steel dive bezel treated with a black coating looks very impressive.
The dial in black looks very chic and I like the way it stands out with the prominent lume imposed on the markers. This sporty mechanical watch comes with a locking crown, solid caseback, unidirectional dive bezel and 200 meters of water-resistance. These are the ISO6425 requirements being ticked off the list.
Matching this watch is the SRPD25, which hosts a steel case, blue sunray dial, and stainless steel bracelet. In comparison to the black dial, the blue looks regal, but not as classy as the black finish. Maybe I’m partial to black, but I feel Seiko made the right choice by teaming a steel bracelet with the blue dial.
As far as the functions specs go, both the watches – SRPD27 and SRPD25 – share the same details. Only the color of the dial and bracelet / strap differs. These are minor changes and more in the direction of giving the buyer a choice in the range.
The prominent hands, indices feature ample amounts of lume, which is necessary in a dive watch. Under the hood is a Seiko 4R36 automatic movement with a power reserve of around 41 hours. The crown is positioned at the 4 o’clock spot and compliments the positioning of the date display at three o’clock.
The Prospex SRPD27 on a rubber bracelet sells for about $495 and expect to fork out $525 for the SRPD25.