The ocean has been part of our natural world. With endless discoveries, conserving what the underwater world offers is a must. Fortunately, divers around the globe share the same goal to preserve natural wonders.
The history of this achievement started when Seiko created the first Diver’s watch in 1965. Since then, Seiko has been addressing the diver’s needs in accordance with safety standards, reliability, and ease of use. Today, Seiko is proud to be the gold standard for diving watches. At the same time, Seiko is giving back to the ocean, one cleanup at a time. Take a look at how Seiko began its humble beginnings for diving watches.
Brief History Of Seiko Prospex
As stated before, the first Seiko Prospex diver’s watch was created in 1965. The original Diver’s watch was conceived to create waterproof timepieces after the 1964 Japanese Olympics, where Seiko was an official partner. A year later, in 1966, the PADI Foundation was founded by John Cronin and Ralph Eriksson to train aspiring divers. By that year, the watch was already recognized by many critics and was selected as the timepiece for the 8th Japanese Antarctic survey expedition.
However, it was only after two years, in 1968, that Seiko decided to make accessible diving watches. This all started with a letter from an unknown Japanese deep-saturation diver based in Kure City, Hiroshima. According to the letter, the diver complained about the current standard of watches for the profession. The problem is that no watches are working after a depth of 300m.
Because of this, Seiko hired engineer Ikuo Tokunaga to create a high-pressure diving watch meant for deepsea diving. By 1975, Seiko successfully launched the first lightweight titanium dive watch. Known as the Professional Diver’s 600M or the Big Tuna, it set the first industry standard for deep saturation diving. The same timepiece was then superseded by its own successor in 1986. Until now, Seiko has been creating more and more diving watches as the need for diving changes with technological advancements.
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Impact Of Seiko Prospex
When the Seiko diving watch appeared in various major blockbuster movies, it finally made its mark in the scene. It started its first appearance in Francis Ford Copolla’s 1979 Vietnam War movie Apocalypse Now. Succeeding models then appeared in more films, such as the 6309 ‘Turtle’ successor in the 1989 film The Abyss, directed by James Cameron. With or without the aid of Hollywood, the Seiko Prospex Diver’s 200M became the best-selling watch of the 1990s.
Once the watch manufacturer partnered with PADI in 2016, it became a growing force. They launched many models, including the Prospex PADI Kinetic GMT Diver’s and the Prospex PADI Automatic Diver’s watches. Since then, they also collaborated to launch the Dive Against Debris program to rid the oceans of marine debris.
Seiko’s ongoing support of PADI aligns with the vision to provide a better world for divers. Since their humble beginnings, the same watch manufacturer has continued supporting the diving industry while caring for the marine environment.
Wrapping Up
The Seiko Prospex went through many life-changing events to their current position. With their contributions to deepsea divers, they gave back to the ocean by partnering with PADI to preserve marine life. So when you see a Seiko Prospex watch at your nearest watch store, it deserves a spot for its impact.
Author’s Bio:
Luther Abrams is quite a jack of all trades type of guy. He loves exploring new things and cultivating his knowledge every now and then. Today, he grows more and more interested in jewelry and watches and even writes about such things in his free time.
