A thing you discover about watch collecting after being involved in the hobby for a little while is that it’s a truly international endeavor. This manifests itself in a number of ways. The geography of the watchmaking industry is obviously something that’s discussed frequently, with Swiss, German, Japanese, and American styles of the craft all taking slightly different shapes. But even more than that, practical matters like the availability of watches to actually purchase has a lot to do with where you are in the world. Just last week, we told you about a pair of new limited edition Grand Seikos made just for the US market, and today we have a similar story about a Seiko diver for sale exclusively in Europe. Regional releases strike again.
The Seiko Prospex SPB473 would have caught our eye regardless, but something about it being vaguely forbidden if you happen to live in America makes it all the more appealing. Now, realistically, this watch won’t be that hard to track down if you really put some effort into it. There are all kinds of ways an American customer can obtain a watch made for a foreign market. Proxy buyers, the pre-owned market, and simply calling up a dealer and asking if they’d consider an international sale are all viable options. But if it really is the thrill of the hunt that makes watch collecting exciting and rewarding, have those few extra hoops to jump through could actually be welcome for some.
The SPB473’s key feature is a beautiful gradient dial that shifts from white near 12:00 to a rich blue at 6:00. It also has a pronounced wave-like texture to drive home the piece’s aquatic themes. No points for originality there, but it appears to be very nicely executed regardless. The specific point of inspiration here is the Greek island of Zakynthos, and the transition from white sand beaches to the impossibly blue waters of the Ionian Sea. The Greek-getaway vibes are enhanced with a blue bezel insert and white rubber strap to complement the white of the dial, supporting a long held belief of mine that a white strap immediately makes a watch a “summer watch.” Tell me I’m wrong.
Eagle eyed readers (that’s most of you) will have already identified another interesting fact about the SPB473, and that’s that it’s built on the platform of Seiko’s SPB143 (and it’s many derivatives) and not the newer SPB453 (and SPB451 and SPB455) introduced earlier this year. We’ll have a review of those new divers soon, by the way, so watch this space. But in the meantime, it’s interesting to note that the previous generation of Seiko divers is still out there, with new models being introduced even at this late date.
The two dive watch platforms are ultimately very similar, with the tell-tale date window at 3:00 on on the SPB143 and other earlier gen references being the most obvious visual cue of what we’re working with. But that also means that the SPB473 is a little bigger and a little less water resistant than the newest of the new, coming in at 40.5mm and rated to a depth of 200 meters. It also uses the 6R35 movement.
The SPB473 is the rare regional exclusive that is actually potentially newsworthy. I don’t think many in the Seiko community were expecting SPB143 derived watches to continue being made this deep into 2024, but it certainly appears they are. Whether this is Seiko working through a surplus of components, or if there’s a plan to keep the two divers available concurrently is up for speculation. For now, we’ll keep an eye on the small run domestic market releases to see if other similar watches pop up.
The Seiko Prospex SPB473 has a retail price of €1,500 and is limited to 1,000 pieces for the European market. Seiko
