The Green, Europe-Only Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver HBC010

Seiko’s Prospex collection is wide… Even by narrowing it down to dive watches only, there’s plenty to choose from, starting with the accessible Samurai and Turtle, followed by the robust 1968 Heritage Diver, up to the high-spec Marinemasters. There’s another one, however, that both carries great historical importance and visual appeal, the Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver. A modern recreation of the brand’s first-ever dive watch, the 62MAS created in 1965, Seiko updated it in 2024, with improved mechanics, reduced dimensions, upgraded water-resistance and a new bracelet, as explained in this video. This year, as a limited edition exclusive to Europe, Seiko releases the Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver HBC010, a green-and-gilt version inspired by Lake Hallstatt in Austria.

A classic of the brand with a design that looks back at the past and Seiko’s first dive watch, the new reference HBC010 carries everything that was updated two years ago on the latest generation of Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver. In short, we’re looking at a specific colour scheme and a few extras that give this version a unique appeal, but with familiar traits. Nothing wrong here, the base model is as good as Prospex dive watches get.

The HBC010 is thus a classically shaped dive watch with a case inspired by the 1965 62MAS, one of the rare dive watches of Seiko to still carry a crown at 3 o’clock. Following the 2024 update, the case was lightly reduced to now 40mm in diameter (minus 0.5mm), 13mm in thickness (minus 0.2mm) and 46.4mm in length (vs. 47.6mm in the past). On the other hand, water-resistance is rated at 300m, compared to 200m before, and the watch is fully equipped with screw-down crown and caseback, a domed sapphire crystal with AR coating and a unidirectional bezel with a 60-minute scale.

What’s new for this EU-exclusive HBC010 version is the colours. Both the dial and the bezel (even though the colour is not particularly visible on the latter) are using a dark green tone with gold-coloured accents. The bezel, with its matte, grained metal insert, has cream-coloured inscriptions, and the dial, with a sunray-brushed finish, features gold-coloured hour markers and hands, with cream-toned Lumibrite inserts. The circular date window at 4:30 is still there, however.

Inside the case is the 3-day power reserve Calibre 6R55, an automatic movement beating at 3Hz with 24 jewels. As with last year’s SPB511 Limited Edition, this new European edition is worn on the familiar steel bracelet with rounded links as well as the updated folding clasp equipped with a diving extension system, which allows a 15mm adjustment range, easily extended or shortened in six 2.5mm increments by pressing side buttons. In addition, a black silicone strap is included, with its own pin buckle.

A limited edition of 1,400 pieces exclusively for the European market, the Seiko Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver HBC010 will be priced at EUR 1,650. For more details, please consult www.seikowatches.com.