One of my personal favorite watch collecting wormholes is Seiko watches equipped with Spring Drive movements. Spring Drive, of course, is most often associated with Grand Seiko, but since the advent of the technology, it?s been used in mainline Seiko watches, often in interesting limited editions. Over the last few years (since Grand Seiko was spun off into a separate entity) we?ve seen more Seiko releases with Spring Drive movements, but these watches still represent an interesting diversion from the norm, and offer collectors a chance dive into Spring Drive in an entirely different manner than the comparatively ornate watches typically found under the Grand Seiko banner. 

The latest Seiko Prospex special edition created for the U.S. market not only features a Spring Drive movement, but the design was inspired by space travel, something watch collectors have a tendency to be just a little obsessive about. On this new watch, reference number SNR051, the silvery gray dial is meant to recall the lunar surface, and the sharp blue GMT hand is inspired by the view of earth from the moon. And of course the whole thing, Spring Drive movement with GMT functionality and all, feels like a cousin of the now legendary SPS005, otherwise known as the ?Spacewalk,? a watch designed with EVA in mind.  
The SNR051 is part of Seiko?s Prospex LX Collection, a series of watches Seiko describes as the pinnacle of their own watchmaking. The idea with these watches is to reinte...