With its new duo of Prospex 1970 Diver?s Modern Re-interpretation watches, Japan’s Seiko revisits one of its earliest commercially available dive watches and re-interprets and upgrades its popular vintage design for a modern audience. The pair includes a new gray-dial model (Ref. SLA051) and a limited-edition blue-dial dial model (Ref. SLA049).

The latter model celebrates the 80th birthday of Naomi Uemura, a Japanese adventurer best known for his solo expeditions taking on some of the most challenging trials the Earth has to offer, including reaching the North Pole, rafting the Amazon River, and climbing Alaska?s treacherous Denali, all by his own metal, alone.

Uemura was also a well-known wearer of Seiko watches ? including the 1970 original diver (below), which he wore for his 12,500-km solo dog-sled from Greenland to Alaska from 1974-1976 ? and for that reason is now paid homage by the brand in this latest, limited edition run.
Both new models sport a 1970s-inspired brushed steel case, with hardy dimensions of 44 mm in diameter by 13 mm thick; short, rounded lugs; a screw-down crown at 4:30; and glowing sides and crown guards to give the watch a more compact and rounded look in line with the style seen in the vintage model. The case is topped by a stylized unidirectional bezel, slightly slimmer than that seen on many of Seiko’s contemporary dive watches. Both the gray- and blue-dial models come standard with steel bracelets, though the b...