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However, while the historic Japanese manufacturer is famous for producing high-quality watches that are accessible to the masses, Seiko also has a long and rich history of creating highly advanced models with premium features that are largely aimed at a professional audience. In our latest installment of What Is On My Wrist, Craft + Tailored CEO Cameron Barr takes a deep dive into the details of one of Seiko’s very earliest Professional series dive watches, the Hi-Beat ref. 6159-7001.
Seiko’s dive watch history started in 1965, and within just a few short years of launching its very first diver, the innovative Japanese brand had quickly become an industry leader and was producing some of the most technologically advanced dive watches in the entire world. By the late 1960s, commercial diving applications were starting to require more capable dive watches, leading Seiko to launch its Professional series of divers in 1967 with twice the water-resistance of its standard consumer-oriented models.
The Seiko Hi-Beat Professional Diver 300M reference 6159-7001 that is featured in this week’s episode of What Is On My Wrist is a beautiful example that dates back to 1969 and it represents the pinnacle of cutting-edge dive watch technology during the late 1960s. In addition to its 300-meter depth rating and front-loading monocoque case design, the Seiko Professional Diver ref. 6159-7001 also offers a number of other premium features, including a Hi-Beat movement for superior accuracy, which is something normally only found inside select Grand Seiko and King Seiko models.
Seiko’s Hi-Beat Professional dive watches were part of the brand’s catalog for just a few short years at the very end of the 1960s, and the reference 6159-7001 is the final expression of the series that was only produced for about one year before Seiko discontinued the line entirely. Now considered to be a “holy grail” within the world of vintage Seiko dive watches, the Hi-Beat Professional Diver ref. 6159-7001 is a highly collectible model with a legitimate tool watch past, and its distinct design DNA can be found throughout numerous other Seiko dive watches that have been produced over the course of the brand’s long and illustrious history.
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