Is This The Purest Seiko Dive Watch? The Seiko SPB143

Hi everyone, Teddy Baldessar with teddybaldessar.com. And in this video, we're looking at one of my favorite dive watches from Seiko, the SPB 143. So if you're new to this channel, this is where we cover watches available for purchase on our website teddybaldessar.com as an authorized dealer. Very excited for this review though, because this is our first Seiko Luxe review since launching the brand. So in this video, I'm gonna be taking the reins here, going through the review, everything you need to know about this watch. But if you have further questions, link will be in the description down below to the product page where you can purchase the watch, ask some questions. Also for Seiko Luxe, just feel to reach out to us, contact to purchase. And one of my team members will be in touch with you to follow that. Without further ado, let's jump into the video and take a closer look at the SPB 143. An outsized part of Seiko's history is within their dive watch heritage, going all the way back to 1965 with their first dedicated diver, the 150 meter 62 Moss, released as the 6217-8000, and later it's larger crown sibling, the 6217-8001. It was the beginning of a lineage that went on to include legendary references like the Willard, the Turtle, the Marine Master, Tuna, and the SKX, just to name a small assortment of them. Now today, the company's broad dive watch lineup is well known for its rugged dependability from its entry level prospects models to the elevated Lux variants. In other words, there's basically a Seiko dive watch for every segment of the market. Seiko has paid tribute to the 62 Moss design in the past with limited editions, but the SPB 143 stands as one of the most faithful renderings of the 62 Moss currently available, characterized by the brand as the Prospex 1965 Heritage Diver's Watch, sitting at the same price point it was five years ago when it was released in 2020. Although this model family came with different dial variants at this 40 and a half millimeter case size, today we're going to focus our showcase on the SPB 143, given its reserved charcoal sunray dial and classic styling and paying reverence to the past. First, we'll go through the standard points of its case, wear, dial, and movement, and then share some of my concluding remarks at the end about its overall positioning in 2025. So the SPB 143 nails the traditional skin diver vibe with its case profile. It checks in at a very wrist-friendly 40 and a half millimeters in diameter with a lug-to-lug of 47.6 millimeters quoted by Seiko, but with my calibers, I have it closer to 47.2 millimeter lug-to-lug. Those lugs themselves have a gentle curve hugging to the wrist. While bigger than a typical vintage skin diver, these dimensions are rather trim within the context of modern dive watches, and that sweeping downturn offers a great fit as opposed to a classic skin diver's flatter lugs. The case height is also proportional with a 13.4 millimeter thickness at the center of the dome anti-reflective sapphire crystal. The unsigned unguarded screw-down crown at three maintains the retro look for vintage fans and offers solid enough grip with its pronounced ribbing. The solid case back likewise screws in and showcases Seiko's typhoon wave design and embossed relief. Water resistance is rated at 200 meters and the SPB 143 is ISO compliant for those looking to test the waters with diving with it. The unidirectional 120 click elapsed time bezel has a step up in its action compared to the entry point of Seiko's prospects offering, despite having some minor back play. The black treated stainless steel insert is fully demarcated in white with engraved numerals and a loom pip at 12 for increased visibility. Another upscale touch comes from the case finishing, which is crisp and clean, showing dive watch appropriate circular brushing across the front of the case and squared off lugs with brightly polished bevels traveling the entire length of the case. A linear brush finish is used along the case sides and it's here that you'll notice the drilled lugs, a detail always appreciated by professional divers and frequent strap swappers alike. Another point to note is the use of Seiko's own super hard coating on the case and bracelet, which offers additional protection against superficial scratching, perhaps not to the extent offered by materials like ceramic or tungsten or even steel hardening treatments found from brands like Zinn, but still it's a nice bonus more than doubling the hardness of untreated stainless steel. Speaking of the bracelet, it has a simple utilitarian brush three length design fitted with the standard Seiko pins and the look fits the purpose of the watch well with 20 millimeter width at the lugs that tapers to 18 millimeters. Links are solid, including the end links, which increase the practical length of the lug to lug measurement by a small margin, but fortunately the 20 millimeter lug width means nearly endless strap options and the SPB 143 looks fantastic on a variety of different straps. That includes rubber, nylon, or even if you wanna get crazy and throw the purists off, you can even throw a leather on this thing, but that might come with some criticism as well. The three fold clasp uses a combination of milled inner and stamped outer with the outer part getting a brushed and beveled finish, along with that getting dual push buttons and a fold over lock for added security. There's also a diver's extension located on the opposite where you'd normally find it and it is admittedly a bit strange in its looks. To operate, you just need to pull on the underneath side of the extension lock and it will expand out. Further, the strap offers four points of micro adjustment that can be utilized with the help of a spring bar tool. The clasp itself is a bit larger compared to some others out there, which does detract from the vintage feel, yet the bracelet's overall execution is a cut above what's typically found on more entry level models from Seiko. The dial on the SPB 143 does a fantastic job of recalling the iconic design aesthetic of the 62 MAS while updating it for the 21st century. The original had a gray tonality and a hint of sunburst and happily Seiko has chosen to stick to the formula here. The soft charcoal gray color offers a tasteful alternative to the black so often found on dive watches and the muted sunburst adds an element lift to the proceedings. White linear hash marks make up the minute scale along the dial's edge with polished applied rectangles serving as the hour markers. Those indices are filled with Seiko's proprietary Lumibrite and indeed they offer that trademark level of intensity the brand is known for. The baton hands also get a torch-like application of lume with a center facet splitting the surface finishes from one another, brushing on one side and polishing on the other. The second hand sports a loomed rectangular tip harmonizing well with the hour markers as it travels around the dial. An unadorned date window sits at three with a black on white date disc offering good legibility and the window's smaller size allows room for a partial hour marker. Dial Techs isn't overly busy with the Seiko wordmark under 12 with the Prospex X automatic and divers 200 above six. This is an area where Seiko leans more contemporary than vintage and the dial might look a bit more classic with the omission of X, but by no means is this a deal breaker and it fits with the current branding of the Prospex range. Powering the SPB 143 is the venerable automatic 6R35 caliber, Seiko's upgrade from the 6R15 especially in terms of its extended 70 hours of power reserve. The use of the 6R35 family starts to come into play in that $700 price range with pieces like the best-selling Alpinist SPB 121 and extends up into other collections within the Lux range. As you pass the $1,000 mark, some are harder on the 6R35 as a by-product of its combination of three Hertz or 21,600 vibrations per hour frequency and its quoted range of accuracy of minus 15 to plus 25 seconds per day, a conservative figure that is often outperformed anecdotally speaking, but still some people might be requesting more. With the 6R55 coming into the fold, it adds further discussion to the consideration as you can get into one of those in certain dive watches for a little bit more money. All of this considered, I think a lot of this is overblown and the movement is absolutely fine in practice and one of the most proven that you're going to come across not only from Seiko, but for the entire industry. It has 24 jewels, offers both hacking and hand winding, features Diashock protection and Edikron regulator, has bi-directional winding with the help of that offset magic lever and having magnetic resistance of 4,800 amperes per meter to align with ISO standards. Move and finishing, nothing to write home about. It is hidden from view anyway. It's simple, has some machine striping on that sine rotor. That's about it. All right, so now some final thoughts on the SPB 143. Let's talk about the cons, pros, and just my general take on this watch because so many people love this design. I am a huge fan of it as well. This is one of my personal favorites, but I want to try to give the framework of what I'm thinking about when trying to conceptualize maybe making that next purchase and whether this is going to be the right one for you. So I think the first thing that's being brought up when you're talking about an SPB 143 is that it is at an elevated price compared to some of the entry-level prospects models. We are talking about $1,200 in the grand scheme of things where you can get into a Seiko dive watch for much less than that. Also, I think the other conversation that needs to be had is that there are now some other dive watches in the price range around this one since it came out in 2020. You have the three-day 6R55 powered models like the SPB 453, which a lot of people like. The design there is not going to be as heritage inspired as this one. That said, I think some might like having the extra power reserve there, but also getting 300 meters of water resistance in the process. And the clasp is also a bit odd. It's perfectly functional. I think anybody that's talking bad about this bracelet I think are just going with the standard tropes that are brought up when it comes to Seiko about their bracelets maybe being subpar. But I don't think that's the case here. The only thing that I would bring up about this bracelet, having the diver's extension on the opposite side is a little bit clunky compared to having it on the opposite. But that could also just be me and my preference of having it in the other position. But now let's talk about the pros here and why I do think the SPB 143 makes just about as much sense now as it did when it was released in 2020, if not more. I think where this watch is positioned is a sweet spot for certain types of Seiko buyers. Not for those that are looking for the most value-packed piece from the brand. If that's the case, there are plenty of different models to look at. But if you want some refinement in the package, elevate the movement slightly from the entry-level 4Rs without overstepping so far into the Marine Master family and some other models that get into the $2,000 to $3,000 price range, but also want to have some connection to that 62 MAS in terms of its design identity, I think this watch really is fantastic and is hard to beat. When you handle it in the hand too, this feels like a substantial product. I love the way it looks on wrist. I love how they remain with this gray sunburst rather than going for a traditional black all around because that's one of my reasons why I like this model more than the SPB 453. That model is fantastic too when I'm talking about the 453, but I just think the 143 just feels more authentic and also differentiates itself by just leaning slightly more into the gray 62 MAS design lineage that was developed years ago. The lume is excellent. It wears fantastic on the wrist. If you are somebody that wants like Tudor Black Bay 58 wearability, this is gonna be right up your alley. And let's also remember the 62 MAS, in terms of history for dive watches, not talked about enough. We think about Japanese watchmaking so often for dive watches. Where did it all start? It started with the 62 MAS. And this is the watch to me that represents that idea in a perfect balance of things. We have seen some higher price models within the 62 MAS family, these limited editions, but to me, this is the perfect sweet spot for getting a taste of the 62 MAS, not pricing it so high in an elevated position where it starts to compete with different watches. This is the same price as it was five years ago, $1,200. How many watches can we say that that's the case of in general nowadays? Five years with the same price? I might be jinxing it and saying that, but until then, I'm going to say the SPB 143 is the sweet spot when it comes to this skin diver type of design language. It might be my favorite overall Seiko dive watch out there if you want something to the purest form. But guys, that's all we have for this video. If you did enjoy the review, please give it a thumbs up, subscribe, hit the bell icon. Really do appreciate that as it does help out the channel here. 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