Seiko’s stealthy Black Series returns once again, this time offering a trio of limited editions detailed with bright green hardware for unmissable legibility during late time dive excursions. The new aesthetic has been applied to a King Samurai, Tortoise and Solar reference, all incredibly accessible in price, durable in application and stunning in appearance. Let’s meet the new Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ watches under SRPH97K1, SRPH99K1 and SNE587P1.
The Seiko Prospex Black Series has been around for several years now and it still remains one of the most highly collectible collections in the Japanese watch brand’s portfolio. The premise is simple; Seiko typically takes three of their popular dive references, like the Monster, Tuna and Samurai seen in last year’s Black Series line-up, and coats the stainless steel base with a black coating. On top, a black bezel and dark dial is added alongside bright colour accents on the dial’s hardware and plenty of lume for readability. The result is spectacular, especially is you’re a lover of all-black watches like us, and stands to commemorate the world of night diving. The same visuals are brought to life yet again in the new Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ watches which includes the King Samurai SRPH97K1, Tortoise SRPH99K1 and a solar-powered model under SNE587P1.
Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ King Samurai SRPH97K1 Watch
Starting with the Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ King Samurai SRPH97K1 watch, we’re greeted to the updated version of the Samurai relaunched back in 2017. Named the ‘King’ for its modern-day improvements, it delivers the familiar sword-shaped hands and sleek, angular case of the original but with upgraded sapphire crystal glass and a polished ceramic insert for the bezel. The graduated scale also presents a 60 minute scale in white and debuts the new luminous green colour on the triangle marker at 12 o’clock.
As for the case of the new 2022 Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ King Samurai watch, the iconic black hard coating makes its way across a 43.8mm stainless steel base with a 12.8mm height, 200 metre water resistance, screw down crown and untreated stainless steel screw down case back. At the centre, the dial is finished in a dark grey, and unlike the textured finish of previous King Samurai watches, is left smooth and clean. The sharp hands and hour markers opt for the new shade of luminescent material in bright green. Powering the hours, minutes, seconds and date complication is the Calibre 4R35 automatic winding movement with a 41 hour power reserve and a frequency of 21,600vph. Completing the Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ King Samurai SRPH97K1 watch is a black ribbed rubber strap and black coated pin buckle. This is the first time a King Samurai reference has been found in the Seiko Black Series and as a limited edition of only 8,000 pieces, we expect it to be a popular piece.
Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ Tortoise SRPH99K1 Watch
The second watch in the new 2022 Seiko Prospex Black Series collection is a Seiko Tortoise, a design which was only recently launched as an evolution from the famous Seiko Turtle. The Seiko Turtle has always been part of their “Sea” series designed for divers with a 60 minute unidirectional divers bezel. Then last year, the same case shape was renamed as the Seiko Prospex Tortoise watch, replacing the diver’s bezel with a compass bezel for use not underwater, but on land. The new Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ Tortoise SRPH99K1 offers the very same with a blackened aluminium insert unidirectional bezel set with the four cardinal points.
The stainless steel case is marginally smaller than the King Samurai above with a diameter of 42.4mm and a height of 11.7mm and is coated with the same black hard coating. The coating spans across the case, bezel and crown leaving the screw down case back untreated. The back of the Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ Tortoise is neatly decorated with ground-to-air emergency signal codes. There’s also sapphire crystal glass, a 200 metre water resistance, a black textile strap and the same Calibre 4R35 automatic winding movement to power the time and date function. The display of the Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ Tortoise SRPH99K1 retains the aesthetic of the previous Tortoise collections with baton-shaped hour markers including a double marker for the 12 o’clock position, now filled with green-coloured lume on a matte dark grey backdrop. This watch is a limited edition of 7,000 pieces.
Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ Solar Divers SNE587P1 Watch
The most elusive limited edition in the whole series at just 6,000 pieces is the Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ Solar Divers SNE587P1 watch. Unlike the other two models, this design isn’t named after its cult nickname but instead demonstrates its solar-powered movement, the V147 calibre, which is conveniently powered by both natural and artificial light. Alongside a remarkable accuracy of ±15 seconds per month, the movement delivers large arrow-shaped hands for the hours and minutes, a slender seconds hand and a date window at 3 o’clock.
The rest of the design for the Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ Solar Divers watch takes inspiration from Seiko’s 1965 Diver’s watch, also known as Japan’s first ever Japanese diving instrument watch which was famously worn on Japanese Antarctic Expeditions until 1969. It features a black hard coated stainless steel case with a 38.5mm diameter and height of 10.6mm and a grooved 60 minute unidirectional bezel. For a 200 metre water resistance, we’re also promised a screw down crown, screwed case back and sapphire crystal glass. The textured grey dial mirrors the rest of the series with bright green luminous hardware and yet differs as the only design equipped with a three-link stainless steel bracelet complete with black hard coating.
If you’d like to learn more about the new Seiko Prospex Black Series ‘Night Vision’ watch collection and shop it for yourself, head over to the Jura Watches website here. Alternatively, get in touch with the team by calling 01335 453453 or send us a message at help@jurawatches.co.uk.
