San Martin 62MAS special “Save the Wallet” edition

You or I are not going to get a modern 62MAS from Seiko. Not now and not ever and that’s because Seiko are incapable of doing it, plain and simple.

The original 1965 62MAS was a rather simple affair. It didn’t have the best movement, it wasn’t particularly well made or even innovative in its design or purpose. Objectively, its case style was rather plain with a finish that was nothing to write home about, and it’s not like diving watches were unknown when it was launched. What the 62MAS had was something no one else though about it before, which was mass appeal due to affordability.

While other dive watches were targeted at the military or professional divers and lived or died by winning or losing governmental contracts, the 62MAS was launched to get the recreational divers who had some money set aside for their hobby - but not too much of it. Seiko knew it couldn’t charge them the extra it could get through military procurement channels, but by the late 60’s there were already a heck of a lot more recreational divers than professionals.

Seiko won by being able to offer something that was almost as good as a military dive watch, or at least it was good enough that it didn’t matter that it wasn’t mil speced, at a price that someone diving for fun could afford without being kicked out to sleep on the couch – and there were a lot of them and Seiko had the manufacturing capability to cater for their want and need and to offer them the 62MAS for the equivalent of 350-450US$ in today’s money.

Fast forward to the 21st century and things are now very different. The mass market is gone, no one needs a watch anymore and those who want one are either buying cheapies or luxury items, and Seiko can’t afford to pretend that selling great watches at 500US$ is a winning proposition for them. They already know that we are willing to pay twice that for something that kinda look like a 62MAS but doesn’t really (aka SPB143), and a bit extra when it’s masquerading as a special edition claiming to save something that isn’t really saved, or that we will pay a lot more for something that does look like a 62MAS (aka SLA017 or SJE093), but is marketed as a luxury watch. Therefore, no more 62MAS from Seiko.

Or at least no more mechanical 62MAS from Seiko, because IMO the 38mm solar SNE573 is the modern sub 500US$ 62MAS that nobody wants to buy.

Stepping in to fill the void left by Seiko are the Chinese homages, and the 37mm San Martin SN007-G-X is an excellent example of what a 62MAS would look like if it kept its original size and design but was manufactured with modern materials and to match today’s expectations for a watch sold at less than 500US$. This is were it gets weird because the affordability of the original 62MAS means that the SM SN007 is a better 62MAS than what the latest SJE093 from Seiko will ever be, and after two years on my wrist I can safely guarantee that the fit, the finish and the quality can give an SPB a fight that is more than fair. Save yourself the trouble, save your wallet – get a SN007-G-X.