Seiko SKX007

Why the SKX007 mattered

For two decades the SKX007 was the default answer to “what is a good first dive watch.” It was a genuine ISO 6425 diver — 200 m, screw-down crown, the whole test regime — at a price that made it an impulse buy, and its case became the single most-modified platform in the hobby. That is why it still anchors every conversation about affordable divers even though you cannot buy one new.

It was not perfect. The 7S26 movement inside it does not hack and does not hand-wind, so you cannot set it to the second, and its Hardlex crystal scratches. Those were the two complaints, and both are things its successors address.

What it was, on paper

What to buy instead

There are two honest answers depending on what you actually wanted from an SKX.

For the SKX look and 22 mm strap ecosystem: the current 5 Sports SKX line, shown below. It keeps the silhouette and moves to the 4R36, which hacks and hand-winds — fixing the SKX’s biggest complaint. The trade is that the 5 Sports SKX is rated 100 m with a push-pull crown, so it is a dive-styled sports watch, not an ISO diver.

For the actual 200 m ISO dive capability: the Turtle. It is the true heir to what the SKX did — a screw-down crown, 200 m, ISO 6425 — with the 4R36’s hacking and hand-winding on top. It wears differently (a cushion case rather than the SKX’s round one), but it is the watch to buy if the dive rating was the point.

We are not going to point you at the used market for an original SKX007 and quote a price: used values move constantly and we cannot verify the condition of a watch we cannot see. Both watches below are current, in production, and buyable now.