Some watches are discovered during a presentation, while others, to be fully understood, need to be experienced in the context that inspired them. This is precisely the idea behind #SeikoLife, which returned this year for its fourth edition.
This time, SEIKO took us to Ischia to discover the new SEIKO Prospex Diver’s Watch PADI 60th Anniversary, a diver produced in a limited edition of 8,000 pieces that celebrates both PADI’s 60th anniversary and ten years of collaboration between the Japanese brand and the world’s largest diver training organisation.
As with previous editions, the presentation of the watch was only the beginning. The sea accompanied us throughout our adventure, from Ischia and the RIB crossing of the Gulf of Naples to snorkelling among the submerged Roman remains of the Terme del Lacus, in the Underwater Archaeological Park of Baia.
It was an experience that allowed us to test the new Prospex PADI in its natural environment and explore a collaboration that, for the past ten years, has united SEIKO and PADI through a shared passion for diving, diver safety and a tangible commitment to ocean conservation.
SEIKO AND PADI: TEN YEARS UNITED BY THE SEA
The partnership between SEIKO Prospex and PADI officially began in 2016. Over the years, it has resulted in numerous divers’ watches featuring the organisation’s colours and logo, creating an instantly recognisable identity within the Prospex collection.
The relationship between the two organisations, however, goes far beyond the creation of watches. The partnership is built on shared values such as diving safety, a spirit of exploration and the protection of the marine environment. It is a natural affinity for SEIKO, which has built a significant part of its history through the Prospex collection, developing reliable instruments designed to accompany those who live in and explore the underwater world.
Since 2021, as part of its Save the Ocean activities, SEIKO has also supported the PADI AWARE Foundation and its Marine Debris Program. At the heart of the initiative is Dive Against Debris, an international citizen science movement that involves divers in removing waste from the seabed and collecting data that can support researchers and conservation policymakers.
In 2026, PADI’s 60th anniversary therefore coincides with ten years of a partnership built around a shared passion for the underwater world. To mark the occasion, SEIKO has introduced the new SEIKO Prospex Diver’s Watch PADI 60th Anniversary.
THE NEW SEIKO PROSPEX PADI 60TH ANNIVERSARY
To celebrate this double anniversary, SEIKO chose one of the most recognisable silhouettes in its diving watch history. The case takes its shape from the famous Turtle, the nickname given by enthusiasts to its distinctive soft, rounded profile.
Made of stainless steel, it measures 45 mm in diameter and 13.2 mm thick, with the characteristic crown positioned at 4 o’clock. Water resistance is guaranteed to 200 metres, while both the crown and caseback are screw-down. Protecting the dial is a curved sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating on the inner surface and a magnifier over the date display.
It is the dial that defines the identity of this edition. Its blue dial features a pattern depicting the globe, derived from the PADI logo. Red accents on the seconds hand and the “Diver’s 200 m” inscription at 6 o’clock complete the colour scheme, while the unidirectional rotating bezel features a blue ceramic insert chosen for its scratch resistance. The hands and hour markers are coated with Lumibrite to ensure immediate readability even in low-light conditions.
Inside is the automatic SEIKO Calibre 4R36, operating at a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour (vph), with 24 jewels and a power reserve of approximately 41 hours. Alongside the hours, minutes and seconds, the movement also displays the day and date at 3 o’clock.
The new Prospex is supplied on a stainless steel bracelet equipped with a three-fold clasp with push-button release, a secure lock and a wetsuit extension. The box also includes an additional high-strength silicone strap with an accordion-style structure, personalised with the words “Professional Association of Diving Instructors”.
The SEIKO Prospex Diver’s Watch PADI 60th Anniversary will be available from this month, priced at €750 and limited to 8,000 pieces.
FROM ISCHIA TO THE SUNKEN CITY OF BAIA
After the presentation came the moment we had been waiting for: testing the new SEIKO Prospex Diver’s Watch PADI 60th Anniversary in its natural environment. From Ischia, we set off by RIB across the Gulf of Naples towards the Underwater Archaeological Park of Baia, in the Phlegraean Fields.
In Roman times, Baia was one of the most prestigious and popular holiday destinations for the aristocracy and the wealthiest families of the Empire, drawn by the beauty of the Gulf and its thermal springs. Villas, domus and thermal complexes were built along the coastline, some of which were gradually submerged over the centuries as a result of bradyseism. Today, beneath just a few metres of water, their remains form a landscape where residential spaces, thermal baths and mosaic floors coexist with marine life.
Our destination was the Terme del Lacus, a thermal complex integrated into the residential fabric of ancient Baia and now submerged just a few metres below the surface. Opened to the public in 2020, the site preserves thermal rooms, pools once used for hot baths and mosaic floors featuring different geometric patterns and polychrome tesserae. The route reaches a maximum depth of approximately five metres.
With masks, fins and the new Prospex on our wrists, we entered the water. Following the visitor route, we were able to identify the spaces of the residential area, the kitchen, the three thermal pools and several mosaic floors featuring floral motifs, pelta-shaped decorations and the depiction of an amphora.
Seeing all this through just a few metres of water is difficult to convey through images alone. The structures of the ancient rooms are still clearly visible, mosaics emerge from the seabed and marine life has gradually occupied spaces that were used almost two thousand years ago.
A place suspended between history and the sea, and the ideal setting in which to put the new SEIKO Prospex Diver’s Watch PADI 60th Anniversary to the test.
THE PROSPEX PADI IN THE WATER
A diver’s watch can be admired in photographs, tried on during a presentation and studied through its technical specifications. But it is only once you enter the water that certain aspects become immediately clear.
During our snorkelling session at the Terme del Lacus, the blue dial, large hour markers and Lumibrite-coated hands offered immediate readability even while moving through the water. The strong contrast between the elements on the dial confirms just how central legibility remains to the identity of Prospex diving watches.
The dimensions are also worth considering. The stated 45 mm diameter may sound substantial on paper, but the distinctive Turtle architecture, with its rounded lines and crown positioned at 4 o’clock, makes the watch feel more balanced on the wrist than the figures alone might suggest. In the water, these proportions feel perfectly consistent with the character and function of the model.
The most interesting aspect, however, was wearing a watch created to celebrate the relationship between SEIKO and PADI while exploring a place where the sea, history and conservation coexist in such an evident way. At that moment, the new Prospex ceased to be simply a commemorative limited edition and became part of the experience itself.
A WATCH, A STORY AND AN EXPERIENCE
The fourth edition of #SeikoLife once again reminded us how much context can change the way we understand a watch.
The new SEIKO Prospex Diver’s Watch PADI 60th Anniversary celebrates an important milestone while also telling the story of ten years of collaboration between SEIKO and PADI, two organisations deeply connected to the world of diving. On one side, a brand whose history is profoundly linked to diving watches. On the other, an organisation that has spent sixty years training generations of divers and promoting a culture of exploration that is increasingly conscious of and committed to protecting the marine environment.
Between Ischia and the submerged remains of the Terme del Lacus, we had the opportunity to discover the new Prospex in the best possible way: not simply by looking at it, but by using it in the environment to which it belongs.
Because sometimes, to truly understand a watch, simply looking at it on the wrist is not enough. You need to discover the history, places and traditions that inspired it.
By Jacopo Giudici