Seiko's Prospex catalogue is large enough that a new colourway rarely counts as news. The 1965 Heritage Diver is one of the few models where it can, because of what it is: a modern recreation of the 62MAS, the diver Seiko built in 1965 as its first. This year's addition is the reference HBC010, a green-and-gilt version tied to Lake Hallstatt in Austria and sold only in Europe. Monochrome covered it as a First Look on 1 August.
What it inherits
Nothing under the dial is new, and that is the point. The HBC010 is built on the generation Seiko introduced in 2024, the SPB451 and its siblings, which reworked the 62MAS recreation rather than restyled it. The case came down slightly in every dimension, water resistance went from 200 to 300 metres, and a new bracelet arrived. Those changes are what this limited edition is standing on, so the only real variables are colour and distribution.
The case
The shape is the familiar cushion-adjacent 62MAS case, one of the few Seiko divers that still keeps its crown at 3 o'clock rather than at 4. Following the 2024 revision it measures 40mm in diameter, 13.0mm thick and 46.4mm lug-to-lug, which is a genuinely wearable footprint for a 300m diver. A screw-down crown and screwed caseback handle the water resistance, and a curved sapphire crystal with an internal anti-reflective coating sits over the dial. The bezel is unidirectional, with a 60-minute scale on a matte, grained insert.
Green and gilt
The colour is where the HBC010 earns its reference number. Both the dial and the bezel use a dark green, though on the bezel it reads closer to black in most light. The dial has a sunray brush that lifts the green under direct light, gold-coloured applied markers and faceted hands, and cream-toned Lumibrite in the markers and hands. The bezel insert carries cream inscriptions to match. The circular date window stays at 4:30. Seiko's stated inspiration is Lake Hallstatt, the mountain lake in the Salzkammergut; whether a buyer reads the green that way or not, the pairing of deep green with warm gold is the whole appeal here.
The movement
Inside is the Calibre 6R55, Seiko's in-house automatic with a three-day power reserve. It beats at 21,600 vibrations per hour, carries 24 jewels, hacks the seconds, and runs for 72 hours off a full wind. It is not a high-beat or spring-drive movement, and it is not meant to be; it is the dependable workhorse that lets Seiko price this watch where it does.
The HBC010 ships on the three-link steel bracelet with the updated folding clasp, which includes a tool-free diver's extension that adds up to 15mm in six 2.5mm steps. A black silicone strap with a pin buckle is included in the box for anyone who wants to take it into the water without the bracelet.
Europe only, 1,400 pieces
The distribution is the other half of the story, and it is a familiar one. Seiko has made a habit of routing certain 1965 divers to a single region, as it did with the Europe-exclusive Zakynthos SPB473, and the HBC010 follows the pattern: a run of 1,400 pieces sold only on the continent, each caseback numbered around the Prospex wave. The price is EUR 1,650. That keeps it in the same bracket as the standard 1965 divers, which is the honest read on this release. It is a well-built 300m diver in a colour you cannot get anywhere else, aimed at the collector who wants the regional version rather than a new watch. For European buyers, that exclusivity is the point; for everyone else, the base model is only a colour away. Full specifications are on seikowatches.com.
