Affordable Vintage: Seiko 6105

Today, we’re excited to bring you the first of hopefully a long series on interesting and largely affordable vintage dive watches by w&w friend, @vintagediver (head over to IG and give him a follow for great pics daily). Enjoy!

Seiko has a rich history in the world of dive watches, and it’s safe to say that none is as iconic as the venerable Seiko 6105-8110/9 (aka 6105-811X). It is the definitive Seiko diver, and it holds it’s own against the other iconic divers of the 1970’s. This is known as Seiko’s 3rd generation diver, following the 6217 (aka 62mas) and the slimmer 6105-8000/9. The 6105-8110 and 6105-8119 are exactly the same, but the last digit in the reference number indicates in which market the watch was originally sold.

The 6105-811X was made from 1970-1977, and came in two slight variations. The early models from 1970 were labeled “water 150m proof” on the dial, and “waterproof” on the case back. At some point later that year, they changed the text to “water 150m resist” with “water resistant” on the back. This was inline with a change in nomenclature throughout the Seiko offerings. The “proof/proof” models are fairly rare, and command a definite premium over the “resist/resist” models.