Teddy Baldassarre
The Ultimate Guide To The Seiko 5 'SKX' GMT (2026)
If you’ve been in the watch game for long enough, there is a better-than-zero chance that you’ve owned, had someone recommend for you to own, or have at least come across the Seiko SKX series. The Seiko SKX (notably the black SKX007 and Pepsi-style SKX 009) once served as the go-to value proposition in all of watches. You can still find them trading on the open market for upwards of $500, but there was a time where one could be had easily for $150-$200. A 42mm, ISO-certified, bona-fide dive watch, the SKX represents the last vestige of a true tool watch that predates hype and everything that comes with it. I own one, and continue to wear it, scratch it and bang it around fearlessly. Seiko filled the dive-adjacent void once filled by the SKX, now discontinued, with a series of Seiko 5 models in all manner of colors that resemble the SKX but never quite took the idea across the finish line. And that’s because the SKX was a cult classic for a reason. It married function and form (except for accuracy, but that’s hardly why you buy a sub-$300 diver) in a way that we only hear about in tales from our “elders” who used to buy Rolex Submariners and GMT-Masters for $150 five decades ago. It’s been a number of years now since the SKX has been a production model in the broader Seiko lineup. But just two summers ago, the venerable, vertically integrated, Japanese juggernaut of a brand unveiled something new in the Seiko 5 range – a travel-ready, SKX-looking release ...
