Few Seiko references command the reverence and admiration afforded to the “Rally” sport divers of the late 1960’s and ‘70’s. In house competition between the Suwa and Daini divisions were the foundation on which some  Seiko’s most memorable models were built. Brightly colored dials and checkered bezels mounted to big and bold cases, the “Rally” models remain firmly seated at the top of collectors’ lists. In recent years, Seiko has gone back to the well for many new releases by drawing on inspiration from, or just outright building faithful reproductions of some of their most iconic models from the golden era of mechanical watches. Perhaps that’s what makes the “Rally” re-issues of the late 90’s even more exceptional. Before the explosion in popularity of vintage watches, and long before collecting historic Seiko models became a watch cultural norm, the designers at Seiko decided that the world deserved another look at a handful of sport divers from decades past. Now qualifying as “vintage” in their own right, the (SBSS) 7S36 Rally divers are certainly worth acquiring when you can find them, as like the most of the original Daini models, they were JDM only. This example from May of ‘97 is incredible. The silver sunburst dial is set with applied luminous markers, each with contrasted black tips. The hour and minute hands are slender batons with polished edges and black striping through the center. The sweep is a sharply tapered bright red orange that adds a nice pop of color to the mostly monochromatic layout. The classic “5” badge and bright blue “Sports” designation are throwbacks to the original, and nestled at three is a framed date window with both a Kanji and English readout. A polished chapter provides a clean frame and transition to the coin edge bezel with a near perfect black and silver checked insert. The case is a bit more contoured than the original, but with a nearly identical circular brushed finish. Attached is the original rolled split 5 link bracelet in stainless steel with an engraved “5 Sports” deployant style clasp. It’s unpolished and completely original aside from a replacement crystal, and post service it’s keeping near perfect time. Only in production for the ‘96/‘97 run, they can be difficult to track down, and especially in such fine condition. Get this one while you can.

Original Seiko Rolled Split 5 Link Bracelet in Stainless Steel

Serviced 5/25/21

Diameter- 41mm

Lugs- 20mm