Hands-on review of the Seiko Green MM300: the SBDX021 / SLA019 introduced during Baselworld 2018

The case, dial and hands

Initial reactions from Seiko fans who have seen the first pictures from news releases seem to indicate that although they love the nature-inspired vibes on the new green MM300 “Deep Forest”, most of them tend to show disdain of the “X” Prospex logo on the dial. Seiko has made an effort to align their product offerings into distinct categories.  This move to include the “X” Prospex logo into this new MM300 was probably made to fit all Seiko mid-range divers into the Prospex collection in order to avoid confusion on their various product lines. In near future, we predict that the MM1000 SBEX divers series might also get the same dial treatment to include the “X” Prospex logo on dial.

 

The case diameter of the SBDX021 / SLA019 “Deep Forest” sits large at 44mm and wears with a hefty 15mm thickness. With the bracelet on, the piece is seemingly designed for larger wrists, although the watch in its entirety offers good weight distribution from case to clasp for the wearer.

The dark green bezel matches the shade on the green sunburst dial, and is made from zirconia ceramic, a material known for its toughness and resistance to corrosion and rust. The lume on Seiko has always been an attractive value proposition for its divers watches and this time, the lume applied on the hands and the dial of the “Deep Forest” adopts Seiko’s latest Lumibrite which stay bright 1.6 times longer than all other previous versions.

On its caseback, it has the engraving that reads “LIMITED EDITION No.xxxx/1968”. Some collectors believe that that for limited editions from Seiko, the earlier batch of numbers are allocated to JDM pieces models. But we think the evidence is very sketchy and anecdotal, and Seiko is officially silent on the existence of a set pattern. You may want take that into consideration when you buy. So if you are looking for an earlier (smaller) number, you may wish to consider the SBDX021; if you want to try your luck on getting 1968/1968, you should be looking at the SLA019.

 

The movement used in the SBDX021 / SLA019 “Deep Forest” is the Seiko caliber 8L35 made by the Shizuku-ishi Watch Studio, the only laboratory in Japan that allows for a fully-integrated production of high-end Seiko movements, handmade by the very qualified watch technicians. This movement was also used in the previous MM300 and in other divers such as the Emperor Tuna models. It is often compared to the 9S55 Grand Seiko movement. The main difference being that it is not decorated for closed case back tool watches, and it does not require the need for the strict level of adjustment of Grand Seiko movements. The 8L35 (-10/+15 seconds a day) is a proven robust movement with a 50 hour power reserve, running at the rate of 28,000 bph.

According to Seiko, the “Deep Forest” is scheduled to be released in July 2018 and it will be presented with the Seiko silicon strap that can withstand daily wear-and-tear and damage from seawater, perspiration and UV rays.