Believe it or not, this Citizen is another well-known watch in the dive watch lovers club.
And for good reasons: this Citizen is well-made, functional and has a great quality-price-ratio.
Just like the SKX, the Citizen BN0150 features large hands – the minute hands has an arrow shape too, but is even more distinguishable thanks to its striking orange color.
It also has a bezel with a marker every single minute, adding to overall tool aesthetic of the watch. The matte black dial seals the deal.
Oh and by the way… it’s ISO 6425 certified too.
Now, where the biggest difference lies is in the movement.
This Citizen features the brand’s well known and loved Eco-Drive system. The watch charges with light (outdoors or indoors) and runs pretty much all the time without the need to change the battery, ever.
I love automatic watches, but you gotta love the added practicality to only set the time twice a year (when switching from regular time to daylight saving time).
Okay guys, I’m gonna sound like a fan boy, but whatever…
I think this Orient Kamasu is the perfect replacement for the Seiko SKX.
It has everything we loved in the original SKX: 200 m of water resistance (albeit not ISO certified), a screw-down crown, a day and date complication, an in-house movement and a bezel with minute marks all around.
In some instances, it even has a misaligned bezel! Well maybe you didn’t miss THAT about the SKX…
But it adds almost everything the SKX left to be desired:
I picked the one with the green aluminum bezel because I think it’s more interesting (and more legible) than the one with a black ceramic bezel… but that’s a matter of personal preference, obviously.
This Steinhart features a matte black dial, just like the SKX. But it features a welcome addition in the form of applied hours indices, which is always a nice touch.
And if you always thought the SKX007 was too big and the SKX013 was too small, then you found the perfect compromise!
This Certina DS Action Powermatic 80 is for those who don’t want to compromise on specs, design or value for money.
You basically want to eat your cake and have it too.
It’s Swiss Made, just like the Victorinox above, but it has a completely different vibe thanks to its striking green bezel and sunburst dial.
(It actually makes a great affordable alternative to the Rolex Submariner Hulk, just saying.)
Yet, it doesn’t compromise on the specs AT ALL, because you get:
a sapphire crystal
300 m of water resistance
a screw-down crown
solid end links
a Powermatic 80 movement
About that Powermatic movement: it’s based on an ETA 2428-2, so it’s hacking and hand winding. But it’s been modified to offer 80 hours of power reserve. It’s one of the best automatic movement on the market today.
And the best of all: it’s ISO 6425 certified – to 300m this one.
So this watch has everything the SKX had, plus everything it lacked.
Sure, it comes at a premium, as it’s the pricier option in this list… but not it’s not too bad. And you’d be hard pressed to find a watch offering so many features on the market for the same price, seriously…
By the way, if green is not your thing, there are plenty of other colorways available!
The Truth About the ISO 6425 Standard for Diving Watches
Let’s get real: you’ll never gonna dive to 200 m with your watch. Probably not even 30 m.
And if you do, just like any serious diver out there, you’re gonna sport a diving computer.
In that case, a regular watch is just a backup.
You can argue that having an ISO 6425 certified watch (like the Seiko SKX) makes it a no brainer to wash your hands or swim in the pool…
But there are plenty of other watches out there who do the job just fine without the ISO certification.
Put simply:
It’s not because a watch is not ISO 6425 certified that it’s not water resistant, illegible or not resistant to magnetism.
It just means the manufacturer didn’t submit the watch to the ISO 6425 tests to certify it – because it’s a voluntary, costly act.
So while having the ISO certification certainly is a plus, it shouldn’t refrain you to enjoy some other watches that only feature 100 m of water resistance or no screw down crown.
Seriously, they’re just as capable for everyday use and abuse.
Desk diving, hand washing or pool swimming are not harsh environments, are they?
As such, the watches in this list should be more than enough to replace the almighty SKX!