Deep Blue Watches, based out of New York City, has recently created quite the controversy with the release of their NATO Diver 300. A nearly exact copy of the ever popular Seiko SKX007, many people are asking Deep Blue why??

Generally when an established brand creates a watch that is a close copy of another, it’s due to the other watch being unavailable to the majority of buyers – either due to price or being out of production.

This is definitely not the case here, as the Seiko SKX007 is easily available, being one of the best budget dive watches around. It sells like crazy, and is many peoples first mechanical watch purchase. And to add to this, the Deep Blue NATO Diver 300 is actually priced higher than the SKX007.

But don’t judge Deep Blue too harshly just yet. Seiko fans have been asking for years for an upgraded version of the SKX007, demanding sapphire crystals, a better movement, different case sizes, etc. Deep Blue has seen Seiko’s reluctance to provide these upgrades, and is trying to fulfill the gap in the market themselves.

The NATO Diver 300 comes with all the goodies that SKX fans have been wanting: sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, a NH35 movement that supports hacking-seconds and hand-winding, a slightly larger case diameter (44mm vs. 42mm), and nicer applied markings on the dial. It’s also available in more colors, including a bright yellow version that I think looks quite excellent.

Overall, peoples reaction to this watch have been quite extreme, either loving the idea of an upgraded SKX or absolutely hating on Deep Blue for copying the styling.

What do you guys think?

–– Also, for a limited time you can use the coupon code ‘HYDRO’ when purchasing from Deep Blue to get an additional 40% off, making the NATO Diver 300 only cost $150. ––