There are many vintage Seiko divers popular with collectors, and the legendary 7002 – like the sharp 1991 Seiko 7002-700A Pepsi diver here – is one of these.
The design of this 7002 is classic and simple, with immediate evidence of those that came before, during, and after it – namely the 6309-729A before, 7548 during, and the SKX diver after. During its heyday, it was also popular with various armed forces for this same reason, despite the widely held (false) assumption that military personnel only wear military watches issued to them.
In 1988, Seiko ceased production of the 7002-predessessor 6309 series to replace it with the 7002 here. A quick examination of the 7000-series movements reveals stamped versus machined parts, more plastic, and less expensive finishing – Seiko was likely under pressure from competitors to create less expensive divers.
The day function - last seen on the 6309 - was a casualty of the newly arrived Seiko 700x movements in 1988, but this also resulted in a cleaner, less cluttered dial. Seiko would go on to manufacture the 7002 until 1996, featuring both black and so-called “Pepsi” colored bezel inserts, but were otherwise identical.
The Seiko 7002 Pepsi diver here was the international version (ie: all markets outside of Japan) of the 200m depth-rated 7002, the second generation of the series (the first was rated to 150m), the first normally aspired ISO-rated Seiko diver to have its rating upgraded to 200m – the same rating subsequent SKX divers would possess.
Despite the lower cost – or, perhaps, because of it – “feiko” examples abound in alarmingly high numbers on popular auction platforms, rendering an honest example difficult to find, even to the present day. Per Fratello Seiko guru Michael Stockton, “Welcome to my nightmare, otherwise known as the Seiko 7002 diver...In watch terms, it took me three tries at buying 7002’s to finally get a good seemingly original one."
“There are loads of fake dials too that contain blatantly wrong dial codes and then there are those that contain the correct verbiage, but the font is clearly not original. So, how did I stumble upon this very model? To be honest, I simply wanted a correct one and while that might not sound like a tall order, it can be with the 7002. You see, the 7002 could be considered as the grandpappy of modder watches…I’d wager that 99% of the watches are either heavily modded or have aftermarket parts meant to look original.”
The omission of the day window renders the dial more balanced than the Seiko divers that came before or after the 7002. Furthermore atypical, its dial departed from both the divers before and after, with slim 12 o’clock markers and basic rectangular indices at each hour - with little to distract the eye, the 7002 dial is more balanced in appearance than either the 6309 before or SK after. The lume Seiko used is unusual as well, as the company used Lumibrite, which turns grayish with age. Rounding out the 7002 is its tsunami-emblazoned case back and “Daini” factory lightning bolt signed dial.
This Seiko 7002 diver comes on a stainles-steel oyster bracelet, and with nylon strap, rugged travel case, and springbar tool.
1991 Seiko 7002-700A Pepsi Automatic Diver
DIAL: Black Seiko-signed dial, with vibrant red font - crisp writing, with no fade. Date complication at 3 o’clock position works as designed.
CASE: Stainless-steel case measures 41.5mm (44mm with crown) x 45.5mm; recessed crown, with matching caseback. Case lines remain sharp, with no evidence of machine polish - case top even retains its original brushed finish. Screw-down crown works as designed.
CRYSTAL: Seiko Hardlex crystal, no scratches, blemishes, or cracks.
BAND: This 7002 comes on a high-quality aftermarket stainless-steel oyster bracelet, which will fit up to an approx. nine inch wrist; of note, Seiko provided the oyster bracelet variant only on the second generation 7002s. This Pepsi diver also comes with a premium red-white, and blue nylon strap.
MOVEMENT: Seiko 7002 automatic movement, manufactured in January 1991. We have performed a full service on this Seiko 7002 Pepsi diver.
CROWN: Unsigned stainless-steel crown, screws down as designed.