SEIKO 7548 150M QUARTZ DIVERS
It is well known among vintage dive watch collectors that real US Navy divers wear Seiko dive watches--not the Rolex Submariner, as most vintage watch dealers want you to believe. US Navy divers perform a variety of underwater tasks on ships and submarines that include hull inspection and cleaning, installation and removal of equipment, and welding repairs to enable damaged vessels to continue steaming and complete their missions. While performing these tasks, they usually wear a Seiko either on the supplied rubber strap or, during off-duty hours, on a metal one such as a jubilee bracelet.
Why a Seiko over a Rolex, you may ask? First, it gets the job done underwater. Second, it is super accurate, especially when powered by quartz. Finally, you can break or lose it and not feel guilty about it because the entire package costs less than a Rolex bracelet.
Since the early 80's, Seiko dive watches, especially the 150m quartz model pictured here, have been popular with US Navy divers. Collectors call them "Seiko 150m quartz diver," but more accurately, it is a "Seiko 7548 diver," because it uses a quartz movement labeled with that number.
One of the most famous use cases of a Seiko 7548 diver by someone in the US military, however, was not a diver but an army general by the name of Norman Schwarzkopf. He described the use of the watch himself:
"I always wore two watches during the [Gulf] war. The one on my left arm was set on Saudi Arabian time and the Seiko on my right arm was set on Eastern Standard Time. That way I could quickly glance at my watches and instantly know the time in both Saudi Arabia and Washington, D.C."
Though some might disagree, his choice for Seiko 7548 diver actually makes it a military field watch.
Sadly, Seiko stopped producing the 7548 diver sometime during the late 80's. Even one in like-new condition is a rarity. We at NOSTIME are fortunate enough to have one in our selection. Finding such a gem is part of our on-going mission to track down new old stock timepieces.