I am not one to take the time write any fancy reviews. When I acquire a new timepiece, it is either destined to be worn for specific occasions only, as a daily wearer, as a beater or to sit in the safe awaiting something special or who knows what.
In this write up, I will be looking at a homage to one of the heavy weights, a titan of the dive watch world. This titan I am referring to is the incredible Seiko SBDX001. Case design, lume, hand shape, legibility that many others wish they could claim as their own. If you want to read about the SBDX001 further, I encourage you to do so as you will find dozens of reviews, photos and posts regarding this heavy weight as it is an absolutely phenomenal timepiece. I did have the pleasure of seeing one in the flesh approximately 10-11 years ago in a dive shop while in Vancouver. Since that time, I have wanted to include the venerable MM300 in the collection, unfortunately for me, when the funds were more readily accessible, there were other watches that for some reason nudged ahead of the MM300 for one reason of another due to something feature, quality, design cue I liked or appreciated more at the given time. With time, life happens, there are changes which occur and those changes can affect ones (my) ability to make specific purchases. I realized the likelihood of me ever acquiring a Seiko MM300 in the near future is not an option as I have far more important priorities for the next 20 years. This led me to do what I could to scratch the MM300 itch, thus I began searching for a homage.
I know the discussion of homages can become a sensitive topic amongst some members, and I fully get why, regardless the purpose of this short review is not to spark any debate as to who agrees, disagrees, supports or does not support homage watches. Homages have a niche for many and they fill that niche very well. I personally do not care whether you are for or against, and it should not matter to anyone if a homage makes it into ones collection. I'll be honest when I say that for many years I was very much against the idea of companies who made these watches as I felt it went against the morals, values and original idea of the company who originally designed the timepiece to begin with. Over time my ideas on homage watches changed. I am not sure the exactly why I have become accepting of homages, whether this is due to homages becoming so common place in this hobby, whether it is because so many of them are incredibly well made for the money making them far more attainable to the average guy, or what the reason is exactly.
There are several companies making these Seiko MM300 homage watches. We have HIMQ and Heimdallr with their Sharkmaster, the Merkur Oceanmaster, the Uroboros Marinemaster, the Leviathan MM300 and the FIFTYFOUR Divemaster, the Anko Tactico and last, but not least the Proxima Scubamaster. Are there others I have missed, there probably is, but these are the most common variants I am currently aware of. Of the companies mentioned, there are some which are not easily available unless you can find someone selling one on the used market. The easily attainable brands at the moment are HIMQ, Heimdallr, Fiftyfour and Proxima.
After a great deal of reading, searching, some more reading I contacted a Proxima dealer, WRwatches.com - I am not in any way affiliated with WRwatches or the Proxima brand. After spending a fair amount of time via the live chat with a representative of WRwatch (their name is Wei), I decided to purchase the Proxima MM300 with full lumed bezel, with BGW9 lume on both the dial and the bezel. This specific model has the Japanese NH35 movement which is accurate within +45/-35 seconds a day, not all that impressive for any watch collector. The glass consists of an AR coated sapphire glass sitting over top a black dial with polished indices with a date located at the 3 o'clock position.
Watch specification as per the WRwatches page are as follows:
Case Materal : 316L Stainless Steel Monoblock Case
Diameter : 44mm
Case Thickness : 15.8mm
Lug width : 20mm
Bezel : Ceramic / Sapphire
Bezel Luminous : Swiss C3 Super-Luminova / BGW9 Super-Luminova
Glass : Sapphire Glass with AR Coating
Dial Luminous : Swiss C3 Super-Luminova (Gold Indices) / BGW9 Super-Luminova (Silver Indices)
Dial colour : Black
Movement : Japan NH35
WR : 300 Meters*
Please note that there will be slight upgrade for the coming batch of MM300 which will be: BGW9 lume second hand with a dot in red
The Proxima is not expensive by any means and currently resales for $190 US. I made payment on July 20, and after a long wait, I received the parcel 12 days later on August 2, 2019. The watch had landed in Canada on August 1[SUP]st[/SUP], and at 12:55pm it was scanned for the first time since leaving China. From there, Candapost had it delivered to my door and in my possession less than 24 hours later. Fairly impressive this time around. It was on the 27[SUP]th[/SUP] of July, I contacted WRwatches and asked them if the watch was shipped by boat or plane, and was told it was sent by plane and would arrive shortly. I am not sure the reason as to why there was such a delay for the parcel to get to Canada, or whether it had arrived and sat for several days in customs waiting to be scanned and for inspection. Anyways, the parcel finally arrived and it was very well packaged. Upon opening the outer cardboard box, there was a smaller bubble wrapped package inside to absorb any bumps, drops or falls during its travels. I unwrapped this outer bubble wrap to have a hard clam shell style case with a fold over hinge on each side and two on the front. This case is acceptable, but keep in mind it is not a nice solid, high quality case you'd get with brands such as UTS, BaliHa'I, H20/Helberg, Tacitco or Bathy's for example, but it does get the job done as there is a fairly decent layer of foam trapping the watch from moving around.
Upon opening the hard shell case, I was greeted by a sparkling, shiny, sharp looking watch, the Proxima MM300. Prior to this moment, I was feeling uneasy, unsure, nervous about this purchase for multiple reasons. One, it is at a price point I have now moved away from, but also because it is a homage. I just didn't know what to expect, even with all the positive reviews of these different MM300's. Let me say that all the uneasiness disappeared from the moment I laid eyes on the Proxima. The Proxima was carefully unwrapped and this is where my delight exploded. I felt like a child in a candy store… all over a $200 timepiece.
The crystal is a sapphire glass with a nicely blue hue'd AR coating which looks absolutely stunning. The indices on the dial have beautiful polished silver exteriors containing the gorgeous BWG9 lume which after being outside and walking indoors, glows a wonderful blue. I have not yet checked to see how long the lume lasts, but this watch was not purchased for the lume unlike some other timepieces I own. All I can say is it glows very nicely and the lume is very evenly applied with no areas appearing to be missing any lume whatsoever.
The dial is a nice matte black, with the nicely sized Proxima name written in a clear, easy to read white font just below the 12 o'clock indices, and the scubamaster professional 300m written between the 4 and 8 o'clock indices (just above the 6 o'clock). Just like the Proxima name, this was written in a clear easily legible white font. Between the Proxima name and the writing on the bottom half of the dial, I feel there is just the right amount of writing without creating a mess, whereas some other makes and models try to put too large of a name/logo, or too much writing all over the dial taking away from the watch. Proxima did it right in my opinion.
The bracelet is one area which could use some refining, as a higher end bracelet would make the end user want to wear it on steel, rather than changing it out to rubber, leather or a nato. It is not that the bracelet is badly made, or appears it will fall apart, it is just not built to a high standard of 'solid'. The bracelet clasp is plain with nothing to make it stand out among other brands with their company name or logos on them, whereas a simple anything would have dressed it up a great deal. The bracelet is a 3 link style, with the outer edges of the center links having a narrow polished edge. The end links are cut fairly well, but lack the refinement found on other watches like the Helm Vanuatu (very well made bracelet). If I had a spare SBDC061 bracelet, I'd see if it fit the Proxima, and if so I'd be set to wear this little gem on steel. Regardless, I had no intentions of using the bracelet from day one, so the bracelet quality was not an issue for me at whatsoever. At the time of writing this, I am still waiting for a strap I have on order to arrive - the watch gecko zulu tropic. I feel this strap will flow beautifully on the Proxima MM300 due to the mostly polished watch case with the brushed sections running lengthwise up the sides of the case from top to bottom lug, as the strap buckle has both polished and brushed sections to compliment the watch. I will post photos in the thread once it has arrived and is on the watch.
Next we have the bezel, which is nicely crafted and consists of an evenly engraved ceramic bezel insert with clean edges on all of the numerals. The bezel clicks very smoothly, but I wish it was a tad ore firm when turning. There is also the slightest hint at some back play in the bezel, and when I say a hint, I mean just that, but again not a concern for me. These are both mild issues, but I felt they should be noted for potential buyers.
The bezel insert appears to be a well-crafted piece of ceramic fitted perfectly into the bezel with easily legible lume filled numerals. The numerals are a clean bright white when not glowing, and when glowed up the BWG9 lumed insert glows the same shade of blue as the dial with no discernible differences whatsoever in the colour which to me is always nice.
The Proxima case back is nothing to write home about as it is plain with zero markings, writing, designs whatsoever on it. I feel some image, design, some writing, anything would add some life to an otherwise boring case back.
The watchcase is a monoblock, therefor there is no removable case back which is of no concern to me. I only have positives regarding the case shape as it looks to me to be exactly like the MM300, which is what I wanted and it delivered. The polishing is fantastic and gleams beautifully, not a zaratsu polish by any means, but mighty sharp looking regardless. A wonderful addition adding to the ease of removing the bracelet and changing to a strap are the drilled lugs. There are many higher end watch brands out there which do not do this, and it is always an added bonus, especially for those who like to change their straps often.
The cut outs for the end links are very well done, cut out evenly with no rough edges or burrs left behind.
The crown works and functions just as it should. It screws and unscrews very smoothly with no worries of cross threading. When winding the watch manually, the crown winds the NH35 movement with ease and is extremely smooth, with no grittiness felt at all. If I had to be picky, I would suggest that all Proxima watches come with an engraved crown as mine did not. I did come across photos online of the Proxima/HIMQ models with an engraved logo on the crown, but I am not sure whether this is by chance, or only a small batch that had this done. The crowns location matches that of the MM300, which is at the 4 o'clock position - would not be a good homage it they changed the location. This is a nice as there is far less contact with the wearers wrist as some can find a 3 o'clock crown bothersome.
Lastly I will mention the movement. This model comes with Seiko's non branded Seiko movement, the NH35. This is not a high end movement by any means, but it is a solid workhorse. WRwatches included a photo of the watch on a timegrapher to show the accuracy and it was running at +1spd. Since it's arrival on August 2, and today is August 6, it is running at +2 seconds. For a movement with such a wide range of + and -, I am beyond impressed.
For anyone wanting to fill the Seiko MM300 niche, but does not want to spend multiple thousands, this just may take away that itch, or it may leave you saving up every penny until you can get the real deal.
On a closing note, I am more than happy with my purchase and plan on wearing this one a great deal once the rubber tropic arrives.
Final photo
In this write up, I will be looking at a homage to one of the heavy weights, a titan of the dive watch world. This titan I am referring to is the incredible Seiko SBDX001. Case design, lume, hand shape, legibility that many others wish they could claim as their own. If you want to read about the SBDX001 further, I encourage you to do so as you will find dozens of reviews, photos and posts regarding this heavy weight as it is an absolutely phenomenal timepiece. I did have the pleasure of seeing one in the flesh approximately 10-11 years ago in a dive shop while in Vancouver. Since that time, I have wanted to include the venerable MM300 in the collection, unfortunately for me, when the funds were more readily accessible, there were other watches that for some reason nudged ahead of the MM300 for one reason of another due to something feature, quality, design cue I liked or appreciated more at the given time. With time, life happens, there are changes which occur and those changes can affect ones (my) ability to make specific purchases. I realized the likelihood of me ever acquiring a Seiko MM300 in the near future is not an option as I have far more important priorities for the next 20 years. This led me to do what I could to scratch the MM300 itch, thus I began searching for a homage.
I know the discussion of homages can become a sensitive topic amongst some members, and I fully get why, regardless the purpose of this short review is not to spark any debate as to who agrees, disagrees, supports or does not support homage watches. Homages have a niche for many and they fill that niche very well. I personally do not care whether you are for or against, and it should not matter to anyone if a homage makes it into ones collection. I'll be honest when I say that for many years I was very much against the idea of companies who made these watches as I felt it went against the morals, values and original idea of the company who originally designed the timepiece to begin with. Over time my ideas on homage watches changed. I am not sure the exactly why I have become accepting of homages, whether this is due to homages becoming so common place in this hobby, whether it is because so many of them are incredibly well made for the money making them far more attainable to the average guy, or what the reason is exactly.
There are several companies making these Seiko MM300 homage watches. We have HIMQ and Heimdallr with their Sharkmaster, the Merkur Oceanmaster, the Uroboros Marinemaster, the Leviathan MM300 and the FIFTYFOUR Divemaster, the Anko Tactico and last, but not least the Proxima Scubamaster. Are there others I have missed, there probably is, but these are the most common variants I am currently aware of. Of the companies mentioned, there are some which are not easily available unless you can find someone selling one on the used market. The easily attainable brands at the moment are HIMQ, Heimdallr, Fiftyfour and Proxima.
After a great deal of reading, searching, some more reading I contacted a Proxima dealer, WRwatches.com - I am not in any way affiliated with WRwatches or the Proxima brand. After spending a fair amount of time via the live chat with a representative of WRwatch (their name is Wei), I decided to purchase the Proxima MM300 with full lumed bezel, with BGW9 lume on both the dial and the bezel. This specific model has the Japanese NH35 movement which is accurate within +45/-35 seconds a day, not all that impressive for any watch collector. The glass consists of an AR coated sapphire glass sitting over top a black dial with polished indices with a date located at the 3 o'clock position.
Watch specification as per the WRwatches page are as follows:
Case Materal : 316L Stainless Steel Monoblock Case
Diameter : 44mm
Case Thickness : 15.8mm
Lug width : 20mm
Bezel : Ceramic / Sapphire
Bezel Luminous : Swiss C3 Super-Luminova / BGW9 Super-Luminova
Glass : Sapphire Glass with AR Coating
Dial Luminous : Swiss C3 Super-Luminova (Gold Indices) / BGW9 Super-Luminova (Silver Indices)
Dial colour : Black
Movement : Japan NH35
WR : 300 Meters*
Please note that there will be slight upgrade for the coming batch of MM300 which will be: BGW9 lume second hand with a dot in red
The Proxima is not expensive by any means and currently resales for $190 US. I made payment on July 20, and after a long wait, I received the parcel 12 days later on August 2, 2019. The watch had landed in Canada on August 1[SUP]st[/SUP], and at 12:55pm it was scanned for the first time since leaving China. From there, Candapost had it delivered to my door and in my possession less than 24 hours later. Fairly impressive this time around. It was on the 27[SUP]th[/SUP] of July, I contacted WRwatches and asked them if the watch was shipped by boat or plane, and was told it was sent by plane and would arrive shortly. I am not sure the reason as to why there was such a delay for the parcel to get to Canada, or whether it had arrived and sat for several days in customs waiting to be scanned and for inspection. Anyways, the parcel finally arrived and it was very well packaged. Upon opening the outer cardboard box, there was a smaller bubble wrapped package inside to absorb any bumps, drops or falls during its travels. I unwrapped this outer bubble wrap to have a hard clam shell style case with a fold over hinge on each side and two on the front. This case is acceptable, but keep in mind it is not a nice solid, high quality case you'd get with brands such as UTS, BaliHa'I, H20/Helberg, Tacitco or Bathy's for example, but it does get the job done as there is a fairly decent layer of foam trapping the watch from moving around.
Upon opening the hard shell case, I was greeted by a sparkling, shiny, sharp looking watch, the Proxima MM300. Prior to this moment, I was feeling uneasy, unsure, nervous about this purchase for multiple reasons. One, it is at a price point I have now moved away from, but also because it is a homage. I just didn't know what to expect, even with all the positive reviews of these different MM300's. Let me say that all the uneasiness disappeared from the moment I laid eyes on the Proxima. The Proxima was carefully unwrapped and this is where my delight exploded. I felt like a child in a candy store… all over a $200 timepiece.
The crystal is a sapphire glass with a nicely blue hue'd AR coating which looks absolutely stunning. The indices on the dial have beautiful polished silver exteriors containing the gorgeous BWG9 lume which after being outside and walking indoors, glows a wonderful blue. I have not yet checked to see how long the lume lasts, but this watch was not purchased for the lume unlike some other timepieces I own. All I can say is it glows very nicely and the lume is very evenly applied with no areas appearing to be missing any lume whatsoever.
The dial is a nice matte black, with the nicely sized Proxima name written in a clear, easy to read white font just below the 12 o'clock indices, and the scubamaster professional 300m written between the 4 and 8 o'clock indices (just above the 6 o'clock). Just like the Proxima name, this was written in a clear easily legible white font. Between the Proxima name and the writing on the bottom half of the dial, I feel there is just the right amount of writing without creating a mess, whereas some other makes and models try to put too large of a name/logo, or too much writing all over the dial taking away from the watch. Proxima did it right in my opinion.
The bracelet is one area which could use some refining, as a higher end bracelet would make the end user want to wear it on steel, rather than changing it out to rubber, leather or a nato. It is not that the bracelet is badly made, or appears it will fall apart, it is just not built to a high standard of 'solid'. The bracelet clasp is plain with nothing to make it stand out among other brands with their company name or logos on them, whereas a simple anything would have dressed it up a great deal. The bracelet is a 3 link style, with the outer edges of the center links having a narrow polished edge. The end links are cut fairly well, but lack the refinement found on other watches like the Helm Vanuatu (very well made bracelet). If I had a spare SBDC061 bracelet, I'd see if it fit the Proxima, and if so I'd be set to wear this little gem on steel. Regardless, I had no intentions of using the bracelet from day one, so the bracelet quality was not an issue for me at whatsoever. At the time of writing this, I am still waiting for a strap I have on order to arrive - the watch gecko zulu tropic. I feel this strap will flow beautifully on the Proxima MM300 due to the mostly polished watch case with the brushed sections running lengthwise up the sides of the case from top to bottom lug, as the strap buckle has both polished and brushed sections to compliment the watch. I will post photos in the thread once it has arrived and is on the watch.
Next we have the bezel, which is nicely crafted and consists of an evenly engraved ceramic bezel insert with clean edges on all of the numerals. The bezel clicks very smoothly, but I wish it was a tad ore firm when turning. There is also the slightest hint at some back play in the bezel, and when I say a hint, I mean just that, but again not a concern for me. These are both mild issues, but I felt they should be noted for potential buyers.
The bezel insert appears to be a well-crafted piece of ceramic fitted perfectly into the bezel with easily legible lume filled numerals. The numerals are a clean bright white when not glowing, and when glowed up the BWG9 lumed insert glows the same shade of blue as the dial with no discernible differences whatsoever in the colour which to me is always nice.
The Proxima case back is nothing to write home about as it is plain with zero markings, writing, designs whatsoever on it. I feel some image, design, some writing, anything would add some life to an otherwise boring case back.
The watchcase is a monoblock, therefor there is no removable case back which is of no concern to me. I only have positives regarding the case shape as it looks to me to be exactly like the MM300, which is what I wanted and it delivered. The polishing is fantastic and gleams beautifully, not a zaratsu polish by any means, but mighty sharp looking regardless. A wonderful addition adding to the ease of removing the bracelet and changing to a strap are the drilled lugs. There are many higher end watch brands out there which do not do this, and it is always an added bonus, especially for those who like to change their straps often.
The cut outs for the end links are very well done, cut out evenly with no rough edges or burrs left behind.
The crown works and functions just as it should. It screws and unscrews very smoothly with no worries of cross threading. When winding the watch manually, the crown winds the NH35 movement with ease and is extremely smooth, with no grittiness felt at all. If I had to be picky, I would suggest that all Proxima watches come with an engraved crown as mine did not. I did come across photos online of the Proxima/HIMQ models with an engraved logo on the crown, but I am not sure whether this is by chance, or only a small batch that had this done. The crowns location matches that of the MM300, which is at the 4 o'clock position - would not be a good homage it they changed the location. This is a nice as there is far less contact with the wearers wrist as some can find a 3 o'clock crown bothersome.
Lastly I will mention the movement. This model comes with Seiko's non branded Seiko movement, the NH35. This is not a high end movement by any means, but it is a solid workhorse. WRwatches included a photo of the watch on a timegrapher to show the accuracy and it was running at +1spd. Since it's arrival on August 2, and today is August 6, it is running at +2 seconds. For a movement with such a wide range of + and -, I am beyond impressed.
For anyone wanting to fill the Seiko MM300 niche, but does not want to spend multiple thousands, this just may take away that itch, or it may leave you saving up every penny until you can get the real deal.
On a closing note, I am more than happy with my purchase and plan on wearing this one a great deal once the rubber tropic arrives.
Final photo