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Glashütte Original SeaQ Chronograph 43mm Mens Watch - Stainless Steel
Ref. 1-37-23-03-80-70
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Stepping up in Glashütte Original's range
The SeaQ line draws its proportions and attitude from a 1969 Spezimatic skin-diver tool watch, and the connection is more than cosmetic — the integrated lugs slope downward in the same way, encouraging the 51.6mm lug-to-lug span to follow the curve of a wrist rather than bridge it. That lineage also explains why a watch from a Saxon fine-watchmaking house carries full ISO 6425 professional diver certification: the SeaQ was never positioned as a dressed-up dive aesthetic but as the real thing, finished to Glashütte standards. The dial layout — white with a panda-style subdial arrangement against the black ceramic bezel — is as legible as it is spare, and at nearly 17mm thick this is an honest tool watch rather than a slim dress piece masquerading as one. The movement behind it, Calibre 37-23, is built entirely in Glashütte with a column-wheel flyback chronograph, silicon hairspring, and the three-quarter plate with striper finish and blued screws that are the house's recognisable signatures. A 70-hour power reserve means a long weekend away without winding. The clasp deserves a mention: pressing the double-G logo releases a micro-adjustment mechanism that lets the bracelet be sized on the fly without tools, which matters more than it sounds on a watch worn into water and back out again.
- Reference
- 1-37-23-03-80-70
- Brand
- Glashütte Original
- Collection
- Spezialist
- Case size
- 43.2mm
- Case thickness
- 17mm
- Lug width
- 21mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- White
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Bezel
- Unidirectional rotating
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- 37-23
- Functions
- Chronograph, Date, Small seconds
- Water resistance
- 300m
- Bracelet / strap
- Stainless steel bracelet
- Strap colour
- Silver
- Clasp
- Folding clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Additional specifications
- Lug-to-lug
- 51.6mm
- Power reserve
- 70 hours
Learn more about Glashütte Original
Glashütte Original is the direct corporate descendant of the East German state watchmaking industry. When the Soviet administration expropriated Glashütte's private manufacturers after the Second World War — A. Lange & Söhne among them — it consolidated them into a single enterprise, VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe, which produced watches for the Eastern Bloc for four decades.
After reunification the enterprise was privatised, and in 1994 it took the name Glashütte Original. It therefore inherits both the archives and the tooling of the pre-war houses and the industrial capacity built under the GDR.
That inheritance shows in vertical integration unusual even at the high end. The company makes its own movements, and its own dials, through the Pforzheim dial manufactory it acquired in 2006 — a capability most houses buy in.
The house signatures are German: three-quarter plates, duplex swan-neck fine adjustment, hand-engraved balance cocks, and skeletonised rotors in double-G form. The Panorama Date, a large date display where both discs sit on one plane so no dividing line interrupts the numerals, is its most distinctive complication and a deliberate improvement on the standard big-date module.
The Senator, Sixties, and Seventies collections cover classical and retro-industrial ground respectively. Swatch Group acquired the company in 2000.
- 1951
- The Glashütte manufacturers are consolidated into VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe.
- 1994
- The privatised company takes the Glashütte Original name.
- 2000
- Acquired by the Swatch Group.
- 2006
- The Pforzheim dial manufactory is brought in-house.
Also in 6 collections
This watch appears in Back in Stock (3,734), Stainless Steel Watches (2,581), Automatic Watches (1,570), Chronograph Watches (953), Sports Watches (707) and Dive Watches (505).
Best of 2 retailers
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch built to be worn hard and got wet.
Strengths
- 300m water resistance, rated for actual diving
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- 70-hour reserve survives a weekend off the wrist
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
Worth knowing
- 43.2mm sits at the larger end
- 17mm thick, so it will not disappear under a cuff
Glashütte Original SeaQ alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | 1-37-23-03-80-70 | 81065-21-491-FH6A | PAM01661 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £13,900 | £14,300 | £13,100 |
| Case size | 43.2mm | 44mm | 44mm |
| Water resistance | 300m | 300m | 300m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Stainless steel bracelet | Rubber strap | Fabric strap |
| Power reserve | 70 hours | 46 hours | 72 hours |
| This watch | Closely matched | Closely matched |
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Yes. At 300m it is rated for swimming, snorkelling and recreational diving.
Water resistance explainedWill the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Sapphire, mineral and acrylic comparedDoes it need a battery?
No. It is automatic — the motion of your wrist winds it, and there is no cell to replace.
Quartz, automatic and solar comparedHow long does it run for when it's not worn?
About 70 hours fully wound — enough to sit off the wrist over a weekend and still be running.
What size strap does it take?
21mm. Any strap of that width will fit, and on most modern watches quick-release bars make the swap a two-minute job with no tools.
Will it fit my wrist?
Lug-to-lug is 51.6mm, which suits wrists from roughly 17.5cm (7 inches) upward.
Lug-to-lug decides fit more than case diameter does.
How to size a watch to your wristIs it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as men's.
Cheapest place to buy
Both Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths list it at £13,900, so choose on delivery and warranty rather than price.
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