Seiko’s Prospex Solar Chronograph is its most modern interpretation of the traditional chronograph. It features all of the tell-tale signs of a typical contemporary chronograph Seiko watch, with its distinct design, legible display, real-world functionality and relative accessibility. This piece is available now on Watch Depot.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better-suited, more well-rounded chronograph watch than the Prospex Solar Chronograph, especially at this price point. And so, instead of resting on its laurels, Seiko has gone above and beyond to retain the Prospex Solar Chronograph’s esteemed and thus far unchallenged position. Introducing the Black Series reference SSC917P Prospex Solar Chronograph, the biggest and baddest of them all!
The Prospex Solar Chronograph Black Series SSC917P is an interesting reference point for Seiko. What we have here is a darkened aesthetic, complete with a matching coloured bracelet, subtle dial highlights so as to not lose any legibility, a darkened dial to match the overall look of the piece, as well as the integration of one of Seiko’s most modern movements.
Fans of dark-themed watches will rejoice with the new Prospex Solar Chronograph Black Series SSC917P. In scintillating form, the Black Series SSC917P rides the wave of dark-themed watches, combining dynamic versatility with a supremely modern and very relevant look. Could this be the best Prospex Solar Chronograph yet? Only time will tell, but it definitely looks like it.
Seiko’s new Prospex Solar Chronograph Black Series SSC917P has a stainless steel case finished off in black that sits at a very conventional yet very comfortable 39mm in diameter and 13.3mm in thickness. The black of the case extends to the matching stainless steel bracelet, completing the black-on-black thematic look of the Prospex Solar Chronograph Black Series SSC917P really well. Rounding off the Black Series SSC917P’s exterior is a tachymeter bezel, also finished in the same black colour gradient.
Offsetting the black-on-black case and matching bracelet is that lovely grey dial. Its sub-dial registers are finished off in the same shade of black as the case and bracelet, adding to the Prospex Solar Chronograph Black Series SSC917P’s overall darkened theme, but in doing so also enhance legibility and data differentiation. The dial is complete with green ‘Lumibrite Pro’ colouring on the markers and hands. This is a new material developed for Seiko’s Black Series watches and is designed for increased visibility, allowing time to be read clearly in dark conditions. It displays the same colour in light and dark, for consistency and quick recognition, regardless of the light.
Completing the look of the dial are contrasting coloured hands on the sub-dial registers, a discreet date window between 3 and 4 o’clock with a black background, as well as Seiko’s logo at 12 o’clock and the Prospex symbol, sitting just below it.
The Prospex Solar Chronograph Black Series SSC917P is powered by the V192 movement. This incredible movement is solar in nature and can be charged from both natural and electric lighting. It has an approximate tolerance of +/- 15 seconds per month, a power reserve of an outrageous 6 months when fully charged and an operating temperature of between 5°C and 60°C. It offers the wearer the use of a 24-hour hand, a chronograph that measures time intervals up to 60 minutes in 1/5 second increments, a date, a running small-seconds hand as well as an overcharge prevention function and a resuming electric power generation display.
The Seiko Prospex Solar Chronograph Black Series SSC917 is a spectacular and highly contemporary take on the classical chronograph. It combines the best of both worlds: analogue display mimicking the look and feel of a mechanical watch; and the use of one of the most modern and technically advanced movements. The Black Series version of the Prospex Chronograph is by far the coolest yet, and is destined to be one of the most popular modern models Seiko produces.
