Glashütte Original SeaQ Northern Tide: A Turquoise North American Exclusive Edition

With summer in full swing, Glashütte Original is letting its hair down with a new limited-edition SeaQ aimed exclusively at North American markets. It’s actually a pair of watches, boasting vibrant turquoise dials that fade to black dégradé against a black ceramic bezel insert. The classic German dive watch shows off a new side of its personality with these watches, and while the core DNA remains unchanged, the use of color goes a long way. This is a brand that isn’t scared to lean into big color palettes, as we’ve seen in its vintage-inspired collections, but the SeaQ has generally remained reserved, until now. 

The dive watch genre has been at the apex of the throwback design trend, and the SeaQ, introduced by Glashütte Original in 2019, falls neatly in line. The watch is based on a design that hails from 1969 (stop me if you’ve heard that before) and which makes use of some unconventional details, such as oversized numerals and an arrow-tipped minute hand, to set itself apart. The funky design has a big personality, and Glashütte Original has played into that with the inclusion of a Panorama Date variation, which places the oversized date aperture at four o’clock on the dial. 

Point being, this is a design that lends itself quite well to color experimentation. With the Northern Tide, that’s exactly what we find expressed, in both a larger, 43mm Panorama Date reference, and a smaller 39.5mm reference. Both watches receive a bright turquoise dial that fades to black at the perimeter under large applied hour markers that evoke the original design. It’s worth noting that smaller reference still gets a date complication, though it’s rendered in a more traditional format at 3 o’clock with a smaller aperture and single disk underneath (which is not color-matched to the dial). 

The SeaQ Panorama Date Northern Tide uses Glashütte Original’s automatic Caliber 36-13, which makes for a lovely sight through the exhibition caseback. This caliber uses two disks that rotate into position independently to reveal the date through the large aperture on the dial. Here, the disks are black with white printing to blend in with their surroundings as best they can. This configuration does lead to a slightly thicker case, at 15.6mm in thickness. The SeaQ Northern Tide, conversely, uses the automatic Caliber 39-11, and while it doesn’t get the tricked-out big date, it still does carry the functionality, and measures a far more palatable 12.5mm in thickness.

Both watches are tested to meet the DIN 8306 and ISO 6425 international dive-watch criteria, and while the SeaQ is rated to 200 meters, that heftier case used by the SeaQ Panorama Date allows for a 300-meter depth rating. On that note, both watches are offered with both a steel bracelet and a black synthetic strap with a butterfly-shaped fold fastener. The strap choice will provide a very different look for the watch, and easily transition between the formal and informal portions of your wardrobe.

The Glashütte Original  SeaQ Northern Tide collection is limited to 100 units for each configuration, and will be priced at $13,000 for the SeaQ Northern Tide and $15,500 for the SeaQ Panorama Date Northern Tide. Availability is exclusive to the United States, Canada, and Mexico. 

For more information, visit the brand's website here.