The SKX007 has been discontinued since 2019, doesn't have a sapphire crystal, and its movement doesn't even allow manual winding. None of that has slowed its cult status in affordable watchmaking. Here are the documented reasons, no fluff.
ISO 6425 certification isn't cosmetic: it requires the watch to pass real tests for water resistance, legibility, and shock resistance underwater. Rated to 200m, the SKX007 meets the same standard as far more expensive dive tools.
The 7S26 has no hacking seconds and no manual winding. These are real limitations next to more sophisticated movements, but the enthusiast community has turned them into part of the watch's identity rather than a reason to avoid it.
Seiko retired it from catalog around 2019 and replaced it in spirit with the Seiko 5 Sports line. That makes the SKX007 a secondary-market and remaining-stock watch, not something you can buy new through official retail — an important distinction before hunting for one.
The SKX007 doesn't compete on specs with high-end watches: it competes on the ratio between what it offers (real dive certification, toughness, identity) and what it asks of you in return. That equation, more than any single spec, is what sustains its cult status.