Hands-On: Seiko Prospex ‘Captain Willard’ Limited Edition SLA033 (Apocalypse Now)
I love the smell of a Limited Edition in the Morning. Everyone gets everything he wants. The Seiko community wanted a limited edition, and for their sins, Seiko gave them one. Brought it up to them like room service. It was a real limited edition, and when it was over, they never wanted another.
Who knew I would once be given the joy to mix quotes from one of my all time favourite movies in a watch review, oh what a joy! Please join me along for this hands-on review of the Seiko Prospex ‘Apocalypse Now’ Limited edition. A re-edition of the seiko fan favourite 6105, the Seiko that featured on Captain Willard’s wrist (Charlie Sheen) in the cult classic Apocalypse Now. As soon as this baby leaked on social media, I knew instantly I needed one of these in my life.
This isn’t just a re-edition though, this is a straight up luxury edition building on the legacy of this cult classic (both the movie and the watch). As per the spec sheet, this Prospex re-creation of the 1970 diver’s watch is slightly larger than the original but faithful in every other respect to its design. It is, however, completely up-to-date in its technology. It incorporates the high end caliber 8L35 which was specially designed for use in diver’s watches. This is not your usual base Seiko calibre, this is what served as essentially a base Grand Seiko movement.
The case has a super-hard coating and a dual-curved sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating and is 200 meter water resistant.
The upper surface of the bezel rim is Zaratsu polished to a perfect mirror finish. This is a technique of handpolishing usually reserved for the Grand Seiko range and certainly not the norm for a Seiko. The watch is presented on a high strength silicone strap which has a perfect retro look and feel to it. The watch is assembled by hand in the Shizukuishi Watch Studio in northern Japan. That is the same studio responsible for assembly of Grand Seiko and Credor watches!
I love absolutely everything about this watch except for the obvious: the price tag. Of course this is a limited edition so you always expect the price to be a bit higher than the standard editions. However, the price tag is quite elevated at 4250 USD. This is a luxury re-edition of a 70s watch which at the time cost somewhere around USD 50. That said, you do get the Zaratsu handpolish & the watches are hand assembled in one of the greatest watch studio’s on the planet . That by fact adds a hefty price increase so I do understand where it comes from. It isn’t just because it is limited that it carries that price tag, which often is and can be the case in the watch world. The price is there for a reason.
Do keep in mind that this is actually in line with the pricing of their previous limited diver re-editions so I’m sure these’ll sell like hotcakes. If you want one of these, get one, they will sell out yet again. Personally, I was just hoping to add this turtle for a slightly less ambitious price to the collection as I’m sure many of the non-luxury Seiko community were.
This series is limited to 2500 pieces worldwide and available as from July 2019.
To quote another movie… They had me at ‘Turtle’ – but they lost me at the price.. I hope Seiko brings this in a more basic version to the masses somehow, it would surely sell as well. I envy the collectors picking these up, sure is a beauty just can’t quite justify that with the wife 😀
I’m 99% sure I’m getting one and hope to be alive still to let you know how the chat with the fiancee goes hah… Great take on this one Jan, should I survive the initial purchase, I’ll make sure to bring it along when I come over this summer, I know you want some extra time with it 🙂
@Jan & DE GRIFF crew: Congratulations on your Social milestone today!
Thanks a lot ☺️🙏
I fully understand, but we have to look past the mere Seiko logo on this one. Imagine it having GS on the dial instead 🙂
Maximum points for that intro Jan! Haha excellent!
Price surpasses me for this, but loved the article 👌
Very beautiful watch and the wrist shot! I think I’ll just have to get a Turtle and not looking back lol
Thinking to do the same thing. Now – to pepsi or not to pepsi ? 🤔
I think you meant Martin Sheen!
I did 😅🙈
Or you could be smart and just get a Seiko that resembles it with out the over inflated price meant for collectors with more money than brains.