Seiko watches is about to release the mother of all limited edition watches for us nerds. In celebration of both the 35th anniversary of Star Wars as well as the upcoming release of the films in 3D, Seiko will release six limited edition models for a total of 5,000 pieces. Star Wars is likely one of the most powerful franchises in existence and continues to capture the time, minds, and spending money of fans internationally. Combining something cool with Star Wars is frequently a recipe for success. I have to admit that I never saw this limited edition set coming, but it is one of the reasons why I love Seiko – because stuff like this comes out of the woodwork.
First of all, the entire set will be launched on October 12th, 2012. I don’t know if that is only in Japan or internationally. I believe that the models will be mostly available in Japanese retail locations with some internet sales and possibly limited distribution internationally. If you want one, start checking online in a few weeks. Let’s get on to checking out these cool Star Wars watches.
Full tech specs for the pieces are below. So I am not going to discuss each of them in excessive detail. Mostly because each of the watches are rather straight forward in concept. Let me first discuss what each of the six models share in common. Each watch is done in honor of a Star Wars character (since they are clones, is it OK to call the Stormtroopers a single character? At the least they all wear the same outfit). On the back of the watch is a colored caseback window with the face of the character and the number of the limited edition. The caseback windows are also semi-transparent on the mechanical models for a view of the movement. Each of the watches also has the Star Wars logo on the dial along with the Seiko name.
Each of the watches is in steel, but some of them are black ion plated (IP), which Seiko calls “hard black coating.” My favorite feature on each of the pieces is an engraving on the side of the case. Seiko uses the Star Wars universe “Aurebesh” language when engraving the name of the character. I thought that was pretty cool. On watches for Star Wars characters such as Darth Vader, Darth Maul, and Yoda, Seiko uses a central seconds hand (might be for the chronograph) that is in the same color as the character’s light saber. It makes sense but I’ve never thought to see a watch hand as a light saber. I like how in the Seiko press release they go out of their way to explain that a light saber is the weapon of a Jedi knight in Star Wars. As though the people interested in these watches aren’t familiar with that fact?
With 1,500 pieces in its limited edition set, the Seiko Star Wars Darth Vader (ref. SAGA125) watch will enjoy the largest production run. No doubt it is black in color with a case size of 42.5mm wide. This high-function piece is for the dark-side Jedi on the move. As a traveler’s watch, the quartz movement syncs with the six atomic clock radio frequencies around the world and offers the time, date, day of the week, and second time zone. The movement is also powered by light and has a face which has the logo of the Galactic Empire.
Dark-side Jedi Darth Maul gets an interesting watch as well with the Seiko Star Wars Darth Maul ref. SAGA127 watch. It is limited to 800 pieces. Also in black, this 43.4mm wide watch uses Roman numerals and lot of red on the dial and bezel to mimic Maul’s face (paint?). Limited to 800 pieces, this watch also contains a quartz movement that is atomic clock controlled. Only this model’s radio works only in Japan.
The last Empire watch is the Seiko Star Wars Stormtrooper ref. SDGC013 limited to 500 units. This piece along with the Yoda and C-3PO models contain the same movement and are the same size in 41.7mm wide steel cases. Though I like the design of the black and white Stormtrooper watch the best. I think they know that is a nice model which is why it has the lowest production out of all the limited edition Seiko Star Wars watches. You again have the Galactic Empire logo in the subsidiary day of the date dial, and it just overall has a neat look to it. I guess I have a soft spot for bold black and white timepieces. Inside the watch is the mechanical automatic Seiko Caliber 6R21 movement. It has the time, date, day of the week, and power reserve indicator on the dial.
Seiko clearly wanted to select three good guys and three bad guys for the watches. Though the choice of characters is a bit strange. Darth Vader and Yoda make total sense. The Stormtrooper makes for a good aesthetic choice, and while not on the top of my list, the pair of droids is acceptable with the lovable R2-D2 and C-3PO. They would have been on a classic trilogy roll, and then all of a sudden there is a Darth Maul watch from the new collection. I guess he makes for a good design influence, but I just don’t see fans being really attached to this character. They could have done a more classy boardroom style watch in honor of the Emperor. Seiko themselves claimed that while they clearly wanted Star Wars designed watches, their goal was to produce timepieces that you could easily get away with wearing in an office setting. This really makes me want to work at one of Seiko’s offices. Anyhow, where is a Luke or Han Solo watch? Actually, I think I might have guessed the reason while typing that. Most all Star Wars products you see these days are of characters without actor recognizable faces. Seiko might have had to get separate agreements with Mark Hamill or Harrison Ford if they wanted Luke or Han Solo watches and to use their likeness on them or to use their faces in marketing images. I could be wrong but this makes sense. Anyhow…
C-3PO and Yoda get similar watches but with different dial designs and casebacks. Both the Seiko Star Wars C-3PO (ref. SDGC015) and Seiko Star Wars Yoda (ref. SDGC013) come in 41.7mm wide steel cases with the same 6R21 automatic mechanical movement as the Stormtrooper watch model. C-3PO’s watch has a black and gold toned dial which looks attractive. Yoda’s watch is a bit more unique looking with a metallic green dial and electric green colored “light saber” seconds hand. Yoda’s model gets a Rebel Alliance logo on the dial as well as an impossible to forget phrase “May the force be with you” on the back of the watch.
Seiko once again pulls out a version of their EPD e-ink display watch for the last piece in this limited set of Star Wars watches. The Seiko Star Wars R2-D2 (ref. SDGA005) watch is yet another limited edition version of this watch. I last discussed how Seiko released a version of their EPD watch for Golgo 13, and previously offered a hands-on experience with this very cool Seiko e-ink display watch here. This neat timepiece is both solar powered and atomic clock controlled, but uses Seiko’s high resolution active matrix EPD e-ink display. The dial features a number of screens that offer various views of the movie along with the time. Probably perfect for an R2-D2 watch, and the nerdiest of the lot. Not necessarily nerdy because of the design, but more because it will have a character like R2-D2 on the dial all the time. It will be limited to 1000 pieces.
Limited to a total of 5000 pieces, the Seiko Star Wars watch collection is a fun treat from the Japanese brand – though they aren’t budget priced. While not high-end luxury priced, the Star Wars watches range from about $1,620 – $1,820 in US dollars. Only slim deals are to be expected as the best models are going to be really popular. Consider me excited. For the mega fan, Seiko will release a yet to be detailed “SPECIAL SET” (150 of them I believe) of all six Star Wars watches, which is said to include a few other fun items as well. Again, look for a Seiko Star Wars watch release on October 12, 2012. Seiko even has a dedicated micro site (in fancy HTML5) here in Japanese.
Tech specs from Seiko:
Seiko Star Wars Darth Vader SAGA125
- Black IP coated steel case size: 42.5mm [outer diameter], 11.3mm [thickness] Screw back
- Movement: 8B54 Caliber quartz movement with radio correction
- Correction feature: Radio corresponding standard radio (station 2) Japan, 4 Department of China, and the United States
- Solar charging function (from time to time. Driving power save about 9 months from a full charge, driving for 2 years from full charge)
- time accuracy: 15 ± seconds per month difference (in case you do not receive the standard radio, if it is worn on your wrist at temperature 35 ℃ 5 ℃ ~)
- Sapphire crystal with hard coating
- Water resistant to 100 meters
- Limited edition of 1,500 watches
- Price: 141,750 yen (U.S. about $1,820)
Seiko Star Wars Darth Maul SAGA127
- Black IP coated steel case size: 43.4mm [outer diameter], 11.0mm [thickness]
- Movement: 8B82 Caliber quartz movement with radio correction
- (station receives two automatic selection of Japan) wave correction
- Solar charging function (from time to time. Driving power save about six months from a full charge, driving for 2 years from full charge)
- stopwatch function (measured 1/5 second, 60-minute, measuring up to 6 hours)
- time accuracy: 15 ± seconds per month difference (in case you do not receive the standard radio, if it is worn on your wrist at temperature 35 ℃ 5 ℃ ~)
- Sapphire crystal with hard coating
- Water resistant to 100 meters
- Limited edition of 800 watches
- Price 136,500 yen (U.S. about $1,750)
Seiko Star Wars Yoda SDGC013
- Steel case size: 41.7mm [outer diameter], 12.4mm [thickness]
- Movement: Caliber 6R21 automatic mechanical
- Accuracy: +25 seconds to -15 seconds difference per day
- Jewels: 29
- Sapphire crystal with hard coating
- Water resistant to 100 meters
- Limited edition of 600 watches
- Price 136,500 yen (U.S. about $1,750)
Seiko Star Wars C-3P0 SDGC015
- Steel case size: 41.7mm [outer diameter], 12.4mm [thickness]
- Movement: Caliber 6R21 automatic mechanical
- Accuracy: +25 seconds to -15 seconds difference per day
- Jewels: 29
- Sapphire crystal with hard coating
- Water resistant to 100 meters
- Limited edition of 600 watches
- Price 136,500 yen (U.S. about $1,750)
Seiko Star Wars Stormtrooper SDGC011
- Steel case size: 41.7mm [outer diameter], 12.4mm [thickness]
- Movement: Caliber 6R21 automatic mechanical
- Accuracy: +25 seconds to -15 seconds difference per day
- Jewels: 29
- Sapphire crystal with hard coating
- Water resistant to 100 meters
- Limited edition of 500 watches
- Price 136,500 yen (U.S. about $1,750)
Seiko Star Wars R2-D2
- Steel case size: 45.5mm × 46.0mm horizontal vertical [Case], 9.5mm [thickness]
- Movement: Solar Digital quartz movement Caliber S770 with an active matrix EPD with radio correction
- (standard radio receiver that originates from five stations in Japan, USA, Germany, United Kingdom) wave correction
- (from time to time. Driving power save about nine months months drive about 41 months from a full charge from full charge) solar charging function
- (time display can be optionally five) style change function
- (32 cities and regions) World time function
- time accuracy: 15 ± seconds per month difference (in case you do not receive the standard radio, if it is worn on your wrist at temperature 35 ℃ 5 ℃ ~)
- Sapphire crystal with hard coating
- Water resistant to 100 meters
- Limited edition of 1,000 watches
- Price 126,000 Yen (U.S. about $1,620)
