seiko alpinist 80

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Seiko Alpinist is offered with a 38mm case, this is slightly curved and also has a polished steel bezel. In addition to the bezel, the watch has a second crown inside the watch that rotates internally and borders the dial. The presence of the second crown makes the Seiko alpinist a really attention-grabbing watch. The dial is introduced as an alternative in pine green colour, this colour was needed, just to renew the name of the watch. The Arabic numerals and indices are gold plated and handled with a fluorescent material, which lets you read the time even in darkish areas, the same is true for the hour and minute arms.

seiko alpinist

That’s when a collection referred to by collectors as the “Red Alpinist” was introduced, and it included most of the parts we now recognize as basic. It had the internal rotating compass bezel controlled by the four o’clock crown, cathedral palms, as well as the dial designs reproduced in the latest releases — a tried and true design, it will seem. The Alpinist was at one time maybe taken as a right, but the announcement of its discontinuation saw interest in it suddenly spike forward of the current sequence’s introduction. It was in 1959 that Seiko’s first Alpinist watch was introduced to meet the needs of mountain climbers and recreational area sports activities lovers. From the start, it was nicely received and, over the following decades, its reputation spread far past the Japanese market for which it was first intended. While its core character has remained unchanged, its design has evolved over time.

It had a screw-back case to stop mud or sand particles from getting into the case. It had a sturdy leather cuff band to protect the watch from perspiration. These four clearly differentiated markers represented the four details on a compass and, with the specifically designed marker at twelve o’clock, allowed the time to be read safely and correctly at any angle. This was a function that became central to the design of many subsequent Seiko sports activities watches and remains so nonetheless today. There is probably not another brand anywhere on the planet that offers such bang for the buck .

While the green variant is what most are used to seeing, having been in the market for a decade, the blue US edition is definitely the more collectible. Limited to 1959, individually numbered watches, the matte blue dial, and silver hour markers and palms seiko give the watch a extra subdued character as compared to its sunburst green dial predecessor. We hope you enjoyed this quick however candy journey again into Seiko history.

On the flip side, this helps to give the Alpinist loads of wrist presence. It’s an undeniably enticing and crowd pleasing watch, and although some may discover it a little too dressy or fussy for a software watch, the counter argument could be that it adds appreciable versatility. In that sense, it’s a watch that would go simply from workday to adventurous weekend wear. Although the Seiko Alpinist isn’t a field watch with a military historical past like many of these featured in our best field watches buying guide, it has loads of authentic out of doors heritage.