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Seiko Producing Space Walk Watch

12K views 121 replies 39 participants last post by  SpringDriven 
#1 ·
Another rich guy is going into space and Seiko is making a special chronograph for him to wear on his space walk. It is a really nice looking watch that I wouldn't mind having. Perhaps they'll mass produce it after the initial run of 50 pieces.

However there seems to be lot of misinformation in the press release. I'll let you guys see what you can find. ;-)

Seiko Space Watch

Chad
 
#85 ·
Thanks for the complements - penultimate day of a long term and I just dumped my brain onto the question before bedtime. It obviously made more sense than I thought!

Two points:

Yes, atmosphere and a magnetic field ...Oops.

Secondly. I'm pretty sure that Seiko cut both their quartz and Mechanical GS ranges, rather than just their mechanical. Am I wrong?


I do agree that the older high quality Seikos are fantastic but then, so are the new ones!
 
#89 ·
Quartz in a big way after Seiko made the first commercially viable Quartz watch
Just to argue both sides of the fence I'm not sure that Seiko made the first commercially viable watch. While they certainly managed to get the first commercially available watch on 25th Dec 1969 I'm really not sure that it was commercially viable. There were only a very short run of them and they were incredibly expensive to make - and buy.

Likewise I'm not absolutely convinced that the Beta 21 was particularly commercially viable either (but it was a damn site more viable than the Seiko) I would put my money for the first truly viable watch movement as being the offerings from GP and or Bulova. The Bulova accuquartz piggy backed on the proven technology of the accutron and was a handy little money spinner for Bulova for a short while.

All these movements were shown at Basle in 1969 all, apart from the Seiko were launched in 1970. I just think Seiko saw the commercial cachet in being first more clearly than any off the others and so launched a watch which was still really in the design phase. Omega et al could well have pulled the same trick with the Beta 2. That might have changed history a teeny weeny bit.

However, the proof of the pudding is in the eating - I owned an accuquartz and still own a couple of GP movement quartzes - which are fairly cheap and plentiful even in the JLC incarnation. I have never seen a Seiko crystron for sale while there was an (Omega) beta 21 on the bay for $600 odd just the other day.

Makes you think...
 
#93 ·
You are absolutely correct. As I have already said, yesterday was the last day of a very very long term and I am fairly worn out right now. Yes the Citizen Crystron and the Seiko Astron. Quite an embarrassing error to make. I still have never seen either of them.

The Crystron Mega is, of course, the most accurate watch of all time and was alleged to be accurate to +/- 3 seconds a year.

However, that error aside...

Broad agreement?
 
#94 ·
I am absolutely certain that there has been no point at which Seiko were not making high quality mechanical movements.

You forget that while they may have stopped using the 'Grand Seiko' name for a while they also made quality movements under a wide number of other names.

Alpinist, Lord, Spirit and King to name a few. I'm pretty certain that the Alpinist range with the excellent 4xxx and lately 6xxx automatic movements have been in constant production.
 
#97 ·
I am absolutely certain that there has been no point at which Seiko were not making high quality mechanical movements.

You forget that while they may have stopped using the 'Grand Seiko' name for a while they also made quality movements under a wide number of other names.
AFAIK I don't think so, I have owned hundreds of seikos over time and the period I am talking about is very lean on high quality movements. I am speaking from my own experience though not stuff I have checked out on the web which I don't always believe unless it corresponds to something I have already discovered myself.

I'm pretty certain that the Alpinist range with the excellent 4xxx and lately 6xxx automatic movements have been in constant production.
I have not had any other 4XXX calibres apart from the Bell-matic 4006 which couldn't really be called high quality.
I don't know to what you refer.

You can't just say 6XXX as there are a lot of different non related movements covered by that nomenclature.

In my experience:

611x cheapos
66xx Nothing special
6318 Chronograph
6319 " "
62xx Very nice, but not GS quality as shown below on one of my examples.



As I repeat these watches in my experience do not appear and I don't think they were in production in the lean quartzy years I refer to.

Again I can only speak from my own experience and not stuff I read on the net
Alpinist, Lord, Spirit and King to name a few.
The Alpinist I am not sure of but todays watch is nothing like the original.

Lord or Lord Marvel to give it it's full name was seikos first auto movement watch actually copied from a Swiss AS movement.

Spirit is a modern nickname for 6R15 motored watches and not vintage.

King again AFAIK died out in the lean period unless you can show me yours from the period.

IIRC Over here they were called Seiko chronometers.

Here's mine from 1971

 
#95 ·
The watch isn't my cup of tea style wise - but Seiko make some great watches at affordable prices and the Spring drive is probably the only interesting development in watch technology in recent times. Their blurb about mechanical watches not being able to withstand the temperature ranges is a bit of an oversight though, given the iconic space status of the speedy. It's good to see other watch manufacturers entering the game however - it's healthy, and despite the recent resurgence of interest in space exploration and space tourism being the preserve of the mega - rich, it's good to see it all opening up and being pushed forward.
 
#96 ·
Just to give an idea of the sort of quality quartz chronographs that Seiko have produced:



As usual, a picture is worth a thousand words. As you can see it is a well finished solid metal movement with fifteen jewels. The watch is user adjustable and can apparently be home regulated to within around fifty seconds a year. It compares favourably in all departments with the JLC mecaquartz movement. This is the 7A48 'moon phase' version.
 
#98 ·
Looks like we are in agree to disagree territory then. Both of us feel we have anecdotal evidence for our thesis and I, for one, can't be bothered to do the research at the moment.

One thing, I would say that the 52xx/ 4sxx are quality movements; They are at least the equal of the 2892. The modern 6r15 (which appears to be it's replacement) seems a step backwards, closer to the 2824, perhaps.
 
#99 · (Edited)
I commend Seiko for the efforts put into this cool watch. However, let us be realistic... we're looking at little more than a well-financed marketing effort on Seiko's part. Mr. Garriott is the next in line in the ever-increasing number of space tourists who will have the opportunity to hitch a ride into very low earth orbit. He, like all the others, will be confined to the interior of the spacecraft and the ISS. He will NOT be performing EVA, and his wrist watch will not be exposed to the harsh environment that EVA occurs in. The harshest environment that the Seiko watch will see is the ISS toilet, which if not used correctly, can expose the user to floating poo-poo and metal-corroding urine. :-d

It is true that other country's are, after a half-century, beginning to develop spacecraft and will be sending men into orbit. When these foreign spaceniks are floating up there, some 200 miles above the third world nation that they came from, they will some day attempt EVA. However, it is unlikely that they will be wearing a wrist watch for this operation. Like NASA these days, no watches have been seen during EVA in many a year. The timing of all EVA activities is monitored by crew aboard the spacecraft or ISS. The future of timekeeping during EVA lies elsewhere. :think:

The latest inside scoop from NASA for astronaut time pieces for EVA are CUFF DISPLAYS. Better get used to that term, guys. These suit-mounted displays will not only have the honor of being the astronauts wrist-watch, but also the source of all other environmental info critical to the space suit. They come from neither Omega nor Seiko...

You can find some data on these units-in-development on the web. Just search under "EVA Equipment Development" and look for official NASA.gov links. Other, more-advanced EVA time-info technology includes helmet displays that are read by the astronaut from the inside of his visor...b-)
 
#100 ·
I commend Seiko for the efforts put into this cool watch. However, let us be realistic... we're looking at little more than a well-financed marketing effort on Seiko's part. Mr. Garriott is the next in line in the ever-increasing number of space tourists who will have the opportunity to hitch a ride into very low earth orbit. He, like all the others, will be confined to the interior of the spacecraft and the ISS. He will NOT be performing EVA, and his wrist watch will not be exposed to the harsh environment that EVA occurs in. The harshest environment that the Seiko watch will see is the ISS toilet, which if not used correctly, can expose the user to floating poo-poo and metal-corroding urine. :-d
The first paragraph of the press release (emphasis mine):

In October 2008, Richard Garriott, the renowned video game designer and adventurer, will become the sixth private space explorer. Richard will conduct his space mission aboard the International Space Station, and during his flight, he intends to conduct a spacewalk, which would make him the first private individual to do so. As steps out into free space, he will be wearing a SEIKO Spring Drive watch, specially designed and built for this purpose.

Of course it's marketing - nothing wrong with that. But as far as whether this watch will actually see space, I choose to believe the press release.
:-!
 
#101 ·
The press release that is attached to ChadHahn's posting does not seem to include your quote. When I open it up, it has an introductory sentence that says...

"In October 2008, Richard Garriott, the renowned video game designer and adventurer will..." The Seiko banner then covers up the rest of what you seemed to have quoted. So I did not have the opportunity to read it.

Whatever the case may be, it really doesn't matter. This type of press release, which, in fact, is really an advertisment, is similar to those we've seen come from Fortis about their watches "flying in space". Don't keep your hopes up for that EVA.
 
#102 ·
The press release that is attached to ChadHahn's posting does not seem to include your quote. When I open it up, it has an introductory sentence that says...

"In October 2008, Richard Garriott, the renowned video game designer and adventurer will..." The Seiko banner then covers up the rest of what you seemed to have quoted. So I did not have the opportunity to read it.
Here's the whole thing(text only) in case your browser is covering up anything else ;-):

SEIKO Spring Drive Spacewalk:
The Quiet Revolution goes into space

In October 2008, Richard Garriott, the renowned video game designer and adventurer, will become the sixth private space explorer. Richard will conduct his space mission aboard the International Space Station, and during his flight, he intends to conduct a spacewalk, which would make him the first private individual to do so. As steps out into free space, he will be wearing a SEIKO Spring Drive watch, specially designed and built for this purpose.

The SEIKO Spring Drive Spacewalk

The Spring Drive Spacewalk
as Richard Garriott plans to wear it when he goes into free space .
Three years ago, the "Quiet Revolution" of Spring Drive started, and all over the surface of the earth, Spring Drive is increasingly accepted as one of the most important new developments in luxury watch-making. In 2008, the revolution goes into space.
This unique watch, the Spring Drive Spacewalk, is presented for the first time at Baselworld 2008 and takes pride of place in the new SEIKO Stand.
The second generation in space
Richard Garriott is not only a remarkable entrepreneur and adventurer (see biography below) but he is also the son of a NASA astronaut. Richard's father, Dr. Owen Garriott, made two space flights, aboard Skylab in 1973 and aboard STS-9/Spacelab-1 in 1983. In total, Owen spent 70 days in space and he carried SEIKO watches on both of these flights and wore one continuously during his Spacelab mission. His trust in SEIKO was inherited by his son, and so it was natural that Richard should contact SEIKO as soon as his mission was arranged. Richard and SEIKO will be the first "second-generation" space partnership.

The International Space Station,
from which Richard Garriott will conduct his space mission.
Why SEIKO Spring Drive?
The challenge of making a watch that could operate not only during a space flight but also outside on a spacewalk is a daunting one, and is precisely the kind of challenge that brings out the best in SEIKO's engineers. The first decision to be made was on the type of movement to be used. Without special treatment, battery-operated instruments are not appropriate for a spacewalk for safety reasons. Thus, quartz movements were not considered. The choice was therefore between mechanical and Spring Drive. The choice was decided by the need for safety and accuracy. As the watch will be exposed to a range of temperature from minus 20 degrees Celsius to plus 70, accuracy at extreme temperatures was the critical factor, and no mechanical watch can retain its accuracy in these conditions, because of the inherent instability in these conditions of the traditional escapement which regulates the time in all mechanical watches. Instead of a traditional regulator, Spring Drive has a Tri-synchro Regulator, an entirely new regulator that uses and generates mechanical, electrical and electromagnetic power, and is less affected by temperature variations. Thus, Spring Drive was selected as the perfect mechanism for the task.
The Spring Drive Spacewalk
The SEIKO Spring Drive Spacewalk has been custom designed and built with Richard's mission in mind. The mission of SEIKO's engineers was to build a watch that was light, air-tight, strong, easy to read and easy to use, as well as safe and accurate.

Lightness: The recesses on the sides of the case save weight

Readability: The unique dial and special Lumibrite treatment
ensure maximum legibility in bright or dark conditions

Maximum ease of use:
Uniquely shaped crown and buttons at 12 o'clock position.
(i)The air-tight case
Because of the vacuum of free space, the watch case needs to be completely air-tight. Based on SEIKO's long experience with Divers watches that can withstand pressures up to 1,000 meters, Spacewalk was designed with special features that will guarantee air-tightness. In addition, to maintain the air-tightness in the huge temperature changes that occur in the vacuum of free space, and especially in cold temperatures, it was necessary to develop a new type of gasket using a rubberized material.
(ii)The lightness of High-intensity titanium
Everything to be taken into space needs to be as light and as strong as possible. High -intensity titanium was chosen as the case material because it is 40% lighter than stainless steel.
(iii)The optimum balance of lightness and wide dial-opening
The next challenge was to make the watch both as light and as large as possible. The case was designed for minimum volume but maximum dial opening size, to ensure quick readability. The solution was to build a case with recessed sides, but this required a new engineering solution, using a CNC machine that SEIKO developed in-house. This process reduced the volume of the case material by 30 %. With this process, a case was created that has the optimum balance of strength, lightness and wide dial opening.
(iv)The most readable dial.
Richard needs to be able to see time and elapsed time at a glance. After many dial designs were tested, a new layout, with the chronograph dials at the top, was selected. The hands and hour markers were designed expressly for this watch, and additional layers of SEIKO's Lumibrite material were used. The dial is now at least three times brighter than a normal luminous watch.
(v)Maximum ease of use
Richard's hands will be protected, of course, by thick gloves. He therefore needed the buttons to be over-sized so that they can easily be used and they are placed at the top of the case to be more readily accessible.
The harmony of space travel and Spring Drive
In addition to all the technical attributes which make the Spring Drive Spacewalk the prefect watch for the mission, there is a profound harmony between the essence of Spring Drive and the whole arena of space and space exploration. With its glide motion hands, SEIKO Spring Drive is the only watch to reflect the true, continuous nature of time. It measures time without 'ticks', and the perfect, uninterrupted motion of every part of the movement is in perfect harmony with the eternal, continual and precise motion of the planets. There can be nothing more appropriate than the arrival of the "quiet revolution" of Spring Drive into space. SEIKO is deeply grateful to Richard Garriott and to the Space Adventures Company for the opportunity to contribute to this thrilling mission by bringing the beauty of glide motion closer to the stars.
Meeting the challenge and the future
The task of creating this remarkable watch was difficult, and it has involved new developments in every aspect of SEIKO's watchmaking skills. It has taken a dedicated team over three years to create and to test the Spring Drive Spacewalk and new skills, materials and ideas have been generated as a result. SEIKO's history is replete with examples of how watches like Spacewalk later inspire future generations of SEIKO watches. That is the spirit that inspires SEIKO. Perhaps, the SEIKO Spring Drive Spacewalk will be another example. We are going to create just 100 watches. Among them, three pieces will go with Richard on his mission and the remaining watches will be marketed worldwide in December this year.
The Mission - October 12 to 19, 2008
Richard will spend approximately a week in space, blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard the SOYUZ TMA-13 spacecraft. The launch is scheduled for October 12, 2008.
Richard's mission is more than a joy ride! He will be conducting a series of scientific experiments and his father, who is his mission scientist, is now developing the program. One experiment already in place concerns the growth of protein crystals in space, which may be used in researching cures for diseases on Earth. In addition, Richard will seek to use his mission to highlight the future commercial possibilities of manned space flight.
We wish Richard the very best of luck with his mission.
Richard Garriott Biography

Born in 1961, in Cambridge, England, Richard is one of the leading designers of video and on-line games. He created his first game, Akalabeth in 1980 but his major success was the Ultima series, which is still popular today in its MMOG form. His latest game, Tabula Rosa, has just been released. In addition to his work in the gaming industry, Richard is a serial adventurer. He has trekked across Antarctica in search of meteorites, tracked mountain gorillas in Rwanda, and led a research mission to investigate the hydrothermal vents deep on the Atlantic Ocean sea floor. Richard now lives in Austin, Texas, where he supports a variety of cultural and environmental charities, including a Shakespeare Festival which takes place in a replica of the Globe Theatre that is on his Britannia Manor estate.
About Space Adventures
Space Adventures, the company that organized the flights for the world's first private space explorers: Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Greg Olsen, Anousheh Ansari and Charles Simonyi, is headquartered in Vienna, Va. with an office in Moscow. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for spaceflight missions to the International Space Station and around the moon, Zero-Gravity flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecrafts. The company's advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronauts Sam Durrance, Tom Jones, Byron Lichtenberg, Norm Thagard, Kathy Thornton, Pierre Thuot, Charles Walker, Skylab/Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev. For more information, please visit www.spaceadventures.com.
SEIKO Spring Drive Spacewalk
Specifications:
Caliber: Spring Drive Chronograph 5R86
Case: High-intensity Titanium
Diameter 53.0 mm (12-6h) , 48.7 mm (3-9h)
Thickness 15.2 mm
Weight   92.5 g
Glass: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
Water resistance: 10 Bar
Bracelet: The final specification is yet to be decided. SEIKO is now working with the Russian Federal Space Agency on the optimum design.
Spring Drive Chronograph Caliber 5R86:
Hour, minute and second hands with calendar
GMT hand
Power reserve indicator
50 jewels
Movement Diameter : 30.0mm
Thickness: 7.6 mm
416 parts
Power reserve : 72 hours with/without chronograph function in use
Chronograph to 12 hours
 
#103 ·
Thanks, Gaijin. ROSCOSMOS (Russian Space Agency) reports nothing of this upcoming flight. It may be premature, as the mission's objectives have likely not been finalized. As the Seiko advertisment, itself, states, Mr. Garriott "intends" to perform EVA. Guess we'll have to just keep our eyes and ears open for further developments. It would seem to me, based on NASA's certification training of Mission Specialists, that it would take quite a few years before a candidate would be given the green light for EVA. Additionally, the ISS is operated largly under NASA operational guidelines, which were ageed to by all the international partners prior to its initial construction. And we all know what that could mean when it comes to EVA. Let's see what develops. Anyone who becomes privy to additional data regarding this proposed mission, please share it with the rest of us. Lastly, I feel this subject should be transferred to the NASA and Space Topics page. Eric...don't you think so? :think:
 
#106 ·
I think that it is worth remembering that Seiko are not the only organisation out there with an interest in getting maximum publicity.

If I were NASA I would be very very happy to let someone nip out for a *** from the ISS if I knew that it meant that a major corporation was going to use it as the basis for a huge advertising campaign that portrayed space travel in a very positive light.

Free advertising for messing abound in space? It's a win win situation. Omega must be kicking themselves that they didn't give the guy a free Speedy before Seiko got the idea.

I still think it looks like a large pile of dog food that was eaten three days before, so as to speak.

I might laugh myself sick if the crystal popped off.
 
#107 ·
Just my opinion:

I love Space Watches since I have buy my first serious watch, the Omega Speedmaster, I have try to collect and catalogue a sort of series of watches that I have seen currently at the wrist of astronauts and they are many.
All I have read here is very fine, I have read many experts and many enthusiast to write good things about the Seiko's and about the Speedmaster.

Of course in my collection I have more models of both the brand, I don't have only space watches, but also the Seiko's RAF completely series, some military Breitling for Iran and Iraqui airforce.. many others.
But let's talk about the Seiko's Spacewalk.

I don't think that Seiko in telling something wrong, I think this is a good opportunity to see if is true that "only a mechanical watch" can bear the EVA, I'm just curious about this.

I agree about the fact that maybe Seiko pay for this, but what is wrong with this? Fortis is paying from 15 year the ROSCOSMOS for claim that their are the "Official Cosmonauts Chronograph" but any evidence of use in EVA was never release, me too I have write tons of mail to Fortis and they never reply to me!

So, I think the problem to go outside in a EVA with a Seiko don't exist, probably this is the true first time that another watch is going outside, so I'm happy.

My opinion is that Seiko is a great company, that develope a very high quality new movement, explore new design and building concepts, have dare to expose the company to the critics and have a story of research and development in watch history.
Omega is also a great company. But after the Speedmaster and the glorious years 70/80's they sit down on the Speedmasters line and all the new things they are good to do was some "limited", "special", "commemorative" edition, with some logo's on the dial... I don't like this.

The X-33 a great watch, was retired by the market very soon.... nobody have trust to this watch.

So, right now I think the Seiko will beat the Omega as brand, maybe he can't beat the glorious 321 and 861 series, but we are talking of another story.
What I'm sure is that the Spring Drive it is better that the CO-Axial escapement, and mayb, Mr. Garriot will give us the opportunity to prove that in space also another watch than the Omega can bear a EVA, nobody else have try

So welcome Seiko Spacewalk, all our eyes is pointed to you.

IMHO of course... and sorry for my bad english.
:-!

(ps: don't forget that a Waltham chrono, will maybe, walk on the moon... so there's two watch that was worn on the moon, and be sure that NASA haven't make any test on the Waltham ;-))
 
#108 ·
The X-33 a great watch, was retired by the market very soon.... nobody have trust to this watch.
That's an odd statement. Nobody trusts it?

I don't agree with that at all. It did not sell well because it:

- Is a VERY expensive watch for what is essentially an ordinary quartz movement

- Has a unique look that didn't strike a chord with WISs or average Omega consumers

- Recieved a bad reputation with the problems with the initial batches produced

I know plenty of people that own them (and fly military airplanes wearing them) that absolutely love them...myself included.
 
#114 ·
Ok... it's December 2008. Did Garriott go out with it?
 
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