Round 1. FIGHT! Seiko 5 Street Fighter Watches Pack A Punch

Ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome, I mean. Forget the shark. Seiko just jumped the electric rainbow Space whale (of my own invention). And it is a truly glorious experiment. What am I talking about? Haven’t you heard? The Japanese ideas factory has just dropped six, Street Fighter inspired models into its Seiko 5 lineup. Rejoice. It is a good time to love watches.

There are loads of reasons to be into watches and watchmaking. Some of us love fine craftsmanship. Some of us love design. And some of us? Some of us wake up every morning, hoping a press release and the link to a custom-built website promoting the same wares drops into our inboxes that makes us yell, “YES! YES! YES!”

If you think I’m exaggerating, take a moment to visit the aforementioned website here and then come back over to Fratello.com and tell me I’m wrong. This is pure. Unadulterated. Fun. This is Street Fighter fandom at its very best.

Round 1: FIGHT!

I’m just about to turn 35 years old. That might go some way to explaining my amusement at this release. Street Fighter II (the real classic of the series) was released in 1991. I was five and a half years old. Needless to say, my friends and I were the target demographic of the soon-to-become iconic beat-’em-up. My family couldn’t afford a console in those days (nor would my violence-averse mother have allowed me to own Street Fighter II even if we could have done), but my best friend had a Mega Drive and a SNES, so when it came out on the latter in ’92, he swooped in and bought it using money from the “Bank of Mummy” (a woman I’ve since come to regard as a saint/pin-up in equal measure).

This Seiko 5 release is six watches strong. Each watch is inspired by a different character. I’m sorry to say that the hand-slapping E. Honda (my fave) has not made the cut, nor the imperious M. Bison, but my go-to defensive choice (Blanka) is in (and has possibly returned the best — and certainly most bonkers — of the bunch).

Classic characters reborn in watch form

So we’ve got Ryu, Chun-Li, Ken (mint name), Guile, Blanka, and Zangief (do you know anyone that ever picked Zangief?). It’s great to see these classic characters reborn in watch form. Each one has callbacks to the characters’ original design, and it’s a lot of fun trying to pick them out. The colorways are the obvious place to start, but the details are what make a collection like this sing.

Ryu vs. Ken

The age-old match-up. These two studs loved to wrestle for supremacy. But which one would you foresee winning in a modern-day punch-up? Remember, these dudes will be in their fifties now, so longevity factors in. I don’t know for sure, but I reckon Ryu was the clean-living type. Ken, who always struck me as the forgotten member of White Snake, probably turned to hard drugs around the turn of the century after a devasting wrist injury forced him into an ill-fated adult movie career (having been trained for three-minute bouts only, his stamina was found wanting).

Anyway, conjecture aside, the Ryu watch is a clean-looking model with a white strap and off-white dial, sympathetically decorated with some neat characters at 9 o’clock (meaning wind, forest, fire, mountain). The scratched-up black and red bezel is in keeping with his famously Spartan attire and makes this the easiest to wear on a daily basis.

…probably in reference to his legendary barnet…

Ken’s watch is similarly palatable, but altogether darker. A black and red colorway is used throughout the design and accented by flashes of yellowy gold (probably in reference to his legendary barnet). Although I don’t think I would choose this model, it does really smack of that “Enter the Dragon”, ninja vibe that I think a lot of fans of the game will dig.

Chun-Li vs. Guile

This might seem like a mismatch on paper, but Chun-Li’s annoying leg sweeps would be devastating for the top-heavy Guile, who loves to have a solid base from which to throw his much-feared Sonic Boom attack.

…they usually picked Dhalsim and stood on the other side of the screen, whacking my ass to oblivion…

The Chun-Li edition is unapologetically feminine, with a rich blue colorway brought to life my equally rich gold tones, and light-friendly hour markers. The embroidery from her fighting outfit makes an appearance at 12, which is a thoughtful touch. It’s nice to see she made the cut, as I remember a lot of my female friends loving the game also. Although they usually picked Dhalsim and stood on the other side of the screen, whacking my ass to oblivion…

I expected a lot from Guile. His camo pants gifted designers with a no-brainer. The dial reflects this. His best friend’s dog tags at 9 o’clock, military insignia at 6 o’clock, a bruising DLC case, and a useful countdown bezel make for a full-on ensemble. Do I like it? Yeah, I do. For me, the G man takes this round after catching Chun-Li unawares with an SB to the face. There’s no place for old school gentility in Street Fighter, after all…

Zangief vs. Blanka

What an ugly tussle. The two sweatiest contestants go head-to-head in a stinkfest for the ages. Although that sounds a bit like our Sunday Morning Showdown intro, I guarantee you that this brouhaha would not be so civil. For me, it’s an easy win for the green machine but the gold and red color scheme of the Zangief special could turn a few heads.

…inspired by his fetching belt…

Zangief’s bezel is inspired by his fetching belt, while the magnifier over the day/date complication has clearly been included to assist with reading the time. I would imagine he’s so muscle-bound, lifting the watch to an appropriate height to read it might be difficult. Consequently, he may well have to check it at arm’s length. Poor dude…

The pressed dial of Blanka’s model is spinning in a rage for which the big beast is best known. It’s a cool, slightly hypnotic look that he could use to distract his manager at the local supermarket he’s been stacking shelves in since his career was ended by repeated PED violations every time he’s late to work. Which would be often because he’s a monster and can’t tell the time…

The specs

With that enjoyable jaunt down memory lane (with a pit stop in fantasy land) I should probably give you the specs. All the watches in this series are limited to 9,999 pieces so they are “limited” but not so rare that you should struggle to get one on your wrist if you like the look of them. They measure 42.5mm across, 13.4mm thick, and 46mm lug-to-lug. The diameter is big enough, but the stout lugs and attractive L2L make them far more appealing. Each model is water-resistant to 100 meters for daily peace of mind. Ticking away inside these limited pieces is the Seiko-built caliber 4R36.

There are some nice easter eggs on the straps (secret messages and decorations) of each model, and hidden details all over the place (check the case backs for more personal touches). Let us know how many you can spot and your memories of Street Fighter in the comments section below. And please, nothing below the belt.

These models are expected to retail for €450. Learn more about Seiko here.