Seiko’s Latest Limited Edition Draws Inspiration From The Northern Lights With The SLA063

The SLA049 and SLA051 broke ground within the Seiko Prospex line last year, creating a modern reinterpretation of the Seiko 6105, or otherwise known as the beloved “Captain Willard,” housing an upgraded movement in the 8L35, sporting new dial colors and featuring more of a refined look when compared to the likes of the SPB151 and the SPB153. It’s a common tune Seiko has been playing for the past few years where they’ve taken their classic designs from the ‘60s and ‘70s, reworked them, resulting in a fresh new set of watches made for today’s enthusiast without straying too far away from the original design. With the recent release of the SLA063, Seiko is hitting some familiar notes we’ve seen within the past year.

The SLA063, like the SLA049, is a limited edition release that pays tribute to adventurer and alpinist Naomi Uemura. Uemura was an explorer through and through, consistently pushing the boundaries of what a person was capable of doing and where they could go. He was the first to make the solo summit of Denali (formerly known as Mt. McKinley) and the first to complete a solo rafting journey down the Amazon River. He was also the first to climb five of the “Seven Summits” and the first person of Japanese descent to summit Mt. Everest. The Seiko SLA063 has exploration in its genes as it can trace its bloodline to the Seiko 6105, which was worn on Uemura’s wrist when he completed his 7,500 mile solo dog-sled run from Alaska to Greenland.

The textured gradient blue dial is representative of the Northern Lights that dance across the polar skies. To my knowledge, any sort of blue is a rare color to see during the Aurora Borealis, and Seiko has made it a point to capture that capricious glow in the dial.

Looking closer at the case and dial, the refinements found in the SLA063 and the rest of the SLA series are apparent. The mirror-like finishing on the case appears to be top notch and an additional polished finishing is added to the center links of the steel bracelet. The hour markers are slimmer with polished surrounds, the stoplight seconds hand arrow is less pronounced and the bezel looks more streamlined with its tighter typeface. The only feature that some of you may look sideways at is the date window sandwiched between the four and five o’clock marker. The SPB15X models position the date window at the traditional three o’clock marker, which in my opinion, would have looked better aesthetically on the SLA063, since it’d keep the balance in the dial, being that the date window (and the adjacent lume plot) are similar in shape to the opposite marker across the way.

The SLA063 case sizes up closer to the original Seiko 6105 (44mm width x 48mm lug to lug) more than it does to the svelter SPB15X models (42.7mm width x 46.6mm lug to lug). The stainless steel case follows the original asymmetric cushion case form of the 6105, coming in at 44mm in width and spanning 49.3mm lug to lug. The sapphire crystal, 200 meters of water resistance, and Seiko’s “Super-Hard Coating” are all modern touches added to this contemporary version of the “Capt”.

The final feature that differentiates the highest tier in the Seiko Prospex line from the rest is the Seiko 8L35 movement found in the SLA063. The 8L35 is based on the Grand Seiko caliber 9S55 and is equipped with 26 jewels, ticks at a frequency of 28,800 vph and comes with a 50 hour power reserve. It’s also worth noting that the entire “8L” movement family, like the movements found in a Grand Seiko, are said to be assembled by hand at the Shizuku-ishi Watch Studio in Morioka, Japan.

In addition to the steel bracelet, the Seiko SLA063 comes with a black silicone strap adorned with a train track pattern found on the 1970 original. The Seiko SLA063 retails for $3,100 and is slated to hit select retail stores next month. Seiko