THE ESSENTIALS
MAKE: SEIKO
MODEL: 7A28-7000
YEAR: 1983
BOX/PAPERS: YES/YES
CASE DIAMETER: 42.5mm
CASE MATERIAL: STAINLESS STEEL
BRACELET MATERIAL: STAINLESS STEEL
MOVEMENT: QUARTZ
A popular approach to watch collecting is to have something for every occasion: a diver for desk diving, a GMT for globetrotting, and a dress watch for fancy dinner parties. What’s really missing in your collection, however, is a watch to wear for battling extraterrestrial monsters.
Flashback to 1979: the first Alien film lands in theatres, kicking off a franchise that would forever reshape sci-fi horror. Our heroine, Ellen Ripley, famously straps on a custom 'double Casio F100' to take on xenomorphs on the desolate planet LV-426. Fast forward to 1986, and Ripley is back on screen as the sole survivor of the Nostromo, this time sporting the very watch we have here: the Seiko 7A28-7000 'Ripley'.
This striking, futuristic watch was dreamed up by legendary automotive designer Giorgetto Giugiaro and released in 1983 in limited numbers. Inside beats the Seiko 7A28—the first ever analog quartz chronograph, and often revered as one of the best ever made. The avant-garde, asymmetric case is matched with a black-and-grey dial with stark white subdials for 1/20-second, 60-second, and 30-minute counters. Bright yellow and orange accents on the hands and outer track add visibility and complete the undeniably cool look. The chronograph is handled by a start/stop pusher at two o'clock, with a reset at four, and a split function at ten o'clock that freezes the 1/20- and 60-second hands mid-action.
Seiko revisited this design in 2016 with a reissue that was also a smashing success, but the original is extremely difficult to come by. This particular example, amazingly kept in NOS condition for over 40 years, took our founder Stef years to find. It comes with its original outer box, presentation box, Japanese papers, and tags—a piece that’s bound to make you smile with every glance.