While I?d love to spend more than $1000 on a watch I once saw in a movie that?s not exactly in the cards right now, especially since, thanks to the current global situation, I spend all day inside my home office and have no one to show it off to beyond my immediate family. There?s only so many times your loved ones can feign interest in your latest watch.
What is in the cards, however, is a watch that very closely hews to the design and spirit of said watch but that costs a fraction of the price.
Yes, I?m talking about an homage watch (gasp), specifically Heimdallr?s roughly $200 6105-8110, which is modeled after the Seiko Turtle that Martin Sheen wore in Apocalypse now.
I bought this watch over the summer after very quickly becoming obsessed with Sheen?s Turtle after I had read about it in Gear Patrol. I had seen the movie ages ago but wasn?t yet at the stage of my life where I immediately squinted at the wrist of every person to see what they were wearing. Time flies.
It took several weeks for the watch to arrive from China, but I am not exaggerating when I say it is basically the only watch I?ve worn since then, fighting (and winning) for wrist time with my Timex Q Reissue and my JDM Seiko 5 Sports. I hardly ever wear my JDM King Turtle Save the Ocean now, satisfied as I am with the Heimdallr?s take on the cushion case. I don?t know, I just feel cool wearing it.
It?s not a bad watch, either, and frankly keeps better time than the many Seikos I have in my collection–and unlike the Seikos, I don?t have to ?settle? for misaligned chapter rings or any other quality control imperfections you read about online. I?ve lost track of the number of times I tore apart and put back together again an old Samurai of mine trying to fix a misaligned bezel. And just look at that lume!
As I learned early on in my watch-loving days, wear what you like, no matter what other people think of it. And I like this.
