First announced over the summer, Seiko?s limited edition, 43mm Street Fighter watches are now trickling into stores worldwide. And while we haven?t yet worn these Seiko 5 Sports-based pieces ourselves, there does appear to be enough here to entice fans of the long-running fighting game series. Hadoken!
Five models are being introduced, each of which is patterned after a character from Street Fighter V, the latest version of the series that pits fighters from all over the world against each other in an epic tournament. (It?s a fighting game, not Shakespeare.) These characters include Ryu, a lone wolf type from Japan who is arguably the main character in the series.
Says Seiko about the Ryu version:
The watch’s design is inspired by his classic “do-gi” Judo uniform, and the scratch-like marks across the bezel reflect the tough training required of Ryu to become a “true fighter”. At the 9 o’clock position is a simplified version of the iconic “Furinkazan” kanji characteristics on his gloves, which signify “as swift as the wind, as gentle as forest, as fierce as fire and as unshakable as the mountain.” These four characters are also printed on the back of the strap while the controller command for his special move, “Hadoken” is discreetly printed on the case back.
The other four versions showcase the same level of detail, from the electricity-like effect of the spiral dial seen in the Blanka variant to the dog tag featured at the 9 o?clock of the Guilde variant. And while it helps if you’re a big fan of the series like we are (we’ve spent a huge amount of time with these games over the years), even non-fans should get a kick out of them. They all run on the 4R36 movement, which has a 41-hour power reserve, and have a 100-meter water resistance.
Our pick? Probably a tie between the Ryu and Zangief, with its huge Arabic numerals at the 12, 6, and 9 and red-and-black contrast. Really well done.
All five should be available by the time you read this for around $400, with Seiko producing 10,000 of each of them. Grab yours here.
