SEIKO Captain Willard: A Timeless Classic

The Seiko 6105-8110, or its US 8119 version, is a watch with a rich history and an impressive list of notable wearers. Worn by Naomi Uemura between 1974 and 1976 when he completed a 12,500km solo dog-sled run from Greenland to Alaska, and also speculated to have been worn on his 1978 North Pole expedition. Canadian astronaut Dr David Williams also wore this watch, receiving it on his 21st birthday, wearing it in space on the 1998 mission STS 90, and underwater in the Aquarius undersea research habitat. The watch has also been worn in movies such as Wild Geese, Soldiers Sweetheart, High Velocity, and Apocalypse Now.

On this video, we will overview the origins of this watch and its popularity, and show you my own as an example. In Seiko Diver Land, the watch was preceded by the 6217 Seikomatic self-dater or 62MAS in 1965, which was the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition's watch of choice and Seiko’s first diver watch with 150m water resistance. Then came the 300m water resistant watches, the 6215-010 and the 6159-011. Even these weren’t enough for saturation divers going deeper than 300m, leading Seiko to appoint Ikuo Tokunga to drive the development of more professional watches, such as the 600m Seiko 6159-022 titanium grandfather Tuna.

The 6105 range was introduced in 1968, first with the more standard symmetrical 6105-8000, but in 1970, the much cooler 6105-8110 arrived, both marked as Suwa as opposed to Daini, which were the two semi-competing divisions of Seiko. The watch is known as the Captain Willard due to it being worn by Martin Sheen in the film Apocalypse Now. It was also widely adopted by soldiers who acquired them from postal exchanges or PXs at around 75 dollars.

Seiko has emphasized the real-life link with Naomi Uemura, releasing a limited edition in honor of his 80th anniversary in a cool blue color. The watch was the beginning of Seiko's cushioned case look, which set the design language for the 6309 Turtle, with the crown guards or shoulders protecting the crown positioned at 4 o'clock, and a "turn and lock" mechanism. A quick seiko shuffle is needed to get the 6105B automatic movement started.

In this video, we will take a closer look at the history, features and legacy of the Seiko 6105-8110, a watch with a rich history, worn by some of the most adventurous and accomplished people of the 20th century.

0:00 Famous wearers of Seiko 6105-8110
0:50 History from the 62MAS to 6105
2:30 Hands on overview

I hope you enjoy the video!

#seiko #61058110 #seikocaptainwillard

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