If you’re a fan of both Seiko and the Final Fantasy franchise…
Rejoice! Following on from the announcement of the remake of ‘Final Fantasy VII‘, Square Enix has collaborated with Seiko to produce two chronographs to mark the occasion. In the run up to its release on March 20 2020, the two are said to be centered around the main characters, ‘Cloud Strife’ and ‘Sephiroth’. While I’m not that big of a gamer, something as significant as this is enough to make me sit up and take notice.
And that’s discounting the whole Seiko partnership we’re looking at today.
“So, why watches again?”
Come on! While I’m all for questioning things around us, there are moments where we should just keep quiet and be grateful. Why watches, you ask? Why the hell not?!
The first of the two, the Cloud Strife, features a “mirror finish” stainless steel case, a “Materia-inspired” blue sapphire glass on the crown, a 3D Cloudy Wolf emblem at the 12 o’clock mark and a Mako-themed mother-of-pearl central disc in the centre of the dial.
As for the other model, the Sephiroth, it features an all-black coating and a “Black Materia-inspired” onyx crown. Elsewhere, a 3D One-Winged Angel emblem replaces the wolf one as seen on the Cloud Strife. A similar mother-of-pearl central disc is also found on the Sephiroth variant.
That’s not all they share, though.
Flip both watches around and you’ll be able to spot the ‘FFVII’ embossed rotors through the exhibition caseback. Also, both watches will come in a specially-designed display case cause no one in the right mind is going to use this as a daily beater, right?
“Err, but it’s still a decent watch to use, right?”
Yeah, of course. Just like how a modern Ferrari F8 Tributo can technically be used as a daily driver, so can this. However, would you want to? Especially after finding out that each variant is limited to only 77 pieces. Not worldwide, though. There’s a run of 77 pieces for the US, Euro and Japanese market each.. Oh, and one costs US$2,499.99 (RM10,418).
Suddenly that display case makes a lot of sense, eh?
As for tech specs, nothing too out of the ordinary here. Both watches have a case size of 44 mm, weigh 167 g, is water resistant up to 5 ATM and are equipped with Seiko’s 8R28 automatic movement. That means a power reserve of 45 hours from a calibre that beats at 4 Hz (28,800 vph) and features hand-winding and hacking capabilities.
Still interested? Well, best get your orders in at Square Enix’s online store here and be prepared to wait till February next year to get your hands on it.
