Original vintage 1980s print advertisement for the mid-1980's Seiko 7A28-6000 "Aliens" Giugiaro PVD and the 1980s Seiko LCD Driving Speed Master chronographs; advert describes both watches in Kanji Japanese - "Sweat. Bleed. Tears. For Every Tenth of a Second."
Dimensions: Roughly 7 inches wide by 10 inches high.
In the 1980's Seiko was literally invincible. Its superior technology and price competitiveness drove many of its European rivals in shock and panic. Developed during the same era was Seiko's quartz Calibre 7A28 chronograph movement, the world's first analog quartz chronograph.
Seiko's reputation was further solidified when the 7A28 chronograph was supplied to the British Royal Air Force, one of the hardest-to-please customers in the world, for more than 10 years. RAF issue watches were specially manufactured in accordance with the British Defense Ministry's official specifications; we have one available here.
In 1983, Seiko unveiled to the world the first ever quartz analog chronograph, the 7A28 - a 15 jewel, fully adjustable quartz movement with zero plastic parts in the gear train and a movement that can be serviced and adjusted just like a mechanical watch due to its innovative construction.
With it, Seiko and its 7A28 entered history as the world’s first analog quartz movement - the 7A28 would grow to eventually come in over forty variations, including models issued to the military and those used in movies (including James Bond and Aliens, among others); some were issued to the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence and the South African Air Force.
The other watch in this advert is the 1980s Seiko Speed Master LCD Driving watch - aside from the off-center case, the other trait that’s come to be associated with Guigiaro’s watch design is the tilted dial. Most useful within an automotive framework, it's a throw back to historical “driver’s watches” with angled dials meant to face the wearer while his or her hands remain on the steering wheel.
Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna is known among watch enthusiasts for his association with TAG Heuer, but before that relationship took off, he’s known to have worn this Seiko. The Japanese brand would later bring this - and the 7A28-6000 chronograph - back in 2018 with a range of variations.
The 7A28's Connection to "Aliens" (1986)
Aliens director James Cameron’s meticulous attention to detail is well known and there’s no better example of this than in his epic sequel to Ridley Scott’s already-excellent Alien. He gave each actor playing a Colonial Marine some backstory to his or her character and allowed them to subsequently personalize their body armor - included with some Colonial Marines was their own Seiko watch.
Cameron made the Seiko-S234-5000 Pulsemaster a standard piece of Colonial Marine equipment; Bishop (Lance Henriksen), a Seiko-7A28-6000 - like the one showcased in the advert here - in black and red, by Giorgetto Giugiaro; and Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), a Seiko-7A28-7000 Speedmaster, silver and black variation, also by Giugiaro.
Why the “Giugiaro” nomenclature?
While car designers have worked with watch brands in the past, the combination of Seiko and famed Italian car designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro, was certainly distinct and resulted in a series of very unique timepieces, even for the 1980s.
Giugiaro was born in 1938, and from an early age followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather who were painters and taking up an interest in art and design himself. While studying in Torino, he impressed Fiat’s Technical Director at the time and got himself a job in their Special Vehicle Design department.
As his career progressed, he worked on more impressive projects in the automotive world, started his own company in 1967. 1980s iconogrpahic film, Back to the Future's epic De Loren? Yep. Warhol's BMW M1? Check. He even had a go at our favorite automotive company, Isuzu.
He also designed products outside of cars – namely, watches and cameras. Seiko and Giugiaro’s collaboration centered on automotive-themed timepieces, often chronographs, with the dial tilted slightly clockwise to accentuate the motorsport look and make it more practical for drivers.
We have other Giugiaro Seiko adverts available here and here.
