Seiko to take space odyssey with U.S. adventurer

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Seiko to take space odyssey with U.S. adventurer

By Teresa Novellino

April 03, 2008

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Basel, Switzerland—Seiko's high-tech bragging rights will now extend beyond planet Earth thanks to the new Seiko Spring Drive Spacewalk, unveiled at BaselWorld on Thursday, but destined for a trip into outer space with a wealthy American space tourist.

This fall, Richard Garriott, a video game designer who is apparently into real-life adventure too, will pay $45 million to become the sixth private-citizen space explorer. He intends to not only visit the International Space Station (ISS) but to do a space walk outside of it, becoming the first private citizen to do so.

Strapped to his wrist, over his space suit, will be the new Seiko Spring Drive Spacewalk, which the Japanese watch manufacturer engineered to hold up in the unique no-gravity environment outside the ISS, in a complete vacuum where temperatures range from negative 22 degrees Celsius to 70 degrees Celsius.

"It will be very important for me to know the exact time during the space walk," said Garriott, whose videotaped message, recorded during his cosmonaut training with the Russian space agency outside Moscow, was beamed into the Seiko press conference at the show.

His father, NASA astronaut Owen K. Garriott, made two space flights—aboard Skylab in 1973 and aboard STS-9 Spacelab-1 in 1983—and donned a Seiko watch both times, wearing one continuously during his Spacelab mission.

The Spacewalk, which will retail for $25,000, has multiple features that make it ideal for such a trip, said Seiko's Takashi Wakayama.

"It is safe, accurate, airtight, light, large and easy to use," Wakayama said.

Battery-operated watches do not work in space, and the traditional escapements that regulate the time in mechanical watches cannot retain their accuracy because of the extreme temperatures. The Spring Drive collection, which has gained momentum since it first launched in 2005, features a Tri-synchro regulator that generates and uses mechanical, electrical and electromagnetic power. The airtight 49-millimeter case is large, but it is made of light yet strong titanium, and is recessed on the sides, making it about 50 percent lighter than a normal stainless steel case of the same size, Wakayama said.

The dial is at least three times brighter than a normal luminous watch, and the buttons are oversized so they can be easily used, particularly with thick gloves such as Garriott will be wearing.

After gauging U.S. marketplace reaction to the new watch, the company might consider more affordable versions of the Spacewalk for those who aren't planning space trips, Wakayama added.

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