Seiko Prospex Alpinist European Limited Edition “Mountain Glacier”

The latest generation of the Alpinist watch collection, introduced in 1959 and enjoying Seiko’s cult popularity, was introduced in December 2019, when, after a long wait, it also entered the comprehensive European import program, including Finland. Now, almost a year later, Europe gets its own limited edition (2020) watch model bearing the nickname “Mountain Glacier”.

Alpinist is Seiko’s first real sports watch with a history of seven generations. The story began in 1959, when Seiko introduced the first manually tuned replica watches bearing the Alpinist name as a sub-brand of the Laurel collection. The watches were designed from the beginning to meet the needs of Japanese mountaineers and hikers. The Alpinist collection was continued a few years later, when watches received automatic movements. After that, the third Alpinist collection could be expected to last 31 years.
In 1995, Seiko introduced the Red Alpinist collection, nicknamed the red Alpinist text on the dial, whose design language and functionality can be considered a model for the Alpinist collection known today. For the first time in this model, a compass perimeter (movable with a separate knob) was introduced, as well as a modern shell model that protects the pull button. At the same time, the first green-painted Alpinist was also unveiled, which unexpectedly became the most popular color in the collection.
The popularity of Seiko Alpinist has been exceptionally strong in Finland despite it, or perhaps precisely because it has not been officially available in Finland, but it has been relatively easy to buy from the world. In particular, the green-panel model of the fifth-generation SARB collection, released in 2006, has been very popular with enthusiasts.
The latest version of the Alpinist collection was received at the turn of the year, when the collection, first unveiled in December 2019, went on global sale in January 2020. In a lightweight facelift, the Alpinist 20 hours to 70 hours. With this update, Alpinist was brought in handsomely to this day.
Following the sold-out and sold-out model SPB089 for the US market, it was the turn of the old continent. The SBP199J1 dial, which is aimed exclusively at the European market, combines the basic colors of Alpinist’s dials in a fascinating way; the black color is bleached with cream with a touch of green added. This has created a shade of gray-green that emphasizes restrained closeness to nature.
The subtlety of the color of the sun-polished dial viewed from behind the reflective sapphire crystal lies in the fact that it allows the indexes and details of the dial to stand out. The tone of the dial also changes depending on the direction and lighting under which the dial is to be viewed.
The same understated line continues with the green leather bracelet and the sand-colored nylon bracelet, which allow you to change the look of the watch between the more formal and the more casual. A small joy also comes from the fact that both bracelets come with a folding buckle, so there is no need to change the buckle separately when changing the bracelet.
As previously reported, the mechanism in the Alpinist is Seikko’s own 6R35, which offers more than 70 hours of operation. The feel of the pull button is stiff and includes a stop for the movement of the pointers, the so-called Hacking function, so setting the time exactly is easy, and the hour hand does not swing when the knob is pressed down. The operation of the machine can be monitored through the glass back cover.