Te new Seiko Prospex Marinemaster “Golgo 13” Shogakukan pays homage to the iconic series of manga comic books about a professional assassin.
Seiko Prospex Golgo 13 Shogakukan: The Overall Impression
Seiko has recently updated its Prospex collection with a new limited-edition model. Created together with Shogakukan, a local publishing giant, the watch celebrates the life of Duke Togo: an assassin who’s very serious about his job.
Usually, the character prefers to do his job with a scoped M-16. However, there is always room for a diving suit and a good old speargun in his closet. So, the special-edition Seiko diver (and a Marinemaster at that!) was sort of inevitable.
The Japanese watchmaker probably didn’t expect the watch to be particularly popular. The differences between the original SBBN047 “Tuna” and this Golgo 13 Shogakukan are purely cosmetic. It is the same dramatically oversized “tuna can” with different color accents.
As usual, this watch is not for everyone. Unlike most “divers” that I was able to review since 2008, its “versatility” rating should honestly have a negative value. The choice of a caliber (even though it’s one of the best quartz movements that you can get in this price range) will also leave some potential customers scratching their hands.
However, the build quality and overall “collectability” of the watch make it an interesting choice. I would certainly get one if I had money to burn.
The Monstrous Body
Yep, at 47mm the Marinemaster isn’t just “big.” It’s not even “oversized” or “heroically proportioned.” It’s huge. All-caps HUGE even.
It’s not huge because of the choice of the caliber or because they needed to make a bigger case to better protect it from shocks and magnetic fields.
It’s huge for its own sake and because it looks better with a wetsuit.
Well, some of the vertical space is occupied by a thick Hardlex crystal that needs to withstand the 30 ATM of water pressure. However, the rest is mostly for the watch to look as menacing as possible. I like that.
The Movement: Seiko caliber 7C46
The Marinemaster Golgo 13 sports the Seiko caliber 7C46.
It’s a magnetically-shielded quartz movement that Seiko designed specifically for their “Tuna” series that has oversized… Well, it has oversized everything including the hour and minute hands.
An average quartz movement usually struggles to move heavy, fully-metal hands with healthy splashes of LumiBrite on them. Seiko solved this problem developing a high-torque caliber that has enough juice to smoothly rotate the hands around the dial.
Speaking of the dial, it takes just one glance to realize how small the caliber is compared to the body. It basically ends where the minute hand pointer meets the minute track on the chapter ring.
Although lacking the thermo-compensating technology that the high-end ETA quartz calibers are known for, the Japanese mechanism is still reliable and accurate.
According to official specs, its monthly loss/gain is fewer than 15 seconds. In the field, actual timekeepers often lose or gain no more than a second or two per week judging by dozens of customer reviews that I was able to find.
The movement is built on 7 jewels and features a battery life of about five years: an industry standard at the moment. There’s also a standard end-of-life indicator: the central seconds hand starts to jump in two seconds intervals when the battery needs to be swapped.
The Dial & Legibility
As usual for this collection, the watch sports an easy-to-read dial layout. Just like the rest of the watch, the hour markers are huge. The hands are wide enough for the thick patches of luminous compound to light up a small room.
Even the seconds hand has a large luminous dot on its counterweight. You can always be sure that the watch keeps ticking, even when deep underwater.
The Price
The price, right. The price makes me sad a little.
This line of quartz-powered models is sometimes referred to as a “poor man’s Marinemaster” because a self-winding version is usually at least two times more expensive.
However, it is not particularly cheap with some specimens available for pre-order on eBay for an impressive $1450 USD.
Although the price may scare away plenty of cash-strapped enthusiasts, the Marinemaster Golgo 13 still offers an acceptable value for money ratio. In return for those fifteen hundred bucks, you get a high-quality watch with a total production run of just 500 pieces.
WWR’s Final Rating
Originality 4/5
Versatility: 1/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Usability: 4/5
Overall Legibility: 4.5/5
Nighttime Legibility: 5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4/5
Photos: Seiko
Seiko Prospex Marinemaster Golgo 13 Shogakukan SBBN023 specification
Price: Approx. $1450 USD (Discontinued)
Movement: Quartz, Seiko caliber 7C46, in-house, Made in Japan
Number of jewels: 7
Power reserve: Approximately 5 years
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, dive timer
Case: Stainless steel, black PVD-coated
Shape: Round
Size: 47.00 mm
Crystal: Hardlex (hardened mineral glass)
Back: Solid
Dial: Black
Numerals: Arabic (on the bezel)
Hour markers: Luminous
Hands: Steel, luminous
Water resistance: 300 meters
Strap: Black rubber band