SEIKO ARNIE RARE Vintage H558 - 5000 Made In Japan PREDATOR
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:607342 |
SEIKO VINTAGE ARNIE H558-5000 , from 1982, same model that the one Arnold Schwarzenegger wore in Predator and Commando movies, in good condition, few scratches here and there, but not on the glass (please look carefully at photos). Fully working. Instruction manual included.Rare and really hard to find in this state. Band is model Z-22.
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About the Seiko Arnold
With today’s look at the Seiko H558 A...rnie, we find ourselves heading down a precarious path into the realm of the “celebrity watch”. Don’t worry, we’ll speak a little about the man this watch takes its name from, but we’ll spend more time on why this product of the 1980’s deserves more recognition aside from its relation to a film star and politician. Oh, and lest I forget, this watch falls under the Tuna category and while I stated that we were almost complete on cataloguing those great watches, a return to the subject with the H558 is a real case of “I’ll be back”. You knew that was coming…
Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, astronauts, Jochen & Nina Rindt: the list of celebrities who now have a watch named after them goes on and on. Most of the time, thankfully, the watches are pretty good and their secondhand value reflects this as well. Despite the fact that today’s watch isn’t mechanical, the Seiko H558 Arnie, which is named after one Arnold Schwarzenegger, is also highly prized amongst collectors. It turns out that Arnie, who is a rather legendary watch collector, favored a fairly pedestrian Seiko in the mid-1980’s and wore it in some really big films such as The Predator, Commando, Raw Deal, Running Man, and Twins.
The rugged looks of the watch seemed to fit the nature of the characters he played (ok, not in Twins, but perhaps his use of the watch in this film tells us even more about how much he loved wearing it) and because of the superstardom he achieved during this period, the watch became immensely popular throughout the globe. Now, I feel a bit like an old geezer in saying this because I realize some of our readers might be a bit younger, but Schwarzenegger was massive in the 80’s and early 90’s. Sure, there were other action stars (Stallone, Van Damme, Lundgren, Seagal and others), but Arnie kicked the most ass. Plus, he was hard not to like and due to his often self-deprecating style of acting, there was a genuine feel about him. People liked him so much that he was elected governor of California – twice – as a Republican! I even recall absurd discussions about eliminating the rule that US President had to be born on American soil in order to make room for a possible Austrian president. I mean, who wouldn’t want the Terminator as the leader of the free world? But politics aside, prior to Arnie’s switch over to Panerai, AP, and other monstrosities, he went with Seiko. Did he choose a good watch in the Seiko H558?
I’ll cut to the chase, the Seiko H558 Arnie is a cool watch and certainly worthy of the collectable status that it enjoys. Prior to the H558’s arrival, I didn’t really know what to expect. For sure, I knew that the Arnie was legendary in Seiko circles, but I also knew that the displays were prone to flaking out, their small lights often no longer working and, worst of all, the original plastic shrouds are frequently cracked. The latter issue is so common that there’s even a small cottage industry making reproduction replacement plastic and stainless steel shrouds that can come to the rescue. Thankfully, this Japanese-sourced example is in sublime condition, so it makes for a good article piece.
The Seiko H558 Arnie was introduced in 1982 and made until (or through) 1990. In Japan, it retailed for a fairly pricey 45, 000 JPY. After this, it was replaced by a cool, but cost-cutting model called the H601. Upon its debut, the Seiko became the world’s first hybrid diver 150M and equipped with an alarm and chronograph. That’s a lot of qualifiers, so it’s hard to figure out exactly what were the “firsts”, but I can imagine that it was fairly groundbreaking 36+ years ago. As a note, the 200M Citizen Aqualand pictured here, with a depth sensor, didn’t come around until 1985. Unfortunately, I don’t own a Casio AMW320, but I believe these also came after 1982 (oh, and Arnie wore one of these as well). Yes, ana-digi divers were popular back in the 80’s. The Seiko was made in a few different variants. The -5000 is what you see here and is a JDM model that states “Water 150M Resist” on its dial. -5009 variants for the rest of the world simply state “Diver’s 150M” and are likely the variant that Arnie wore. A rare orange version, the -500a, also exists with both the JDM and rest of world dial wording as well. And finally, a very rare -500a variant exists with gold hands and gold font on the bezel. As you know by now, nothing is ever simple with Seiko.
Aside from the aforementioned stated complications, the Seiko H558 Arnie employed the same “L-shaped” crystal gasket found on the big dog Tunas we’ve reviewed before. The bezel is uni-directional and clicks reassuringly. The large crown is screw-down and the screw-down case back features the familiar tsunami motif that tells us we’re dealing with a capable watch. And while the same sentence appears all over the web, it’s worth noting that Seiko apparently designed the H558 for serious exposure. It was tested by Seiko engineers from low temperatures of -40C and up to 60C. The watch accompanied climbers to a successful ascent of Everest in 1988 and also went on explorations of both the North and South Pole. Most credit this watch for kicking off the Landmaster formula that we still have today.
Amongst Seiko collectors, the Seiko H558 Arnie falls into the Tuna category. Consider it more of a crazy uncle (along with the Ashtrays we looked at not so long ago) instead of a brother because it contains some design tropes from the deep divers, but lacks things like a front-loading case, crown at 4:00 and ultra-deepwater resistance. In looking at the dial, it’s clear there’s a resemblance in the hand shaping, the use of large white indices and, of course, the shroud.
Free registered shipping.
Take a look at my other watches!
About the Seiko Arnold
With today’s look at the Seiko H558 A...rnie, we find ourselves heading down a precarious path into the realm of the “celebrity watch”. Don’t worry, we’ll speak a little about the man this watch takes its name from, but we’ll spend more time on why this product of the 1980’s deserves more recognition aside from its relation to a film star and politician. Oh, and lest I forget, this watch falls under the Tuna category and while I stated that we were almost complete on cataloguing those great watches, a return to the subject with the H558 is a real case of “I’ll be back”. You knew that was coming…
Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, astronauts, Jochen & Nina Rindt: the list of celebrities who now have a watch named after them goes on and on. Most of the time, thankfully, the watches are pretty good and their secondhand value reflects this as well. Despite the fact that today’s watch isn’t mechanical, the Seiko H558 Arnie, which is named after one Arnold Schwarzenegger, is also highly prized amongst collectors. It turns out that Arnie, who is a rather legendary watch collector, favored a fairly pedestrian Seiko in the mid-1980’s and wore it in some really big films such as The Predator, Commando, Raw Deal, Running Man, and Twins.
The rugged looks of the watch seemed to fit the nature of the characters he played (ok, not in Twins, but perhaps his use of the watch in this film tells us even more about how much he loved wearing it) and because of the superstardom he achieved during this period, the watch became immensely popular throughout the globe. Now, I feel a bit like an old geezer in saying this because I realize some of our readers might be a bit younger, but Schwarzenegger was massive in the 80’s and early 90’s. Sure, there were other action stars (Stallone, Van Damme, Lundgren, Seagal and others), but Arnie kicked the most ass. Plus, he was hard not to like and due to his often self-deprecating style of acting, there was a genuine feel about him. People liked him so much that he was elected governor of California – twice – as a Republican! I even recall absurd discussions about eliminating the rule that US President had to be born on American soil in order to make room for a possible Austrian president. I mean, who wouldn’t want the Terminator as the leader of the free world? But politics aside, prior to Arnie’s switch over to Panerai, AP, and other monstrosities, he went with Seiko. Did he choose a good watch in the Seiko H558?
I’ll cut to the chase, the Seiko H558 Arnie is a cool watch and certainly worthy of the collectable status that it enjoys. Prior to the H558’s arrival, I didn’t really know what to expect. For sure, I knew that the Arnie was legendary in Seiko circles, but I also knew that the displays were prone to flaking out, their small lights often no longer working and, worst of all, the original plastic shrouds are frequently cracked. The latter issue is so common that there’s even a small cottage industry making reproduction replacement plastic and stainless steel shrouds that can come to the rescue. Thankfully, this Japanese-sourced example is in sublime condition, so it makes for a good article piece.
The Seiko H558 Arnie was introduced in 1982 and made until (or through) 1990. In Japan, it retailed for a fairly pricey 45, 000 JPY. After this, it was replaced by a cool, but cost-cutting model called the H601. Upon its debut, the Seiko became the world’s first hybrid diver 150M and equipped with an alarm and chronograph. That’s a lot of qualifiers, so it’s hard to figure out exactly what were the “firsts”, but I can imagine that it was fairly groundbreaking 36+ years ago. As a note, the 200M Citizen Aqualand pictured here, with a depth sensor, didn’t come around until 1985. Unfortunately, I don’t own a Casio AMW320, but I believe these also came after 1982 (oh, and Arnie wore one of these as well). Yes, ana-digi divers were popular back in the 80’s. The Seiko was made in a few different variants. The -5000 is what you see here and is a JDM model that states “Water 150M Resist” on its dial. -5009 variants for the rest of the world simply state “Diver’s 150M” and are likely the variant that Arnie wore. A rare orange version, the -500a, also exists with both the JDM and rest of world dial wording as well. And finally, a very rare -500a variant exists with gold hands and gold font on the bezel. As you know by now, nothing is ever simple with Seiko.
Aside from the aforementioned stated complications, the Seiko H558 Arnie employed the same “L-shaped” crystal gasket found on the big dog Tunas we’ve reviewed before. The bezel is uni-directional and clicks reassuringly. The large crown is screw-down and the screw-down case back features the familiar tsunami motif that tells us we’re dealing with a capable watch. And while the same sentence appears all over the web, it’s worth noting that Seiko apparently designed the H558 for serious exposure. It was tested by Seiko engineers from low temperatures of -40C and up to 60C. The watch accompanied climbers to a successful ascent of Everest in 1988 and also went on explorations of both the North and South Pole. Most credit this watch for kicking off the Landmaster formula that we still have today.
Amongst Seiko collectors, the Seiko H558 Arnie falls into the Tuna category. Consider it more of a crazy uncle (along with the Ashtrays we looked at not so long ago) instead of a brother because it contains some design tropes from the deep divers, but lacks things like a front-loading case, crown at 4:00 and ultra-deepwater resistance. In looking at the dial, it’s clear there’s a resemblance in the hand shaping, the use of large white indices and, of course, the shroud.
