Seiko Tuna Twins - Bluefin & Dracula

Seiko fans are a curious lot. They obviously love their Seikos, otherwise they wouldn't crack their grey matters for unique nicknames for their precious Seikos. 

Turtle, Shogun, Sumo, Stargate, Monster, Ocean Gold, Ocean Blue, etc. You name it, you have it. Just Google around. 

Well, today I shall write about the Seiko Tuna twins i.e. Bluefin and Dracula. No wonder, non-Seiko lovers call Seiko lovers psychos. Citizen collectors have it much easier- after all, the famous ones in the Citizen universe had been pretty much limited to EcoZilla and AutoZilla. The rest had not really had nicks that stick.

But that's another story altogether.

Today was about Bluefin and Dracula. The funny thing was that I bought a Bluefin some months back. It was all the rage then, and were pretty much sold out in Malaysia. I finally found a piece that was reserved, but the AD informed that the prospective buyer did not pick it up on time. I was there at the right time, right place. True enough, there was no discount from the RRP : RM2,650; but it's a supply and demand situation. Economy 101.

I grabbed it and was happy as bird. 

Fast forward weeks later, and an overseas friend informed me that she was getting a pair of Tuna 50th Anniversary for my collection. Yes, that was the Bluefin and Dracula. So I sold off the Bluefin that I had purchased, for RM2,200 and waited in anticipation for the courier to bring forth the new Bluefin and Dracula.

And here they were then.

If you have tried the Tuna-series on your wrist, you would know that they tend to be rather big. And tall. You ain't fooling anyone by trying to hide the wild Tuna under your cuffs. They were big and brash, and made no apologies about it. They were professional diver watches, and they stood tall in their recognition. There were 3 types of Tuna- from Superior to Prospex to MarineMaster, the last being the most expensive of all Tunas.

And here was where the Bluefin and Dracula (both were from the Prospex line-up) shone like stars in a dark sky. They were very much wearable, and could even hide under your cuffs. The case was still a huge 50.2mm, but the secret was in the caseback. Whereas the other Tunas tend to have a flat caseback, Bluefin and Dracula had a scalloped caseback that followed the contour of your wrist; therefore they don't sit tall as per their Tuna siblings

An important point to note was that the rubber straps had been upgraded from the previous hard and unwieldy ones, to very soft silicone ones that hugged the wrist really well. I normally prefer my diver watches matched with Isofrane; and this was once when I felt that the quality of the straps were giving the Isofrane straps a run for their monies. If all manufacturers supply such high quality straps on their watches, Isofrane may see its sales dip by a fair bit. I'm not kidding, really. You got to try it to know it.

The shrouds were stainless steel coated in ceramic, which was a clear upgrade from the previous plastic shrouds. And the colours were matt grey and blue, which were very subtle and helped in staying off the radar, until you folded up your cuffs that was.

If you were on the fence about getting your hands on the Tuna 50th Anniversary, you just have to try it on your own wrist and you would be parting with your hard-earned monies very soon. So don't try it. Don't.

This was a community service for those of you whom made resolutions to cut down on spending more monies on your watch hobby come 2016. You have been warned.