Seiko has announced an addition to its Presage Craftsmanship Series with the new Studio Ghibli Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Collaboration Limited Edition. This relationship between the watch brand and animation studio is not new; you may recall others commemorating Laputa: Castle in The Sky and Porco Rosso.

So why Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in 2024? It’s to mark forty years since its release. Like some other of his films, there’s a strong environmental message to Nausicaä, which takes place in a post-apocalyptic scenario one thousand years after the Seven Days of Fire war, which left the land in a state of ecological collapse, creating the Toxic Jungle and an ever-expanding forest of fungi called the Sea of Decay.

The heroine, sixteen year old Nausicaä, is the eleventh child of King Jhil of the Valley of the Wind. She spends a lot of time in the Toxic Jungle, trying to find a plant cure for her ailing father. During her botanical experiments and exploration of the Sea of Decay (also called the Sea of Corruption), she discovers that plants grown in the non-toxic soil is not harmful.

During her wanderings, Nausicaä gets to know giant armoured invertebrates called Ohm, rather complicated creatures who have a habit of losing it when other forest inhabitants are killed, going on tormented rampages which leave a path of destruction. They also bleed blue (their blood is an (other) insect repellent) and carry spores from the Sea of Decay that spread grow into miasma-producing plant, as well as secreting a clear substance called Serum that when injested, allows for the person to roam freely in the Sea of Decay without mask protection. This is no coincidence, as Ohm were created by humans to help purify the world.

Central to the film is a prophecy that says there will be a saviour “clothed in a blue robe, descending onto a golden field” which makes it way into the watch.

At its heart the film deals with how humans deal with multiple threats, whether this be as a consequence of ecological harm or war and conflict, and the balance between humans and nature.

The stainless steel case of the Presage Studio Ghibli Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Collaboration is 40.5mm (thickness of 12.4mm) and is water resistant to 100m. It has a curved silhouette, and the crown contains blue crystal glass as a nod to the eyes of the Ohms.

The blue enamel dial is made by Mitsuru Yokosawa, the blue chosen as a nod to the prophecy mentioned above and the blue outfit worn by Nausicaä. The white hour and minute hands have a rounded, leaf-like shape and the white indices are elongated shape. The seconds hand is gilded. The emblem from one of Nausicaä’s blue outfits is printed at six o’clock.

Powering the new watch is the automatic Caliber 6R51 which beats at 21,600 VPH and has a power reserve of 72 hours. There is a gold-coloured oscillating weight that can be seen through the sapphire case back, which also has a printed scene from the film. The prophecy is engraved onto the gold-plated case back, as is the limitation number xxxx/ 1500.

It has a calfskin strap and an Ohm is stamped on the tip of the inner side of the strap, and the watch comes in a special presentation box with an illustration of a scene from the film. There is also a card with the message “Let’s live without being bound by time” in Japanese from Hayao Miyazaki.

Limited to 1,500 pieces of which 600 pieces will be restricted to Japan, the Presage Studio Ghibli Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Collaboration Limited Edition timepiece will be available at the Seiko Boutiques and selected authorised dealers from March 2024 with a price of EUR 1,750.

In a nice bit of timing, Hayao Miyazaki’s latest (final?) film, The Boy and the Heron, is currently showing in Australian cinemas.

[Photo credit: Seiko]

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