The 70s were a wild period. There was the rise in civil freedoms, awesome music and the science-fiction genre became mainstream thanks to Star Wars. Two other goodness came about from the 70s: Tissot's PRX watch model and UFO Robot Grendizer and these two pieces of culture have teamed up for a tribute to nostalgia made modern: the PRX 40mm UFO Robot Grendizer Special Edition.
Tissot's foray into water-resistant watches led to the Seastar range. In 1965, new designs led to the “Seastar special" or the "PR 516”, which was the first time the model name came about.
"PR" stood for “Particularly Resistant”, which was apt as the model was supposed to be robust thanks to the "floating" movement and flexible joints of synthetic materials acting as shock absorbers. The "X" would be added to "PR" to denote that it is waterproof up to 10 bars.
From the mind of Go Nagai, Grendizer is a spin-off from the Mazinger anime and manga series. It tells the story of Duke, who escaped from his inhabitable planet in a mecha, Grendizer. He lands on Earth and finds normalcy living among us... until the aliens, who attacked Duke's home planet, turn their sights on Earth.
While popular in Japan, the Super Robot figure also found success across Europe. It'll be years later in 2024, that there will be a Grendizer remake called Grendizer U. With the advent of the remake, it seemed fitting to dip into a time when the PRX and UFO Robot Grendizer were created and reinterpreted as the Tissot PRX Grendizer Special Edition.
Encased in a 40mm 316L stainless steel body, this one-of-a-kind PRX model features a blue dial echoing the hue of Grendizer. Powered by the Powermatic 80 movement, this automatic offers up to 80 hours of power reserve. Nivachron balance springs retain high precision and reliability. As sturdy, as the first time it was introduced, the PRX is protected by a sapphire crystal and equipped with a mineral glass back; it's also water-resistant of up to 10 bar (100 metres/330 feet).
On the upper flange, the Japanese title of UFO Robot Grendizer ("UFOロボ グレンダイザー" ) is engraved. Behind the caseback, a uniquely engraved rotor is visible through the glass back. You can see the yellow Super-LumiNova bust of our robot hero on the dial in the dark as a Harken-style second-hand sweep the face.
The icing on the cake has to be the special watch box that's modelled after the Spazer, Grendizer's UFO. Original drawings by Go Nagai adorn the sleeve of the box.
It's amazing that the imagining of the future that was created in the past, is still relevant today. This only goes to show that collaborations of this sort are only found in that rarified field: of timelessness.
The Tissot PRX Grendizer Special Edition is now out at all Tissot boutiques.
