This first Landmaster from January 1995, as mentioned in the Seiko book “A Journey in Time”, belongs to the “Master” series of watches including the Scubamaster, Flightmaster and Landmaster. 

These days, the Scubamaster line no longer exists, but we have the Marinemaster series. However, Seiko Designer Mr. Tokunaga calls the Landmaster he conceived “a watch worth entrusting your life to”.

Although the Landmaster series survives today, its looks has radically changed from how it was first presented by Mr. Tokunaga, the astute reader can see that in the list below.

SBBW005 – Black dial SS case AGS on dial 5M23 1993

SBCW019 – Blue AGS on dial SS case 5M43 1998

SBCW001 – Black CF? AGS dial, titanium case 5M45 1994

SBCW009 – Transpolar, Kinetic on blue dial, titanium case 5M45 1997 1877 pieces

SBCW021 – Sagarmatha, 1st edition 5M45 1998

SBCW023 – South Pole, 5M45 titanium/ceramics 1998 800 pieces

SBCW027 – Sagarmatha, titanium/ceramics Ken Noguchi Limited Edition 5M45 1998 pieces

SBCW002 – Naomi Uemera Ltd Ed. titanium/ceramics 5M65 Gold Accents 2000 700 pieces

SBDW003 – Sagarmatha, 2nd edition 5M65 1999

SBDW005 – Black CF dial titanium case 5M65-0A20 2000?

SBDW007 – Blue dial SS Case 5M63 2000

???????   – North Pole, Black dial titanium case – etched crystal. 5M65?

SBCN003 – Summiter – 7K32-0A10

SBDX007 – Landmaster Automatic, titanium case, 8L35 2001?

SBDX009 – Landmaster 10th Anniversary, titanium case 2003 500 Pieces

Some history

Landmaster’s predecessor is known as the Fieldmaster which started in 1984 using the hybrid digital analogue movement H558.

Supposedly it had to cover 20 characteristics, of which some are:

1. Water resistance it was capable of a 10 atmospheric-pressure depth.

2. Shock resistance from a height of 3ft. either by dropping a rock from that height onto it or by dropping the watch from that height.

3. Magnetic resistance it could handle 16,000A/m when specs only called for 4,800Am

4. Abrasion resistant crystal Hardlex was used. Sapphire probably would have been better but, wouldn’t have stood up to decompression

5. Heat resistance +60 degrees C which is higher than the worlds maximum temperature

6. Cold resistance 2mm thick crystal with AR coating to prevent fogging and glare. It was tested to -40 degrees C without a problem

7. Corrosion resistance it’s made of Titanium and will resist corrosion if left in salt water for more than 24 hours.

8. Chemical resistance it can’t deteriorate from alcohols, cosmetic oils,

9. Dust resistant sealed against natural environment penetration ( dirt, dust .etc)

10. Gas resistant ammonia gas, carbon monoxide..etc.

11. Luminescence it’s able to be read from distance of 25cm in complete darkness

12. Weight made from titanium it only had a total weight of 56grams

13. The case was to have characteristics built in for safety and reliability rounded edges, emergency signal code, compass, shroud for protection.

The Fieldmaster’s position was gradually replaced by the newly launched Landmaster models in 1993, equipped with the early generation of Kinetic movements, known as Auto Generating System (“AGS”). Throughout the release of the landmaster range, they were powered by a variety of movements showcasing the evolution of Seiko’s Kinetic movements and also the variety of movements offered by Seiko, namely quartz, kinetic, spring drive and automatic mechanical movements.