Wrist of Fury: The New Limited-Edition Seiko 5 Sports Watch Honours Bruce Lee

When we think of martial arts, the name, Bruce Lee, immediately comes to our mind. As the master once put it while playing his iconic role in Enter the Dragon, “A good fight should be like a small play, but played seriously. A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come.” On 20 July 1973, Lee died at the age of 32 in Hong Kong, under mysterious circumstances. 

He still remains an icon, one of the greatest to have honoured and taken martial arts to Hollywood. A multifaceted creator, Lee founded hybrid martial art Jeet Kune Do, which translates into “Way of the Intercepting Fist”. To honour Lee, Seiko has now introduced the Seiko 5 Sports watch. As most of his followers would know, the legend wore 5 Sports during his lifetime.

The 42.5 mm stainless steel-cased watch (Ref. SRPK39) is black in colour because of the deep black coating. The unidirectional rotating bezel has a special insert with Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do ethos represented in symbols, roughly translated into “Using No Way As Way, Having No Limitation As Limitation ''. Similar to other Seiko 5 Sports watches, the crown is positioned at 4 o’clock by a pair of guards protruding from the caseband. 

The black dial is embossed with a dragon figure as Bruce Lee once drew it. One can see the scales, the claws, the teeth, and the frills of the beard. The hour markers have a gold outline, which can also be seen on the enlarged hour, minute hands and the central second hand, which has a gold tip and black countersection. The dial features a dual window at 3 o’clock for the day of the week and a date window. 

Powering the watch is Calibre 4R36, a manual winding movement with 41 hours of power reserve. Turning the watch over showcases the glass caseback with the Jeet Kune Do core symbol, based on yin-yang. The caseback is also marked with "Limited Edition" and the serial number. Limited to only 15,000 pieces, the watch is finished on a black calfskin strap or a yellow-and-black NATO-style strap, mimicking the colours of Bruce Lee’s famous yellow tracksuit from the unfinished film, Game of Death.