Today, I have the latest release from Praesidus, and believe it or not, it isn’t an A-11 variant. This time, they took a very different tack and reimagined a 1960s Seiko that was favored by members of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG). Behold, the Praesidus Rec-Spec.
MACV-SOG was a special operations unit operating in Vietnam. Because they were so highly classified, they had to source much of their gear outside of normal channels, including their watches. Seikos were the natural choice since enjoyed the same reputation for reliability then as they do now and were not hard to find in Southeast Asia. Interestingly, they selected the Seiko 5 6119-8090, which was more of a dress piece than a field watch. The Praesidus Rec-Spec takes its name from “recon specification,” but interestingly, the original watch was more of a dress model and not intended for field use. [If you want to learn more about the real thing, read Nick Ferrell’s excellent article in Watches of Espionage.]
As you would hope, the Rec-Spec runs a Seiko engine, the reliable NH38.
You will see the resemblance immediately. The case is all vintage Seiko with its crisp planes and brightly polished bevels that offer a pleasant contrast to the otherwise brushed surfaces. My favorite part is the flush crown at 4 o’clock. Recall that when these watches were new, automatics were relatively new, too, and that hidden crown telegraphed the fact that you would not need to set and wind your watch every day. Just like on my own Seikos of that vintage, the crown’s flat profile and lug-adjacent position means you need nimble fingertips to operate it.
The Rec-Spec measures 38mm wide, 45mm long, and 11.8mm thick from caseback to the apex of its box crystal (K1 mineral, AR and sapphire coated). These dimensions are slightly larger than they would have been in the 60s, but not by much. The Rec-Spec still maintains a vintage feel, albeit with a more modern wrist presence. It’s a nice fit on my 6.75″ wrist.
Water resistance is just 50m. That may seem to be on the light side for a field watch, but it is suitable for most land-based activity and likely much better than what you could have expected from a nearly 60-year-old watch that wasn’t built for diving, even when it was brand new.
The Rec-Spec’s dial is attractive and familiar to fans of vintage Seikos. Text placement is minimal and tastefully rendered, although I do find the “United States” to be an uncomfortable squeeze between the 7 and 6, and “Assembly” between 6 and 5 fails to balance it. As I have said before, forcing text into awkward positions never improves a watch. It should have been left off.
The layout shows why the MACV-SOG guys chose it for the field. On the one hand, it has a dressy sunray black surface, polished and faceted hands, and a polished frame around the day-date aperture. On the other hand, look at those huge Arabic hours. Praesidus saw fit to add a healthy dose of SuperLuminova to aid utility.
The day window is worth mentioning. Praesidus notes that they reprinted the NH38’s day disc to eliminate the blue Saturday. It is a good deal of effort for a small change, but it is all for the sake of accuracy. The 60s Seikos preferred by MACV-SOC had just the red Sunday, and therefore, so does the Rec-Spec. You’ll notice that the days are printed in English only, leaving the area for the second language option blank, which, while accurate (the 6119-8100 was the same) strikes me as an odd little quirk. I suppose if you really wanted, you could set the day to be a plain white space all the time, but I can’t imagine why. I think this was a missed opportunity to do something truly interesting, like printing the day in English and Vietnamese.
Praesidus offers the Rec-Spec with three dial choices: brown, black with white lume, and the black with green lume variant in this review. You also get a choice of 20mm straps, and I sampled all three: Tropic Rubber, Black Canvas, and Brown Leather.
The leather and canvas are familiar staples of the Praesidus collection. The Tropic was new to me. All the straps look fine and suit the watch well, but I preferred the soft, flexible rubber and its decidedly retro style. Quick-release pins are an added benefit on all the straps. My only gripe is the fact that their matte buckles do not match the finish of the watch.
Praesidus has done a nice job bringing the A-11 back to life in increasingly accurate incarnations. With the Rec-Spec, they have done a similar service for the MACV-SOG Seikos, issuing a watch that successfully captures the essence of the original, but with useful modern updates. With the original Seiko 6119-8090 now fetching over $1,000 on eBay, the $295 Praesidus Rec-Spec is an absolute bargain.
The watch launches on September 30. For information, alerts, or to ultimately order your own, visit Praesidus.com.
