Watching Movies Sigourney Weaver Wears A Seiko Ripley In 'Aliens'

Well, for one thing, Mother's Day is upon us. Aliens gives us Ripley, the surrogate mother and protector of an orphaned child, as well as the Queen Mother (no, not that Queen Mother) Xenomorph on a rampage to protect her spawn at all costs.

Aliens is a Seiko showcase. The film takes place in the year 2179, and the watches channel a certain futuristic energy. Two of them were designed for Seiko by Giorgetto Giugiaro. Why is that name important? He's the man responsible for conceiving the Delorean – you know, the car that does a certain special something when it hits 88mph.

The two watches in question are the 7A28-6000 and the 7A28-7000 – each now referred to by the characters who wear them in this film. The 7A28-7000, nicknamed the "Ripley," is one we covered a bit during ’80s Week. It's a wild-looking watch with an offset case design and a next-century bracelet.  Housing the pushers is a crazy rectangular protrusion on the right side of the case – it almost looks like someone bolted on a USB drive. The whole watch is done in an aluminum and steel execution with a colorful analog dial. It's a quartz watch, which was Seiko's bread and butter back in the ’80s. The name 7A28 is in reference to the chronograph movement inside. The 7A28 represents the first analog quartz chronograph movement and is capable of timing to 1/10 of a second.

The lesser-known 7A28-6000 "Bishop" (named after an android who wears it on screen) is similar to the Ripley in many ways (and bears the same movement). It has similar offset case but a more conventional configuration for the chronograph pushers. Unlike the internal bezel of the 7000, the 6000 has a dive-style external bezel. The watch has a decidedly red and black aesthetic with a black case and black bracelet. There are red accents on the dial, red pushers, and red numerals on the bezel.

Interestingly, these watches were introduced with a very familiar naming convention: The Speedmaster. It's doubtful that Seiko could get away with something like that today. The Omega Speedmaster accompanied Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the Moon while the Seiko Speedmaster aided Ripley in taking out one angry mother alien.

Believe it or not, the film features even more Seikos beyond these two (Cameron and the prop master were nothing if not consistent), but the others weren't designed by Giugiaro. The big bad company man (played by Paul Reiser) wears a more simplified analog/digital Seiko H556-550 along with his fancy popped-lapel suit. Even Cameron himself  got in on the Seiko fun. A noted Rolex guy (with a Deepsea Sea-Dweller named for him), he can be seen in the below photo wearing a Seiko known as the "Arnie." (Your watch … give it to me.)

After the crew aboard the U.S.S. Sulaco wakes up from hypersleep en route to the colony LV-426, we're introduced to the Android Bishop (00:21:15). As everyone sits down to eat, Bishop approaches Private Hudson (played by Bill Paxton) and performs the old knife game parlor trick (sometimes referred to as bishop) on his hand with perfect accuracy – and at an insanely inhuman speed. You can clearly see the all-black Seiko on his wrist throughout the encounter. Here's hoping the watch had ample shock resistance.

The first time we get a clear glimpse of the Ripley comes just after the team arrives at the colony and discovers something is amiss. Soon after realizing the colony is deserted, Ripley spots a young girl hiding – clutching an old tattered toy doll. Spooked, the girl, Newt (played by Carrie Henn), runs away.  Ripley chases her down and pulls the scared girl into her arms for safety (00:47:32). As Ripley gently places her hand on Newt’s head, the Seiko 7A28-7000 emerges on-screen with its impossible-to-miss design.

The Seiko Ripley has become famous in watch-collecting circles over the past 35 years – so much so that the brand reintroduced it in two colorways in 2015 – a fun fact that you can share this weekend while watching Aliens with your mom. Hey, it’s a Mother’s Day film in the same way Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

Aliens is directed by James Cameron with props by Bert Hern and score by James Horner. It's available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and to rent on iTunes. You can usually find examples of the Ripley or Bishop online on eBay and modern Giugiaro-designed Seiko watches on Amazon. The modern interpretation of the Seiko Arnie can be found here.

Lead image courtesy: ScreenProd / Photononstop / Alamy Stock Photo