Why do wristwatches get nicknames? From the 'Arnie' to the 'Hulk', the stories behind the names

Being a watch aficionado is all well, but there is one small quirk that separates the enthusiast from the watch nerd, and that is the love for nicknames. I have loved to wear watches all my life, but a few years ago, when I got in the weeds with watch fandom, I was stunned to realise that people love giving nicknames to watches, especially specific models.

Now, some of them are quite straightforward, like shortening the Omega Speedmaster to “Speedy”, but then again, there are specific Speedies with different nicknames, like the Ed White. That one is a specific reference of the Speedmaster (ref. 105.003) that was worn by the US astronaut Ed White during a spacewalk in 1964 with NASA’s Gemini IV mission. In fact, whenever an “Ed White” reference comes up for sale or auction, this association with a famous astronaut sends prices soaring.

And to stay with the Speedmaster—and to make the point that there is no end to the rabbit hole of nicknames—the most famous nickname of the lot has to be the “Moonwatch”. In fact, Omega’s marquee Speedmaster line is actually titled that. The reason for that is simple—it is the direct descendent of the Speedy reference that was worn by the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 that put the first men on the moon.

But when it comes to nicknames, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that two of the biggest and most popular watch brands in the world command the most affectionate shorthands—Rolex and Seiko. For both watch manufactures, most of the nicknames go to their sports watches, like divers, chronographs or GMTs.

Let’s start with Rolex, and the Submariner with the Marvel superhero name, “Hulk”. One look at it and you will know why it gets the name. The ref. 106610LV, introduced in 2010, is an aggressive iteration of the dive watch, and both its dial and rotating bezel is green in colour. There was no way it was going to be called anything but that. While the Hulk colourway is fairly well known, there are a couple of spinoffs as well.

First is the “Kermit”, which pairs a green bezel with a black dial, and then there’s the “Smurf”, which is a white gold Sub with a blue bezel.

The superhero nicknames don’t just end with the Hulk though. The famous GMT Master II with the blue and black GMT bezel is called the “Batman” because of the DC superhero’s costume colours. What is a little more egregious (not to mention weirdly sexist), that the same watch on a jubilee bracelet is nicknamed “Batgirl”, as if bracelet styles indicate gender. Of course, a love for nicknames can be taken to its logical extreme as well, when a GMT-Master II in two-tone (gold and steel), with a brown dial and a gold-brown GMT bezel is named “Root Beer”. Well, I guess, it’s easier to remember a nickname than reference numbers.

Other Rolex nicknames have a more solid foundation, like the OG GMT-Master with a red and blue GMT bezel called the “Pepsi”. Over time, the intuitive rightness of this nickname has ensured that all other dive or GMT watches with a similar red and blue bezel combination are also called Pepsi. The most important Rolex nickname, though, has to be the classic vintage Daytona chronograph called the Paul Newman, all because of one photograph of the actor sporting one in the 1970s. These days, it is the Holy Grail of vintage watches.

At the other end of the price segment—though not in terms of sheer iconic stature—lie Seiko watches.

While some of the more famous Seiko nicknames also stem from Hollywood references, others have nautical origins.

Of the former, the two most famous are the “Captain Willard”, and the “Arnie”. The Willard is a reference to Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, where Charlie Sheen’s character Captain Willard wears an iconic Seiko diver, the ref. 6105-8110. It was a period-correct choice as Seiko divers were widely used by US soldiers during the Vietnam War. The Arnie is a reference to the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger-starrer Predator. The beefy, testosterone-fuelled watch that Schwarzenegger’s character wears in the film is the Seiko ana-digi diver ref. H558-5009. Seiko sells both the Captain Willard and the Arnie in their modern avatar, while unofficially using those nicknames.

Two of Seiko’s other divers with popular nicknames are the “Turtle” and the “Tuna”, both heavy hitters in the world of professional divers.

The Turtle shape of Seiko divers with a cushion case and a four o’ clock crown has been around since the late 1960s, starting with the ref. 6105-8000. But the nickname attached itself to the 1976 ref. 6306-7000/1. In fact, so popular did it become, that it has been renewed and refreshed in the Seiko catalogue ever since. The Tuna or the Tuna Can, on the other hand refers to the gargantuan ref. 6159-7010, one of the most groundbreaking watches for saturation diving. With 600m of water resistance ensured by the watches gigantic 51mm diameter, titanium monocoque case and ceramic protective shroud, giving it the shape of, well, a tuna can.

Handwound is a monthly column on watches and watchmaking.