Introducing: Seiko Brings Back The ‘Rotocall’, A Digital Quartz Reissue That Turns Our Bezel

The A829 and other similar models quickly earned the nickname the “Rotocall,” due to the turning bezel. Seiko says some others called it the “Seiko Astronaut.”  It’s a well-deserved moniker. A slew of space travelers have chosen to wear the Rotocall on mission. They include Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels, NASA astronaut and the first mother in space Anna Fisher, Paul Desmond Scully-Power, the first Australian in space, and Ulf Merbold, the first West German on a NASA mission.

The Rotocall was never standard issue for NASA or other space agencies. The astronauts chose the watch themselves, underscoring the functionality and usefulness of the model. It was, and in its new iteration is, a true tool watch.