Seiko Astron

awesome watch...amazing look..

I got to handle this watch once I was in The U.S. for a short while last year. The Boutique I got this from gave this to me for a short while while they adjusted my watch as it was running slow.

The Astron is a watch that goes beyond boundaries to believe in itself like the advancement in Horology it is. Not everybody believes it is so, though. But for the common man, this is the first watch made available to the masses which sets time via GPS, mostly compensating for time zone changes with an accuracy of 1 Second in 100,000 YEARS! That is a crazy number!

But why buy this? As far as the average Joe is concerned, it is just another overtly expensive time-piece. One gets a quartz for Rupees 250 these days, so where’s the 18ct gold balance, the polished new world alloy springs, the Zr bearings, the blue escapement, where is all that goes into making a watch a 2L timepiece?

Arguably, it is the most important horological advancement of the last century. And this watch relies on just that. The Global positioning system. But Radio Controlled watches have been around for years, you say. Well, news is India doesn’t have a radio time tower. This watch has 39 time zones to set as compared to the 29 in most RC watches. Simply hold down a pusher for 6 seconds and this thing gives you the precise local time in 30 seconds or less. You don’t need to stand still or wait till its night as in RC watches. No Sir. the dial has a solar cell so no battery drain by using the GPS for time. The markers are tall, I mean T.A.L.L. And they should be, what with a case size of 47mm and a depth of about 17mm you need a fat wrist for this too!

The reflective dial almost has a blue hue and turns ever so mirror-like in sunlight. There is a fuel gauge which tells you the power reserve on the battery which goes from E to F. The first sub-dial is the mode dial which does all the time ‘setting’. You can set DST on/off too. The plane symbol is Airplane mode for when you’re flying and you don’t want it looking for a signal up in the sky. (And you thought your iPhone was fancy).

The second sub-dial is a second time zone indicator which you can set for yourself usually to your home country. The markers are hit by the seconds hand precisely, more precise that almost any watch I’ve seen. Let me tell you, usually quartz power trains have some slack in them to compensate for mechanical pull, but this thing left me in awe with the precision it hit all markers perfectly!

The lume is absolutely astounding. My Orange monster comes at a distend second place. The case is all PVD. Short Lugs. Not much to see on the under side - usual Seiko. Comes with a rubber bracelet which is pretty comfortable. Also comes with a Titanium case!

Essentially this watch is a good 30 minute manual read and there after maintenance free. The six month battery life promised by the solar cell, the perpetual calendar for the next 86 years, and the dead simple interface post-setup should have you covered for a long long time.

Very nice watch at reasonable price from Seiko. Very unique.