Anyone own/wear a Seiko Astron ?

[TheTigerUK]

I saw one on another forum quite some time back and I liked the look of it, quite fancy one but not sure which.

If you own one whats your thoughts on it ?

[Tokyo Tokei]

I owned this one:



8X Series, which is smaller than the preceding 7X series and larger than the current ones.

Seiko keep managing to make the GPS module smaller, so generally the newer ones are a bit more compact.



On the ludicrously expensive Astron rubber strap, next to a Citizen competitor.

Good points:

The GPS Astrons (Seiko has recently launched non-GPS Astrons, to which these comments do not apply) are built and finished to Grand Seiko levels. Dials, hands, case quality, crystal.

I say that as someone who has owned many, many GS in the past 15 years. The Astrons are superbly made.

GPS and solar, the most advanced and accurate autonomous wristwatch you can buy, and not have to stick on a charger every few days.

Engineering-wise, these are a marvel. That’s really why I bought these. I have an interest in state of the art wristwatches.

To take nothing away from my interest in exciting new bezel colours and lighter hairsprings even less affected by magnetism, but most of the actual horological rather than marketing innovation is taking place in Japan, not Switzerland. These Astrons are excellent examples of such innovation, beautifully engineered, at sensible prices.

Made in Japan. (The Citizen is made in China)

Less good points:

Heavy. Mine was in steel, and a lump. They do do versions in titanium. I'd shoot for one of those if possible. Perhaps the recent, smaller ones are more manageable.

The most painful rubber strap ever devised. Not sure what was wrong, but whichever way around I fitted it, it would cause insane pain on my wrist. I have never had this issue with any other watch, ever. Maybe the combination of strap (it's the correct model-specific one, about £200~) and the size of the watch, but it was unwearable.

I sold it eventually, mainly because it was uncomfortable to wear. The newer, smaller GPS ones (don't be fooled by the Astron-branded non-GPS ones, they are simply not in the same class) might be better.

TT

[Senninha]

I have a colleague who was very into watches about 10 years ago or more - owned, flipped and rotated a ton. He sold them all and went to an Astron. All this time later and it's still all he wears.
Personally I owned one and really enjoyed it. Tokyo Tokei has written a great summary, which I would echo. It's great knowing it's bang on time every time (especially in Japan where trains run, stores open bang on time). In the end I sold mine, but I do miss it, and would own another. As Tokyo Tokei said the new versions (I think the 5x movements?) are nice, and the size of these are getting down and down, which gives better design flexibility and smaller watches overall.

[TheTigerUK]

Thanks both interesting comments, I have the Citizen which I like.

[vertex]

Hello.

I have an SSJ007J1

Really like it. Titanium case and bracelet with a black ceramic bezel. 20bar WR so can be used on mi holiday if I want to roll my bulk into the pool.
Great watch for me.




Regards
V


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mactrack]

I used to have a thing for Astrons even though I have small wrists I prefer larger watches and they used to be my go to casual watch. Just like Nokia mobile phones I never bought another once the Apple Watch came out and sold the three that I had;

[Mitch]

I have owned two of the original Astrons, my favourites, and still have one.




















They are large watches but being a fan of G Shocks this is not a problem for me. Here is a comparison.






These first Astron's were expensive but they are very well made, a real quality watch




Mitch

[Tokyo Tokei]

One other thing I didn’t mention, as it’s not Astron-specific, but might be useful to a potential buyer: the GPS synch is excellent and very useful for areas that don’t have radio time signal reception. Which is quite a lot of the world.

I can confirm my Astron worked perfectly in Australia for example, where radio-sync watches rarely pick up a signal.

However… the initial synch in a new location can take a while (minutes) and ideally you have to be outside, and if possible in daylight too. My Astron tended to prioritise synching when it had maximum power available.

So when you land at a new destination, even if you manually command it to synch, you'll be the last person on the flight who has the right time!

You can change the hour hand through some button pressing and crown twirling if you like, but it is so much easier to pull out the crown on a traditional watch

Still amazing watches, staggering technology, and superbly built.

[ryanb741]

Is the synching more effective than the Gshock synching as I found that to be pretty slow

[gunner]

Hello.

I have an SSJ007J1

Really like it. Titanium case and bracelet with a black ceramic bezel. 20bar WR so can be used on mi holiday if I want to roll my bulk into the pool.
Great watch for me.




Regards
V


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A looked at these a little while ago, finally an Astron without all the bezel text!

[wileeeeeey]

That SSJ007 looks really interesting. I was watching videos of it last night and it’s tempting.

The clasp seems a bit underwhelming for the price, even the Sumos and Turtles have something which looks a bit nicer, but I think the LX range have the same clasp.

More digging needed I think.

[Christian]

Is the synchng more effective than the Gshock synching as I found that to be pretty slow

I had an Astron a few years ago. As described above, synchronising could take quite a while if you changed location. I remember once flying somewhere and waiting outside ages for it to adjust....I think in the end I gave up before it acquired the time.

I really liked the technology, but ended up selling as the watch was too big for my puny wrist. Ended up with a bluetooth connected Casio that would sync from my phone. Quicker to attain the time, but the build quality was not a patch on the Astron...different league.

[Corporalsparrow]

I have this. Astron Commemorative Edition. But very rarely wear it, just doesn't sit right on my wrist.

[j111dja]

I have this. Astron Commemorative Edition. But very rarely wear it, just doesn't sit right on my wrist.

I've never seen that model. It looks superb.