The 140th Anniversary Limited Edition Astron SSH093 (Live Pics, Pricing)

The name “Astron” is a big deal at Seiko and comes with a lot of historical weight – it’s the name of the very first quartz watch Seiko ever made, in 1969 which was of course, also the first quartz watch anyone ever made. The name therefore stands for something: Technical innovation, specifically in quartz timepieces. One of my very favorite Seiko limited editions carries the Astron name – the gold 50th Anniversary Astron, which is the very spit and image of the original, but updated with a solar powered movement and a slew of other technical upgrades (which is not to be wondered at, quartz movements have come a very long way since 1969). However the name in general nowadays, refers to the Astron family of solar powered, quartz GPS watches, which automatically synchronize to atomic clock accuracy via the GPS satellite network, and which also adjusts to local time when you travel. Unlike mechanical GMT watches, the Astrons can synchronize to all 39 world time zones. They also allow the owner to instantly swap the time between the main time display, and the second time zone shown on the sub-dial at 6:00.