# Brief Review of the new Seiko GPS Astron



## artec

My Astron only just arrived and I am leaving the US (and my computer) very shortly, so this is necessarily very brief, but I wanted to get some first impressions and a couple of photos recorded.

My first impression is its size! It really is huge. Mine is titanium so it's not very heavy, and surprisingly, when one looks at the time on it, as opposed to looking at it as a watch, it doesn't seem as big. I don't understand what's going on there&#8230;.maybe it's because the dial inside the pointy indicators is a lot smaller than the case.

The impression I got from the publicity photos and the videos was of multiple levels but in reality, there are only two&#8230;the dial itself and the indicators, which appear to be cantilevered out over the dial. The outer ring of place-names, defining the time-zones, and the little numbers radially inside them, are so small that they don't look fussy or busy, they almost disappear.

I was afraid, before seeing it in the flesh, that the dial, with its fuel gauge and its 24-hour GMT sub-dial, would be distracting and difficult to read at a glance. On the contrary, I find it much easier to read quickly than, for example, the Eco-drive The Citizen, and though it's very different, as easily read as my blue Chronomaster, hitherto my criterion for easy reading.

The dial itself is unusually reflective and has no texture at all. It's bue-grey with nice clear, sharp printing round the sub-dial and along the 180° arc of the combined fuel gauge, DST indicator and time-correction markers.

I won't go into the details of how everything works, what buttons do what etc. The Instruction manual that can be down-loaded (or read off the CD provided) is pretty clear, unlike some Japanese instructions, and despite my frequently klutzy treatment of such devices, everything worked first time and correctly, with no difficulties or snags. The "Basic Instruction" manual is a bit daunting because they tried to cram everything into as few pages as possible and there are some omissions from the Contents page.

Only the name, SEIKO, is applied to the dial, everything else is apparently printed. This doesn't give the impression of GS or Chronomaster quality but what's done is well done and everything is nice and sharp. The hands and markers are luminous but I don't know how long the lume lasts. It seems bright enough around the lights I used for the photography.

Only the top surfaces of the lugs are brushed, everything else on the case is highly polished. The bracelet is all brushed except for the edges, which are polished. The one really negative impression I got is of the bracelet pins. These are the split-pin type, which always seem "cheap and nasty" to me, though I've never had any trouble from others like them. They do have the advantage of not offering any tiny bits that try to escape.

There are dozens of much better photos than mine already up on the net but I thought a direct comparison of a well-known HAQ model might be of interest&#8230;.37 mm to 47 mm.


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## webvan

Thanks for sharing before you head out! I take it you didn't have any problems getting a time (1 sat) and/or time+TZ (4+ sats) sync? Did you have to go outdoors? It would seem required at least for the Time+TZ sync.

The size comparison is a good idea, doesn't seem too bad as you pointed out in your comments. Any chance of a wristshot before you head out?

PS - a few nits : Brief vs Vrief in the title and luminous vs liminouts. I'd also suggest adding GPS in the title.


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## ronalddheld

I am concerned about performance and how long I need to stand still for time update/zone update?


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## Fer Guzman

I was waiting for a comparison shot and yours is perfect since I have that Chronomaster. It does look huge in comparison and I wish they would have put day/date. Nonetheless, it looks very nice!


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## petew

If you are in the perfect setting....clear sunny sky with an absolute 360 degree open view of the sky, holding the watch in your hand away from your body....you can do it in less than 30 seconds. It took me around 26 to get a full sync in those ideal conditions. If it's not sunny, or you don't have a completely free view, I'm not sure. I haven't tested it yet.


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## artec

Sorry about the nits....fat fingers! The edit won't let me correct the title so Vrief it must remain.

I did the change from the Japanese time zone to mine all in one go, in the middle of a big parking lot, to make sure of enough satellites; it evidently saw 6. All the adjustments and settings I did, out of "Flight" mode, time zone change, daylight saving set and GMT sub-dial setting, worked perfectly, first time, and without a hitch. Bearing in mind my own tendency to klutz things (see nits, above!), I was, and am, impressed.

The lume lasts as long as, and is as bright as, that of the Chronomaster, but I could do with bigger areas of lume on the hands. It will be interesting to see if the watch does its own daily correction without any encouragement from me, though now that I think of it, I shall have to check the instructions to see how to find out whether it has done it or not.

I can never get my camera and my wrist far enough apart for a decent wrist shot, so I'm afraid that's out. But I can tell you that the watch doesn't *quite* protrude beyond both edges of the wrist!


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## artec

The only time I've done a timezone change, between Japan and US CDT, it was overcast but bright and I was outside in the middle of a parking lot, so lots of sky access but no direct sun. The seconds hand indicated a successful change in just less than half a minute, but the actual change to the time reading took quite a bit longer. No need to stand like a statue for that!
I'm going to do a time only update after lunch today and this time, I'll take my stopwatch and report later on.


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## ronalddheld

Perhaps it take that long for all GPS watches, so the "statue mode" is not a fault for this watch. Another curiosity is the accuracy after a GPS sync and not after that for a day or more.


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## Oldtimer2

Thanks for sharing that Artec... 

Just one query: does the seconds hand hit the minute markers with accuracy?


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## petew

Oldtimer2 said:


> Just one query: does the seconds hand hit the minute markers with accuracy?


Mine is not as precise as I'd like it to be.


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## artec

I have another example of synchronizing my Astron for you. Again standing in a large parking lot, this time in bright sunlight and with the fuel gauge reading "f", I got the stop watch out of its case while holding the Astron face up in front of me. Apparently I had a finger on the B button because, before I pressed it or started the stop watch, the seconds hand had trotted round to Zero (12), then, within a couple of seconds, to "1" (meaning it could see at least one satellite). Within 10 to 15 seconds the seconds hand moved to the "Y" mark at 12 minutes, meaning a successful sync. Button B must be very sensitive!
I think the circumstances were ideal, bright sun, big open space, no trees or anything taller than me, but certainly less than 15 seconds for a time only sync. I'll try other places and conditions and report.


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## artec

There's a much bigger gap between the pointy end of the seconds hand and the minute markers, but there seems to be pretty good alignment, if not perfect. If you really look hard you can see a little misalignment but the gap makes it difficult.

One mildly interesting point, though unconnected from the alignment issue: the minute hand moves four times per minute (12, 3, 6 and 9) while the GMT minute hand moves once per minute.


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## ronalddheld

Seiko Astron GPS Solar watch - SAST001 Limited Edition at www.AZFinetime.com - YouTube
I found this while surfing for text reviews. Have not watched it.


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## petew

My minute hand clearly moves once every 5 seconds.


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## petew

If you go to the Seiko forum in WUS, you will see that Joe from Arizona Fine Time (WUS Sponsor) has been posting a very informative series of articles about the technology involved in the Astron.


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## mycroft

*PHOTOS & COMPARISON: Seiko Astron vs Citizen Satellite Wave*

For those that are interested in this photo and feature comparison, I posted it in another thread, but thought that I would link it here for you:

seiko solar GPS - Page 14

cheers!


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## artec

It's hard to answer Oldtimer's question because there's such a big gap between the end of the seconds hand and the minute markers. If there is misalignment, and there may be, it's very small and certainly not enough to be an irritant, to me at any rate. But I've come to accept much worse misalignment from my Chronomasters, so maybe that's not a fair answer. I shall be in England next week, maybe I could show you!


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## mycroft

artec said:


> It's hard to answer Oldtimer's question because there's such a big gap between the end of the seconds hand and the minute markers. If there is misalignment, and there may be, it's very small and certainly not enough to be an irritant, to me at any rate. But I've come to accept much worse misalignment from my Chronomasters, so maybe that's not a fair answer. I shall be in England next week, maybe I could show you!


The Seiko manual states that there may be indicator misalignments if the watch has suffered shocks from knocks or drops etc. there is a complicated procedure under troubleshooting section to realign by zeroing all indicators to its preset zero position (there is a similar capability for the Citizen Satellite Wave as well - equally complicated!). Then the watch has to be re sync'd with satellite fixes to get time, timezone and leap second data.

After reading it, I don't think that I would ever do it on my own and will probably tolerate minor misalignments than to go through all that. If your OCD does not allow for that, then it is probably less painful to adjust your medication or see your shrink more often than to zero your watch.

i wonder if there is a shrink for horologists who specialises specifically on maladies suffered by neurotic horologists like us??


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## artec

I agree....I read those instructions with increasing alarm. I shall take damned good care not to knock it or do any of the other things one is advised to avoid. However, I've been very impressed by the speed and ease with which the watch has synchronised and with which all the settings were made. I am therefore encouraged to hope that the watch will be more resistant to the various shocks etc. However, since I have several other watches, if I ever do find that the Astron has slipped its leash, and is misaligned, I shall simply send it back to Katsu and let Seiko do it, even if they do conclude that I'm an idiot.


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## everose

Interesting review and as always great photos Artec.

Re Hand Alignment:
Astron GPS should have an auto hand correction function according to the manual:




"Automatic hand position alignment function
The hour, minute, and second hands have an "automatic hand position adjustment
.function," which automatically corrects an incorrect preliminary position
The automatic hand position adjustment function is activated once a minute for the
.second hand and at 12:00 both for the AM and PM for the hour and minute hands
 This function works when the preliminary hand position is misaligned due to external
factors such as strong impact or magnetic influence. It does not work to adjust accuracy of
.the watch or slight misalignment which may occur during the manufacturing process
 The preliminary positions of the hour/minute hands can be manually adjusted.  Adjust the
preliminary position of the date, indicator hand, and hour/minute hands P.46 ~ 47"







I guess the large gap between the tip of the secs hand and the min marker rehaut is at least, in part, due to the dimensional type hour marker design. I think i would possibly prefer a smaller gap on a high precision piece.



Re Min hand movement:
I have a solar G and an Eco-Drive whose min hands move once every 10 secs. I am not sure but i have always assumed that this is simply a power saving measure.




Is the semi-opaque looking dial on Astron GPS similar to early Eco-Drive/Solar dials (which i never really cared for) ........or is it even more "see-through" possibly as a deliberate design element?

Tfs


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## artec

Yes, I read the instructions in the Astron manual. But, of course, one cannot know how effective such measures are until one has to use them.....and I'm certainly not going to try them just to find out if they effect an improvement over what is already perfectly satisfactory, at least by my standards.

Don't know why the 5-sec (or 10-sec) gaps between minute hand movements. You really have to be studying it to see it. On the Chronomaster, where the minute hand moves every second, you need a loupe to see it. 

The surface appearance of the dial is different from that of my Eco-drive RC Citizen; where the Astron dial is black when you look at it straight on, it's slightly grey on the Citizen. As you angle the Astron, the dial color changes abruptly to a shiny, silvery grey. I haven't seen anything quite like it before.


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## petew

everose said:


> Is the semi-opaque looking dial on Astron GPS similar to early Eco-Drive/Solar dials (which i never really cared for) ........or is it even more "see-through" possibly as a deliberate design element?
> 
> Tfs


Yes, the solar panel dial is pretty much the same as those early mirror like dials that Citizen used quite a bit in the early days of Eco Drive. I'm guessing that because of the power requirements, Seiko didn't have the luxury of trying to hide the solar look via overlays so you essentially get the pure solar panel look.

The print quality however on that panel (often an issue) is the best I've ever seen.


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## everose

Thanks Artec and Petew.

Now about power consumption:..........Are some people over-reacting to some extent about Astrons power consumption and needs?


The manual states that Astron GPS has approx 6 months power supply from fully charged without any recharging. Imho that really is not so shabby !!!


Perhaps because of previous activity GPS pieces which are VERY different beasts and often require syncing many times for location and/or other purposes. Are we wrongly accusing Astron of a similar veracious power hunger when perhaps the reality is somewhat different? Apparently Astron will try to sync once a day and only if it detects sky. So far people have also reported fairly rapid and efficient sync procedures.


A G Shock GW-7900 has an active PR of 9 months compared to Astrons 6 months.


The Astrons stated power requirements for 1 days operation is certainly more than a GW-7900 but not by an enormous margin imho,..... which i found pleasantly surprising ! 
So i feel there may be an assumption by some that Astron is more power hungry than perhaps it actually is.


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## ronalddheld

Since this is not a sports watch, should you need to sync more tban once a day?


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## petew

Hi everose,

Apparently the energy required to gain a GPS sync is thousands of times more than what is required for normal watch operation. The Astron is actually powered by two batteries, (one's job is to constantly keep the main one charged) and I'm guessing that those batteries are significantly larger than what you'd see in other quartz watches so it's not really fair to compare the power reserves of a Astron and another watch. For all we know, if the Astron's batteries were in a GW-7900, that Casio could have a 10 year active power reserve. Additionally the manual stresses over and over again the importance of keeping the watch exposed to light so my guess is that yes, power is a pretty crucial part of this watches operation and we probably should be careful in keeping it charged properly.


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## ronalddheld

I was unaware that there were 4 types of manual for this watch: Instructions (English) | SEIKO WATCH CORPORATION


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## artec

I would suspect that the power consumption probably depends a good deal on how the watch is used.....whether it is asked to change time-zones several times a week, or only asked to do a time sync every few days. I shall be doing four time-zone changes and a time-only sync every couple of days during the next two weeks. During that time, I shall be wearing it normally, probably covered by a cuff quite a lot, and next the driver's window as I drive, and I'll keep an eye on the power reserve needle and see whether it indicates any depletion. I'll report when I get back to the US.

That use pattern seems to me to be considerably more demanding than most but I have no idea what the designers' criteria were. I agree that the instructions do emphasize the need to keep the battery up but it's difficult to know what they were designing for.


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## ronalddheld

Would I expect quick syncs for only the time? This assumes the full sync was previously done.


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## everose

petew said:


> Hi everose,
> 
> Apparently the energy required to gain a GPS sync is thousands of times more than what is required for normal watch operation. The Astron is actually powered by two batteries, (one's job is to constantly keep the main one charged) and I'm guessing that those batteries are significantly larger than what you'd see in other quartz watches so it's not really fair to compare the power reserves of a Astron and another watch. For all we know, if the Astron's batteries were in a GW-7900, that Casio could have a 10 year active power reserve. Additionally the manual stresses over and over again the importance of keeping the watch exposed to light so my guess is that yes, power is a pretty crucial part of this watches operation and we probably should be careful in keeping it charged properly.


Hi Petew. Thanks for your informative post.

Sorry,..... I was not intending to suggest that they use similar amounts of energy or that they recharge in a similar way.


Despite their obvious very different power supplies and needs, their daily (normal use) recharge times are not hugely different according to the specs within their respective manuals. 
My point is that from the limited data contained within the specs, Seiko appear to have engineered huge improvements into Astrons recharge capability/speed and PR *despite* its dramatically increased power needs. So much so, that its daily operation recharge times appear to be not so massively far behind that of a regular solar RC watch ! Which hopefully helps to put Astrons power issues into a slightly more objective and relevant perspective.


My use of comparison was to try and highlight Astrons spec PR and recharge times compared to a "normal" solar RC timepiece. The spec indicates that Astron is not so far behind, despite its additional power needs. This *really* surprised me !


6 months active PR without recharge would seem to be a huge capacity for this type of watch. This is why i think its possible that some people are being a little oversensitive about Astrons PR and its ability to cope with normal daily use.


I imagine Seiko's spec claim of 6 months active PR is calculated for normal daily use (which would most likely include a daily time sync and hopefully the occasional timezone sync) 
 I understand that a GPS sync uses *much* more power than a regular solar RC watch, but the daily recharge times quoted seem to indicate Astrons recharge efficiency/performance is possibly superior to any watch available right now, bearing in mind its increased power needs.


I would also speculate that a *timezone* *sync* will likely use significantly more energy than a simple *time* *sync*.(If the spec sync times are any indicator of power consumption) 
I agree that Astron will certainly have a far higher power capacity and consumption than any normal solar watch.

As for the multiple reinforcement statements within the Astron manual about the importance of recharging..........Agreed, ......But most RC solar manuals that i have read also actively reinforce this aspect. So i doubt that this is particularly significant or indicative of a worryingly minimal PR by itself.


If the PR of Astron was so critically sensitive to sync drains after only a few time syncs without recharging, would Seiko have designed such a simple and minimally informative PR indicator for this piece?...... I would doubt it.
If the PR was such a critical daily issue then the whole of the 10 o'clock subdial could easily have been designed to do "double-duty" as a much more detailed PR indicator, when other features within the subdial are not being used. (the Aqualand 20th anniversary PR indicator does double duty)


Of course these are just my impressions based on minimal spec information and could well prove to be wrong ! :-d


It will be very interesting to learn of Artecs power consumption findings after giving his piece a particularly demanding workout over a relatively short time period !


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## petew

Some more thoughts.

I looked up the recharging times for the Astron vs. a GW-7900. In sunlight, the Casio will recharge to full in 25 hours whereas it takes 65 for the Astron which to me is still a fairly large difference. However, something very interesting jumped out at me. In looking at the Seiko manual, it appears that if the Astron is never exposed to sunlight, it might eventually die. The Astron specs do not specify how long it would take the watch to charge if it were exposed only to flourescent light in an office setting every day whereas under the same conditions, the Casio will eventually recharge itself to at least 60%.

I guess what this means is that during the winter, if the Astron was a daily watch, you definitely would have to be careful to remember to keep it charged. Particularly if you are wearing long sleeves. Where I live, there are many months where I wake up when it's dark and go home from work when it's dark so for 5 days a week, my watch would be losing a charge. What I'd have to do is to either 1.) charge it up next to a light every night or 2.) make sure it gets sunlight during the days I'm not at work.

For those that don't wear the Astron every day, this won't really be a problem as long as you store it in a brightly lit room.

I guess after we get through a couple of winters, we will hopefully have some reports from users to see how well their watches stayed charged over the cold weather short day months.


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## ronalddheld

I wonder what is the ratio of power used in reception to power need for the computations.
Should I assume that indoor fluorescent lighting may not keep the watch charged up over long periods of time?


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## Planet

artec, would it be possible to weigh your Astron? I remember reading that the titanium models are supposed to have a weight of 131 g but it would be nice to have it confirmed. 

And also I'd be interested in the weight of the titanium models with the silicone strap and the steel models with the silicone strap.


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## ronalddheld

I was told the steel on silicone strap have the same weight, roughly, as the Ti models.


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## sgrenald

We were wondering that at the AZFT event on Friday, so we weighed them. The steel watch actually weighed a little bit more. The titanium Astron was 136gm while the steel was 148.


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## ronalddheld

neither are really light watches.


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## artec

There's quite a big gap between the end of the seconds hand and the individual minute markers, so it's hard to tell just how well they line up. I'd say the alignment was considerably better than that of my Chronomasters, but it may not be perfect.


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## artec

Mine is the Ti model but I think my left arm is already longer than it was!


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## sgrenald

They seemed very light to me. And I was wearing a Snowflake at the time.


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## JoeOBrien

artec said:


> There's quite a big gap between the end of the seconds hand and the individual minute markers, so it's hard to tell just how well they line up. I'd say the alignment was considerably better than that of my Chronomasters, but it may not be perfect.


I work in a watch store that sells Astron, and recently a customer bought the same one as the OP. He came back in the next day because he was bothered that the second hand didn't line up properly with the 12 marker.

I had noticed this myself a few days earlier when I was calibrating the watch, and running through the alignment procedure I was surprised that there was no specific operation to re-align the second hand, or even the hour/minute hands. The only indicators you can align manually are the function hand and the date. The second, hour and minute hands are reliant on the auto-correct feature, which is obviously not going to do any good if the hand is misaligned at manufacture. The hour and minute hands do have a check you can run to make sure they are aligned, but no procedure to correct them manually, and no check for the second hand (again, all relying on the auto-correct, which is every minute for the second hand and I think every 12 hours for the hour/minute hands).

I contacted Seiko in case there was something I was missing in the instructions. The man I spoke to basically said that if the second hand doesn't align properly, there's not much you can do about it. He said that as long as the second hand hit the 12 marker then everything was OK. But the 12 marker is pretty large, and makes it very obvious when the second hand is not hitting dead center.

I am aware that this is a pretty common problem with even some high-end watches, but when you're paying $1500+ for an advanced timepiece that is supposed to be all about precision, it doesn't make a very good impression if nobody at the manufacturer is even checking the hands are aligned. Obviously our customer felt the same way. I am still surprised about the lack of a manual correction operation. I own a radio-controlled G-Shock that lets you adjust all of the hand positions in tiny increments, resulting in a perfect alignment.

I tried receiving the GPS signal in case that had something to do with it, but after about five minutes out in the street I gave up because the watch only seemed to be able to contact 2 satellites. It was an overcast day and I was quite close to a building, and that was the first time I had attempted it, so I'm not trying to say the receive function is unreliable, it just wasn't working at that moment.

Anyway, I'm not trying to disparage Astron, that was just something that bothered me a little. They've been selling really well in my store, and nobody else has ever mentioned a problem with them. They're very cool and nice-looking watches (the sili strap, orange markers SAST025 probably being my favorite). We're also looking forward to receiving the Kintaro Hattori special edition soon.

Also, it was interesting to read all that info about the power consumption, that's useful to know.


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## artec

My example of the Astron, the one on which my review was based, didn't seem to suffer from the misalignment disease complained of by your customer, though, as I said, it was difficult to see whether the seconds hand alignment was perfect. After a couple of months, the novelty wore off and the size and bulk of the thing, plus its rather fussy dial, overcame the charm of its high tech abilities. 
I sold it, losing money, of course, and reverted to A660 Chronomasters as nature intended!


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## Eeeb

artec said:


> My example of the Astron, the one on which my review was based, didn't seem to suffer from the misalignment disease complained of by your customer, though, as I said, it was difficult to see whether the seconds hand alignment was perfect. After a couple of months, the novelty wore off and the size and bulk of the thing, plus its rather fussy dial, overcame the charm of its high tech abilities.
> I sold it, losing money, of course, and reverted to A660 Chronomasters as nature intended!


Not often we see the full cycle of the review! LOL

I too tend to like watches that can be read at a glance, as nature intended -- for me at least


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## ronalddheld

I will be following artec's path shortly.


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## clarken

Seems to be a hassle to keep watch battery charged


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## ronalddheld

If it had daily outside exposure it would be easier.


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## cawatchfan

I am a long time Citizen & Casio atomic watch fan but the Seiko Astron tipped my interest so I decided to give it a try. So far, I am really liking it.



While the manual timezone selection is available just like the others but the GPS sync (one press of a button) is way quicker in comparison and unlike atomic sync, it does not require you to be stationary as long as you have a line of sight to the sky. I regularly receive GPS signal even inside my house when close to a window. And the fact that the Astron is able to sense and know when you are "outside" before attempting to sync, as opposed to atomic which always attempt during the middle of the night.



The watch is big but still looks good and wears very comfortably on my regularly size wrist. I agree with a others that the Astron can also use an alarm feature but all in all, I am very happy with my decision.


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## ronalddheld

Not the best place to post, but there is alleged to be a tech upgrade for next year's Astrons. Anyone here about it or have any additional information?


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## ronalddheld

Here is a press release(in japanese) of the next Astrons: http://www.seiko-watch.co.jp/whatsnew/pressrelease/201309_2/
It would be better for those who are interested to find a better translation tool than Google translate.


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## webvan

Your link got chopped, here it is with TinyURL: TinyURL Seiko Astron 09/2013 PR

Looks like a special "earth" edition ? I really can't seem to warm up to the Astron GPS concept for some reason...


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## ronalddheld

Thanks I should have been a little more careful. No technical advancement for that watch, although it there will be any in 2014 it would be reveal at Basel.


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## tmr5555

Is it a little fugly?


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## everose

For those who may be interested it looks like a new Japanese website just opened up for these NDS models.

Seiko Astron: New Design Series

(and from YouTube)







For me the styling seems somewhat reminiscent of the Citizen Appleseed XIll.

According to the specs, overall dimensions have actually increased over the standard Astron! :-s (48.2mm x 18.1mm) 
The restyled designn with its massive domed sapphire crystal and the "all dial/minimal bezel" probably makes it look/wear even larger than its dimensions. The super-oversized dial makes the hands look even more "lost" on this version imho. That mighty sapphire dome is probably not cheap to produce.

The most interesting aspect for me is what they did with the antenna/receiver. I presume its hiding under the raised integrated rehaut on this version.

(Pic from the Seiko press release)










I'm sure these pieces probably up the "cool" factor but according to my kids "cool" was never my forte anyway! :-d


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## ronalddheld

I do not see anything to induce me to buy another GPS Astron.


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## Cavok

Seems the new one has a gradual powerindicator versus the "old" one with empty, middle and full. Don't quite like the new design - although I'm sure it looks fantastic in real life


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## Geronemo3

JoeOBrien said:


> I work in a watch store that sells Astron, and recently a customer bought the same one as the OP. He came back in the next day because he was bothered that the second hand didn't line up properly with the 12 marker.
> 
> I had noticed this myself a few days earlier when I was calibrating the watch, and running through the alignment procedure I was surprised that there was no specific operation to re-align the second hand, or even the hour/minute hands. The only indicators you can align manually are the function hand and the date. The second, hour and minute hands are reliant on the auto-correct feature, which is obviously not going to do any good if the hand is misaligned at manufacture. The hour and minute hands do have a check you can run to make sure they are aligned, but no procedure to correct them manually, and no check for the second hand (again, all relying on the auto-correct, which is every minute for the second hand and I think every 12 hours for the hour/minute hands).
> 
> I contacted Seiko in case there was something I was missing in the instructions. The man I spoke to basically said that if the second hand doesn't align properly, there's not much you can do about it. He said that as long as the second hand hit the 12 marker then everything was OK. But the 12 marker is pretty large, and makes it very obvious when the second hand is not hitting dead center.
> 
> I am aware that this is a pretty common problem with even some high-end watches, but when you're paying $1500+ for an advanced timepiece that is supposed to be all about precision, it doesn't make a very good impression if nobody at the manufacturer is even checking the hands are aligned. Obviously our customer felt the same way. I am still surprised about the lack of a manual correction operation. I own a radio-controlled G-Shock that lets you adjust all of the hand positions in tiny increments, resulting in a perfect alignment.
> 
> I tried receiving the GPS signal in case that had something to do with it, but after about five minutes out in the street I gave up because the watch only seemed to be able to contact 2 satellites. It was an overcast day and I was quite close to a building, and that was the first time I had attempted it, so I'm not trying to say the receive function is unreliable, it just wasn't working at that moment.
> 
> Anyway, I'm not trying to disparage Astron, that was just something that bothered me a little. They've been selling really well in my store, and nobody else has ever mentioned a problem with them. They're very cool and nice-looking watches (the sili strap, orange markers SAST025 probably being my favorite). We're also looking forward to receiving the Kintaro Hattori special edition soon.
> 
> Also, it was interesting to read all that info about the power consumption, that's useful to know.


In my quest to see this watch in person i haven't come across much stores in US that carry this watch. No location has none.


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