Seiko

Astron Watches

Founded in 1881, the Japanese watch brand Seiko is a respected name in the world of watchmaking. Mastering the technology of horology, Seiko has been delivering groundbreaking innovations to the industry for over a century. With its rich history and countless achievements, Seiko is one of the most favoured watchmakers among watch admirers all over the world. 

Among the notable Seiko watches, the Seiko Astron watch is regarded as the most significant model of the brand. It represents the brand’s best-known innovations that marked a milestone in the history of watchmaking. 

Seiko has released two generations of Seiko Astron models, while each represents a revolutionary watchmaking technology that changed the whole industry. The first Astron released in 1969 was the first quartz watch of the world. This Japanese watch brand Seiko has become well renowned and highly acclaimed ever since its debut of Seiko Astron. The second generation of Seiko Astron is also one of the “world’s first”s of the brand. It is the first GPS solar watch in the world and is commonly described as the “second revolution” of Seiko. 

The foundation of this legendary watch manufacturer Seiko was built by the young Japanese entrepreneur Kintaro Hattori. Its journey all started from a watch selling and repairing shop in Ginza, Tokyo. Under his extraordinary leadership and good relationship with trading partners, the Seiko company had been growing smoothly and it started to develop its own timepieces. 

After producing clocks and pocket watches since the early 1900s, Seiko released its first wristwatch in December 1923. The precise and reliable Seiko watches had instantly gained popularity and successfully recovered the company’s business from the damage of the earthquake. The brand had then further built its name over Japan since 1929 after a Seiko pocket watch was chosen by the Japan National Railway to be their official railway watch. 

Over the decades, Seiko has come up with numerous incredible timepieces with advanced innovations to the market. The company delivered a number of “world’s first”s in its history. Even in the present day, Seiko is still continuing its strives for perfection and innovations with the same spirit. 

When we talk about Seiko's inventions, then we have to mention the revolutionary Seiko Astron watches. Presented in 1969, Seiko Astron was the world's first quartz watch and it tremendously made the brand known worldwide. Let’s discuss more on such a groundbreaking invention in the world of horology. 

Being the first Seiko quartz watch, the Seiko Quartz Astron watch was powered by its Calibre 35A movement featuring a tuning-fork shaped Quartz oscillator. It provided the watch with exceptional accuracy within +/- 5 seconds per month. This precision rate was already much higher than the mechanical movements at the time. On top of high precision, the movement was also shock-resistant and durable. It was able to maintain the watch battery for one complete year. 

Incredibly precise, reliable, extremely long battery life and most importantly affordable, the Seiko watches were a great hit in the market. Many watch admirers started to prefer this Seiko Quartz Astron watch other than the expensive mechanical watches. This popularity later raised to a very serious “Quartz Crisis” to the whole industry. Some Swiss watch companies were bankrupted and others struggled hard for survival. On a positive side, this crisis also stimulated the birth of many masterpieces such as the renowned Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. 

Despite the significant success, the Seiko brand has never stopped striving for new watchmaking technologies. It persistently improvises its watches, especially the iconic Seiko Astron collection. More than 40 years later, the debut of the second generation of Seiko Astron again shocked the whole horological world. Being the most advanced in their technologies and functionalities, these new Seiko Astron solar watches have immediately acquired the prominent status amongst the best Seiko watches. 

Inheriting the legendary name Astron, the second generation of this collection is also another “world’s first” of the watchmaking world. Released at Baselworld 2012, the new Seiko Astron was the world’s first GPS solar watch. The brand has again surprised the industry with an entirely new watch innovation. This Seiko solar watch has straight away attracted massive discussions all over the world. It has also become an inspiration for the development of both analog and digital watches later. Let us take a deeper look at its two major features: 

Solar Power

Fully utilising the power of nature, the Seiko Astron GPS Solar watches capture the energy from light anywhere on the planet, for its own power. This Seiko solar watch is equipped with photovoltaic cells on its dial in order to absorb lights and then convert into electricity for the Astron solar watch. With this sustainable energy supply, the watch is able to function perfectly for decades without worrying about battery exchange.

GPS Function

This Seiko GPS watch is able to make use of the GPS satellite signals from space and automatically synchronise the exact time of that time zone the watch locates. It can perfectly maintain precise timekeeping of the watch. The GPS function of the Astron watch can recognise 39 time zones of the planet while dividing the whole surface of Earth into millions of areas. 

By the Seiko ring antenna under its dial ring, the Seiko solar GPS watch automatically adjusts the precise time while exposed to sunlight. The only thing you need to do is simply to move to the open sky and press a button. This transition of updates only takes 30 seconds for location change and merely 6 seconds for the time change. 

In addition to these two signature features, many Seiko Astron models are offering more features. These Seiko Astron watches also consist of a sub-dial for the second time zone in 24-hour format at its 6'o'clock position. Some models are also available in options of various complications such as modifying calendar, world time indicator, signal strength display, day-light saving mechanism, power reserve system and more. 

It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the Seiko Astron is one of the most important watches for the world of horology. Extremely practical, innovative and durable, the Seiko Astron GPS solar watch has been loved by many outdoor lovers, especially hiking enthusiasts. It is the most reliable companion for globetrotters.