I meant to post this last week, but just didn't get to it.
First of all, I would like to thank Rob Logie (Roba) for doing all the legwork in tracking down the Astrodea for me. Not only did he take the time to find it for me, but he paid for it up front! He packed it up and shipped it EMS, and it was packed so well I don't think it stirred inside its box.
This saga really started a while back when Kurt Behm first posted pics of his Campanola Cosmosign. I think the tonneau version was the first one I saw, and I knew it was too big for me, even though I loved the look of it.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Kurt started thinning out his Campanola collection. When I saw the Cosmosign for sale, I took about 30 seconds to think about it and promptly bought it.
At 43mm, I was a little worried about the fit, but they did a nice job with the curved case, and I like how it looks on me. It's big, but not Flavor Flav big.
While waiting for Paypal to clear, I was surfing around looking for more information on the dial. That brought me to links showing the Astrodea watches. Aha! More ways to spend my hard-earned cash!
I really liked the look of the Moonphase watch, but the new versions are a smaller diameter and look to be more cheaply put together. I can't say that with certainty, as I've never seen the watches in the flesh, but that's how it struck me.
After poking around some more, I found that the 2006 model seemed to be the nicest design to date. It's a titanium watch with a nicer looking bracelet than the newer ones, and the 31 day bezel that has been discontinued since 2006.
If you do a Google search on "Astrodea chart", the first link should bring you to a post that shows a lot of dial detail and a chart showing all the models produced to date. I won't post the link, as it may be against TZ rules.
So, at 11am Monday morning, the Astrodea arrived on my desk. I couldn't wait to open it, so there are no pics of the packaging, etc.
This is what was inside:
A nicely made deep blue box.
And the watch...
My lighting and macro capabilities are not the best, so this is as good as it gets at the moment. There are plenty of close-up pics available on the net if you want to look at them.
Citizen really packed a ton of information onto these dials. As I haven't been able to translate everything yet, I can't tell you much, but the age of the moon in days is represented by a small third hand in the center of the dial, and sidereal time is also indicated.
According to http://apollomaniacs.web.infoseek.co.jp/apollo/astrodeae.htm
it indicates the following:
Moon age / Moon phase / ebb and flood
altitude and direction of the moon
altitude and direction of the sun
darkness of the sky, astronomical twilight
Local apparent Sidereal Time
altitude and direction of Sirius
altitude and direction of Arcturus
It comes with a 10x loupe so you can actually see some of the detail up close.
A wrist shot. The watch is 42mm in diameter, 43mm if you include the crown.
And the clasp, which is a push-button deployant. The bracelet is light and the clasp is light, but it works fine, and for $500 I'm happy that they spent the money where they did.
And that's it for the Astrodea.
The Cosmosign is a beautifully made watch. It came on a nice alligator strap with a deployant clasp, but I really wanted to try a bracelet. For $30, I got this butterfly deployant 316L polished/satin bracelet from the UK. This is how it turned out:
And a few wrist shots:
I wore the Astrodea all day on Tuesday, and one of my co-workers liked it so much that she sent everyone over to check it out during the day.
I wore the Cosmosign with its new bracelet all day today, and I'm really happy with it. I like the feel much better than the strap, and with the extra weight it really hugs my wrist now.
Are they practical watches? Well, I doubt I'm ever really going to have to pilot my starship home, so the fact that I can't read most of the dials without magnification doesn't matter to me.
I like that they're offbeat, something you don't see every day. They definitely won't be leaving my collection.
Would I prefer the Patek that was posted earlier? Oh yeah, but if I can ever afford it, I know I won't need to sell my Citizens to pay for it!
Thanks for looking.
First of all, I would like to thank Rob Logie (Roba) for doing all the legwork in tracking down the Astrodea for me. Not only did he take the time to find it for me, but he paid for it up front! He packed it up and shipped it EMS, and it was packed so well I don't think it stirred inside its box.
This saga really started a while back when Kurt Behm first posted pics of his Campanola Cosmosign. I think the tonneau version was the first one I saw, and I knew it was too big for me, even though I loved the look of it.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Kurt started thinning out his Campanola collection. When I saw the Cosmosign for sale, I took about 30 seconds to think about it and promptly bought it.
At 43mm, I was a little worried about the fit, but they did a nice job with the curved case, and I like how it looks on me. It's big, but not Flavor Flav big.
While waiting for Paypal to clear, I was surfing around looking for more information on the dial. That brought me to links showing the Astrodea watches. Aha! More ways to spend my hard-earned cash!
I really liked the look of the Moonphase watch, but the new versions are a smaller diameter and look to be more cheaply put together. I can't say that with certainty, as I've never seen the watches in the flesh, but that's how it struck me.
After poking around some more, I found that the 2006 model seemed to be the nicest design to date. It's a titanium watch with a nicer looking bracelet than the newer ones, and the 31 day bezel that has been discontinued since 2006.
If you do a Google search on "Astrodea chart", the first link should bring you to a post that shows a lot of dial detail and a chart showing all the models produced to date. I won't post the link, as it may be against TZ rules.
So, at 11am Monday morning, the Astrodea arrived on my desk. I couldn't wait to open it, so there are no pics of the packaging, etc.
This is what was inside:
A nicely made deep blue box.
And the watch...
My lighting and macro capabilities are not the best, so this is as good as it gets at the moment. There are plenty of close-up pics available on the net if you want to look at them.
Citizen really packed a ton of information onto these dials. As I haven't been able to translate everything yet, I can't tell you much, but the age of the moon in days is represented by a small third hand in the center of the dial, and sidereal time is also indicated.
According to http://apollomaniacs.web.infoseek.co.jp/apollo/astrodeae.htm
it indicates the following:
Moon age / Moon phase / ebb and flood
altitude and direction of the moon
altitude and direction of the sun
darkness of the sky, astronomical twilight
Local apparent Sidereal Time
altitude and direction of Sirius
altitude and direction of Arcturus
It comes with a 10x loupe so you can actually see some of the detail up close.
A wrist shot. The watch is 42mm in diameter, 43mm if you include the crown.
And the clasp, which is a push-button deployant. The bracelet is light and the clasp is light, but it works fine, and for $500 I'm happy that they spent the money where they did.
And that's it for the Astrodea.
The Cosmosign is a beautifully made watch. It came on a nice alligator strap with a deployant clasp, but I really wanted to try a bracelet. For $30, I got this butterfly deployant 316L polished/satin bracelet from the UK. This is how it turned out:
And a few wrist shots:
I wore the Astrodea all day on Tuesday, and one of my co-workers liked it so much that she sent everyone over to check it out during the day.
I wore the Cosmosign with its new bracelet all day today, and I'm really happy with it. I like the feel much better than the strap, and with the extra weight it really hugs my wrist now.
Are they practical watches? Well, I doubt I'm ever really going to have to pilot my starship home, so the fact that I can't read most of the dials without magnification doesn't matter to me.
I like that they're offbeat, something you don't see every day. They definitely won't be leaving my collection.
Would I prefer the Patek that was posted earlier? Oh yeah, but if I can ever afford it, I know I won't need to sell my Citizens to pay for it!
Thanks for looking.
