[Gargamel35]

While looking for a quartz "every day fun" watch (i'm not going to say a beater) i stumbled on Seiko Astron series and totally fell in love with sbxd007 model.
It's fantastic. 39mm, only 12mm thick, titanium case and bracelet with special coating. 200m wr, Solar, GPS for accuracy and time zone setup, tough, looks great. I ordered it already for a very good price. But what i want to talk about is Seiko quartz technology in Astron series?

Is it any good? I know Casio is in it's own league here, following by Citizen, but i'm sure Seiko can't be that bad?

 

[Gargamel35]

Seiko Astron is better than any Citizen except Chronomaster. Casio Oceanus is comparable. In my personal ranking, Astron and Oceanus both beat any non-The Citizen. I'm talking about the watches overall.

This particular model OP has purchased is made at the Grand Seiko factory. It's honestly a Grand Seiko level case and dial with a higher end Seiko bracelet. The solar GPS movement every bit as accurate as any Eco-Drive with roughly the same expected lifespan and ability to service.

In terms of heritage, Astron was the first quartz watch and first GPS solar watch. It's a premium label for Seiko. Citizen the first titanium watch and a leader in scratch resistant coatings.

Here are my owned quartz examples of each


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Very nice. Your SSJ005 was my second pick, but sbxd007 won me over because of material and shape. I didn't know the watch is made in GS factory. Very cool.
I intend to use this watch for many activities (heavy use) and in water so i hope i didn't ordered a watch that is too nice for that

 

[Gargamel35]

@Gargamel35 Where did you order it from, and what is a good price? Looks like the MSRP is $2000USD? I assume you didn't pay that much for it (I ordered a new GS diver for not much more than that).

1200$ from a good reputation Japan dealer on Chrono. I'll need to add the import costs to EU, so that will rise the price a bit. Still a good deal i think.

 

[Gargamel35]

So I’ll ask a silly question… maybe someone else has thought this too. Do these GPS syncing watches transmit a signal also or just receive them? We all carry a tracking device in our pockets anyway… but nice to know your watch isn’t also beaming out your location 😂

It only recieves gps signal and light source for power.

 

[Gargamel35]

This thread became "Citizen is better then Seiko" sandbox and then got hijacked by Casio Oceanus fans. And yet i think Seiko Astron is better then any of them 🙂