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. The first Astron Solar GPS watches were technical wonders but they were also quite large, which told against their larger popularity and Seiko has been working continuously to refine the lines of the case, slim down the movement, and in general make what's a technical wonder, something easier to actually wear with the regularity that the functionality of the watches seems to encourage. The most recent movement for the Astron Solar GPS watches is the caliber 5X53, and for the 14oth Anniversary of Seiko, a new version of the Astron Solar GPS has been introduced, in the characteristic blue-and-white livery of the Anniversary models. The model is SSH093, and it's being presented in stainless steel, with a stainless steel bracelet, in a (for the Astron GPS watches) relatively thin and small case – 42.9mm x 12.2mm, which for a watch that gets energy from the Sun and has to be ready to talk to a satellite in geosynchronous orbit at a moment's notice, ain't half bad. Since the Solar GPS Astrons were introduced the movements seem to have gotten quite a bit more efficient. Seiko says that the maximum time to ping a satellite and update the time, assuming the watch has a clear view of the sky, is 3 minutes. In some respects these watches are the antithesis of what makes mechanical watches interesting – they are triumphs of technology, not of traditional craft or traditional mechanical engineering. But they're cool. The idea that you can have on your wrist, something easy to wear and use, that connects you to a worldwide network of satellites which have their time signal corrected for relativistic gravitational effects, is a remarkable thing. These are not the watches most Seiko or Grand Seiko enthusiasts love to talk about but they're some of the most interesting pieces of chronometric technology since the invention of the tourbillon, and they make me wish I were flying on the regular – landing in Geneva with one of the first generation, and seeing the time update because what was on my wrist was talking to something in the sky, was awfully fun. The GPS Solar Dual Time 140th Anniversary SSH093: case, stainless steel with "super hard" coating, 200 meters water resistant. Perpetual day and date calendar correct to 2100. Movement, Seiko in-house caliber 5X33, GPS solar, with signal reception indication, power save function, transfer of local to home time. Dual sapphire crystal with AR coating. Tri-fold push button clasp. Price, $2,200; f ind out more at Seiko.com. All photos, Tiffany Wade.Frequent flyers, start your engines.