It’s easy enough to adjust your watch to the local time when you step into a different timezone. But why bother when the Seiko Astron GPS can automatically line itself up with the local time as soon as you enter a new timezone?
Unlike traditional self-adjusting watches, the timepiece doesn’t use radio time signals to synchronize itself. As such, the function isn’t limited to areas where radio time signal is available, ensuring your watch will switch to the right time, whether you’re coming in through the international airport or over a border in an unpopulated patch of the desert.
Armed with a built-in GPS chip, the Seiko Astron will receive satellite signals from four sources, pinpointing your location, allowing it to know exactly when you change timezones. By default, this happens once a day, although pressing on the sync button also lets you activate the process any time you want. It can calculate the correct time to atomic-clock accuracy in all 39 timezones, adjusting the date and time displays in as little as six seconds. Daylight savings is taken into account, too, with a perpetual calendar that should work for up to February 2100.
Even better, the timepiece is solar-powered, so you never need to bother changing batteries year to year. It features upmarket analog styling, ceramic bezel, sapphire crystal glass, water resistance up to 100 meters and three models — titanium, stainless steel and a limited edition version with special detailing.
The Seiko Astron is set to be available soon, priced between $1,942 to $2,679, depending on the model.