An Italian Seiko? Giugiaro Astron Chronograph Review

[timelessluxwatches]

Giugiaro Astron Chronograph Review

The Astron Giugiaro Design is an Italian Seiko, which seems to be a contradiction, but interestingly, it's not even the first Italian Seiko. It may, however, be the last.

The Introduction



The Giugiaro Astron SSE037 is the product of Italian designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro. Giugiaro's name may not be familiar with you, but he's an extremely popular and prolific designer of cars and even things like cameras and computer cases. He's also the man behind some of the most well-loved Seikos, including the famous Seiko Aliens which were worn in the film of the same name.



The new Giugiaro Astron looks like it belongs in a new Ferrari. While Giugiaro has designed other watches with Seiko, none have been so blatantly, over-the-top Italian as this one. The dial and strap prominently display Italy's colors while large, stylized Arabic numbers look like they're jumping right off of a tachometer. While Giugiaro took over the appearance of the watch, the functionality of the Astron is all Seiko. Consequently, it's powered by the 8X82 solar chronograph, which is capable of syncing time and time zone by the push of a single button using GPS satellites. The case and included bracelet (all Giugiaro Astrons come on both a strap and bracelet) are made of black hard-coated titanium with ceramic accents. The bracelet's alternating center links are a bold white ceramic while the ceramic bezel of the the watch will remain scratch free for years.



Sadly, this new Astron may be the very last design Giugiaro ever creates as he has recently retired from his design firm. This doesn't necessarily mean he won't collaborate with Seiko in the future, but it probably means that if you want to something from Giugiaro's studio, you may want to get it now.

The Video



Check out our high-definition video of the new Astron Giugiaro Design.

The Dial



The dial on this Astron is very bold. I think Giugiaro's exotic car breeding really shines through here. As I said earlier, this just feels like it would be a perfect complement to a Ferrari California or Alfa Romeo 4C.



The 6:00 subdial performs many functions. When the chronograph is not running, it can indicate power reserve, whether or not DST or airplane modes are enabled, and how many satellites the watch is receiving data from. When in chronograph mode, it turns into an hour register. I wanted to start with this subdial because it is, I'm convinced, an intentional homage to the Italian flag. From left to right we have sections of bright green, white and red, exactly the order of the flag. I'm confident this was not accidental.



Of course, being a solar powered watch, there has to be space for light to penetrate the dial to the solar cells underneath. The original Astron's solar panels looked cool, but were quite obvious. This new dial, however, seems to use a finishing akin to Geneva stripes with vertical lines throughout.



Seiko watches, Giugiaro or not, are really well designed in terms of legibility. Take, for instance, the chronograph elements here--they're all in a matching red and the numerals on the subdial are in the same font. This makes it easily to visually separate time telling elements from chronograph elements. The hands utilized for time telling retain the conventional sword design with a heavy application of green lume.



The minutes subdial is also very sporty with the same bright red, stylized numerals as the hour register below it.



Perhaps the boldest of all these accents are the massive white Arabic numerals throughout. They have a matching tilt to them to the numerals used for the chronograph subdials and it gives the impression of motion or speed.



Giugiaro admirably attempted to avoid cutting off numerals, always an issue when you have a tri-compax chronograph design. For the most part he succeeded, with the number 9 being the only casualty of a subdial.



The seconds subdial is a little more conventional. Like all of the subdials here, it has a fine texture of concentric circles. It's obvious that this watch puts chronograph functionality front and center.



The date is also quite conventional, although the use of a frame is definitely appreciated.



The lume on the watch is quite good. As usual, it won't be a substitute for your Planet Ocean or Marinemaster, but for a non-diving watch it's definitely impressive and you will find it useful in a poorly lit restaurant or dark theater.

The Case



The case of the Astron Chronograph was one of its big selling points when it came out, being both smaller and thinner than its predecessor. At 44.6mm, the Giugiaro Astron is hardly a small watch, but neither is it titanically huge--it can definitely be worn every day. Like many other Astrons, it combines two high-end watchmaking materials to create the case, titanium and ceramics.



A ceramic bezel is far preferable to a titanium one, thanks to its superior hardness. I'm not personally a fan of tachymeter bezels, but it does contribute to the sporty look of the watch.



The use of ceramic continues to the crown with a bold white accent. This matches the included bracelet quite nicely.



Like the limited edition SSE001, the Giugiaro design uses a hobnail texture on the crown.



The titanium case is quite light, particularly on the included strap, and it's not too thick either at 13.3mm. The black hard coating looks terrific and should hold up well against everyday scratches.



The case back is very cool and designed to resemble a wheel. It's definitely the most interesting of the Astron case backs so far. It's not really a close resemblance, but for some reason it reminds me of the Porsche 918's wheels.

The Movement



Unfortunately, I lack any photos of the 8X82 movement that powers the Astron Chronograph, but I'd like to take just a moment to discuss its features. Obviously it's a quartz chronograph, but it's so much more than that. Most notably, like all current Astrons, the time and time zone can be synced, anywhere in the world, via GPS, making setting the time after a flight only a single button away. It is, without a doubt, one of the most convenient traveling watches in the world, second only to the new Astron Dual Time.



Making things even more convenient, however, is the set it and forget it nature of the watch. Because it's solar powered, batteries will not be an issue for a very, very long time, a feature that goes well with its perpetual calendar. DST can be toggled on or off very easily as well. From an objective performance standpoint, it is very difficult to imagine a watch that's more efficient than this one.

The Strap



Interestingly, the Giugiaro Astron makes a decent case for its limited edition price by including both a nice strap and a really nice bracelet. We'll start with the strap first.



The limited edition comes with a great black croc. It's very pliable and has a bright red underside, as well as tiny red, white and green stitching near the lugs. Both the choice and order of colors once again suggests a strong Italian connotation.



More interesting, however, is the included titanium and ceramic bracelet. It's black hard coated, just like the case of the watch and looks great. It basically gives the watch some racing stripes.



Like Seiko's other titanium bracelets, friction pins are used instead of screws.



The tolerances between the ceramic and titanium parts is quite impressive. At the end link, a part that no one will even see, we can see just how flush they are.

The Conclusion



While there have been collaborations between Japanese and Italian watch designers in the past, none have been so unilateral as this Giugiaro Astron. It looks to me like Seiko simply handed total control of this limited edition over to Giugiaro and he created one of the sportiest watches in Seiko's entire lineup.



I'm a car guy and I immediately feel the automotive pedigree that Giugiaro has massaged into the Astron chronograph--everything about it feels like an Italian sports car. This is definitely my favorite of his Seiko projects--it seems like this one, while perhaps less breathtakingly modern than something like the SCED, is far more timeless.



I've really liked both the inaugural Astron Chronograph LE, the SSE001 as well as this new one, the SSE037. Still, I think I prefer Giugiaro's design. I think it's probably the best looking Astron Chronograph yet. Despite including an extra strap (or bracelet, depending on how you look at it), it's substantially more affordable than the SSE001 as well.



If you've been on the fence for the Astron Chronograph, this one might get you to the other side, especially since it very well may be Giugiaro's last collaboration with Seiko.