German watchmaker MeisterSinger is no stranger to unique watch designs. Building its modern brand primarily around a single-hand timekeeping display, the maison often referred to as “iconoclastic” has built renown for itself by introducing unorthodox yet relatively affordable everyday timepieces. The latest watch to follow this ethos was unveiled last week: here’s what you need to know about the new Astroscope Edition.
The new watch follows up on the original Astroscope (pictured below), a non-limited edition first unveiled in 2020, which our Senior Editor Mark Bernardo had the opportunity to go in-depth with last year. The new Astroscope Edition is a unique day-date daily wearer that matches each day of the week to a specific celestial body and symbol. The inspiration, according to the brand, draws from a combination of ancient Roman, Norse, and Babylonian mythology, with each day of the week directly correlating to the symbols for the celestial body it represents.
Training our eye on the new Astroscope Edition, we find its 40-mm by 10.5-mm steel case is finished throughout with primarily a shiny polishing. The case design is identical to that seen in the non-limited 2020 edition, complete with its slightly curved, long and thin lugs making for a comfortable wear on the wrist. Other details include a tapered and signed crown at the traditional 3 o’clock position and a rounded, thin bezel framing the unconventional dial. The orange-colored, 20-mm-wide saddle leather strap, which secures the watch to the wrist with a simple steel buckle, is unique to this limited edition.
Peering underneath the domed sapphire crystal, we can home in on the details of that very unusual dial, which is mostly black with orange and white accents, a color scheme also unique to this edition. The dark coloring of the dial reflects the celestial theme of the watch and is meant to remind the wearer of the night sky, with its orange accents serving as luminous cosmic dots.
Along the dial’s outer edge, the combined hour and minute ring is punctuated at each hour and 15-minute position with an elongated white marker. Within this ring are the first of the orange accents, printed Arabic hour numerals ranging from “01” to “12.” Moving one more step closer to the dial’s center we encounter the unique day/date configuration that lends the watch its name. The date is actually the simplest element, sitting firmly at the 6 o’clock position in an orange-outlined round window. The day indicator, by contrast, is dispersed across the central ring of the dial. Each of the days is matched to a specific celestial body and the symbol representing it, with Monday corresponding to the moon, Tuesday to Mars, Wednesday to Mercury, Thursday to Jupiter, Friday to Venus, Saturday to Saturn, and Sunday to the Sun.
Keen eyes will notice the days aren’t actually lined up in a linear fashion, instead displayed in a “wandering” fashion, moving “back and forth in a constellation that only occurs every ten to twelve years in the southern night sky of the northern hemisphere.” While somewhat complicated to understand at first glance, upon closer inspection the style is easy to learn, especially if strapped to your wrist for days on end. Finally, at the center of the dial lies the single hand used to display both hours and minutes, a style signature for the MeisterSinger brand.
Inside the new Astroscope Edition is the Sellita SW220, a solid, reliable, Swiss-made movement capable of a 38-hour power reserve, beating at 28,800 vph, and on display with its engraved rotor via a sapphire caseback. The automatic movement has been specially customized by MeisterSinger to meet the requirements of the watch’s off-the-wall day-date display, with a large day disk marked with bright dots rotating in a circle and steadily identifying the days of the week — a design that is itself inspired by celestial mechanisms, according to the brand.
The Meistersinger Astroscope Edition follows in the rich tradition of unorthodox designs by the Münster, Germany-based brand, with recent examples including last year’s Urban Day Date “Edition Today” Limited Edition (above), a watch that displays the date only as “today” — as written in seven different languages, one for each day of the week — with the goal of keeping the wearer in the symbolic “now.” Adding a second colorway to the Astroscope may well indicate that the original model has gained some traction within the enthusiast community. The move might also signal to the market at large that the interest in unconventional designs at the “entry-level-luxury” price point is still strong, and perhaps growing.
The MeisterSinger Astroscope Edition will be limited to 100 pieces, each priced at 1,990 euros, or a little over $2,400.
To learn more and inquire for purchase, you can visit MeisterSinger’s website, here.
