it’s launch day. Today in 1969, the Apollo 11 crew got up around 4 a.m. and began preparing for their flight. They had a 9:32 a.m. rocket to catch. But it’s also launch day for Xeric’s Trappist-1 NASA Edition. Commencing countdown, engines on…
Xeric have a history of making fun watches, watches that tell time in unique ways. Xeric has used bonkers things like hands that terminate in circles, extending across the center of the dial, and only putting hours and minutes markers on half the dial – when the end of the hand over the markers reaches the horizon of the dial on the right side, the other end picks up on the left. Bonkers.
And now they’ve launched their latest kickstarter campaign to produce a watch made in partnership with NASA. The 1970s/80s “worm” logo features on the dial.
Here, they took their Trappist model and re-imagined it to pay tribute to the human spirit of exploration that took us to the stars, to land on our nearest neighbor, the moon. The original Trappist-1 is a moon phase watch with the moon phase indicator in the center. It uses two spheres to indicate hours and minutes, looking for all the world like planets orbiting the center of the watch. The crystal was covered with a grille laid out like a graph paper grid.
For the Trappist-1 NASA model, Xeric updated the original, removing the grid grille and replacing it with one inspired by the cupola of the International Space Station. The planetary hands are lumed with bright Superluminova, and the automatic version of the watch also uses Tritium tubes on the hands.
The dial is laid out with an accurate representation of the stars in the Trappist-1 constellation. The stars are lumed with SuperLuminova, and will glow, just like the stars.
The crystal is made of Hesalite, a material originally developed for NASA. The movements used are either an automatic Miyota 82S0 or the quartz Seiko VH31. Honestly, both of these are excellent choices: the Miyota is a workhorse and reliable, and the Seiko has the unique property of beating at 4Hz, making its seconds hand look like a super slow-beat automatic.
The straps are sewn and padded from Horween leather with quick release bars, and should be soft, and superbly comfortable. Horween isn’t a budget item, and is available on both the quartz version and automatic Trappist-1 NASA.
Because today is the anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, and the launch of Xeric’s kickstarter, the quartz watch has a laser engraved limited edition logo celebrating the moon landing. The Automatic watch has a custom rotor, representing the orbits of the planets in the Trappist-1 solar system, and a display caseback to make the rotor visible.
If you’re the sort of nerd – that special sort of person – that dreamed of space exploration, that still imagines it to be noble, and also is into funky cool watches, the Xeric Trappist-1 NASA is available for either $279 USD for the automatic version, or $169 for the quartz version. These prices are the early bird prices, so get in now if you want to take advantage and have a little bit of an astronaut connection on your wrist. If you’re ready to reach for the stars, start by going to the campaign at kickstarter.com
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Xeric Trappist-1 NASA
- Price: Earlybird pricing starts at $169
- Who we think it might be for: You’re a fan of space exploration, and also like a mechanical watch with lots of lume
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: I love the white model with white bezel.
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: I wish it were slightly smaller, but that’s me.
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: The NASA connection, the lume, and the 7 window cupola.
Tech Specs from Xeric watches
- Case size: 44mm
- Height: 15mm
- Case material: stainless steel
- Crystal: sapphire
- Strap: Horween leather
- Movement: Miyota 82S0 or Seiko VH31
