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I believe the "Comet" is a new watch to the Astbury line as it first appeared on eBay only a few weeks ago. The Astbury web site isn't much help as it appears to be terribly out of date.
I own a couple other Astburys and have to say I think they give you a lot of watch for the money. The Comet is no different; I paid $40 on eBay for it (from a very reliable Aussie seller) and I think it's a great bargain.
I was impressed by the size and heft of this watch. At 43 mm wide and 14 mm thick, it's a real chunk. Because it's a diver, however, the wide bezel doesn't make it look huge on your wrist. The crystal is flat and thick, but I'm unsure whether it's saphire or not.
The body of the watch and lugs are highly polished stainless steel, with the top surfaces of the lugs and bezel sporting a brushed or "pickeled" finish. The lugs bend down sharply from the body, making for a nice fit with the fake croco leather strap, so there is not a lot of ugly daylight showing between the end of the strap and the watch body.
The bezel isn't the tightest, and does have a bit of slop, but it is nicely executed with flats at the quarter-minute marks that make it easy to rotate. A large lume dot at the 60 second mark makes it easy to see in the dark.
The deeply-recessed face features silver Arabic numerals at all except the 3, 6, 9 and 12 o'clock positions; the silver hands are a nicely done sword variety, with the middle portions lumed for night reading. Also silver, but not lumed, is the second hand. The outer circumference of the dial is gilloched in finely-spaced concentric rings, as are the interiors of the silver-outlined complication dials. The center of the face is a cross-hatched design, contrasting nicely with the rest of the face. All lettering on the face is done in white and seems very easy to read, even for my poor eyes.
Frankly, I could do without the chrono complications, prefering just a day/date window, but the dials here don't seem too busy. A month dial is positioned at twelve o'clock, with the day-of-month wheel at three o'clock, and day of the week indicator at nine o'clock. The six o'clock position is occupied with a nicely done 24 hour indicator, backed up with a graphic sun/moon wheel.
The various complications are set with external pushbuttons at the two and four o'clock positions, while the day-of-week is set with a recessed pusher at eight o'clock. The crown is a polished, easy-to-grip, hexagonal shape, as are the pushers; none are of the screw-down variety.
Around back, the Comet has an exhibition back and although none of the screws are blued, the counterweight and other visible parts have been machined in an attractive striped design, which sets this watch apart from the typical run-of-the-mill cheapie movement.
Not sure what the movement is, but so far it is keeping very accurate time.
The strap is just OK, and a bit too short for me.
So, that's it. Nice beater diver at a great price, that wears like it cost at least three times the price. It also comes in a white face with blue numerals. I think I may need that one, too.
Jim
Last edited on Sun May 21st, 2006 07:25 am by