Traditional mechanical watches have a timeless quality only matched by the ageless, simple joy of classic arcade titles like Asteroids. To celebrate the 45th anniversary of Asteroids, Atari, and watchmaker, Nubeo released a slate of limited-edition wristwatches with a watch hand in the classic triangular, alien-blasting spaceship.
Atari and Nubeo’s Asteroids collection includes five styles with similarly colored bands. Each watch face features a classic scene from the original 1979 arcade hit, including a field of vector graphics-style asteroids and flying saucers. The spaceship doesn’t move across the screen, but it spins in the center while constantly firing at an incoming alien bogey.
It’s a regular 50mm watch case size with a sapphire lens. According to Nubeo’s specs page, it uses a Japanese automatic movement system with three hands. The ship rotates as the seconds hand, while the saucer acts as the hour and minutes. The asteroids—painted with glow-in-the-dark pigments—drift on their own disc, though they don’t relate to any timing. Otherwise, it includes a screw-down crown to set the time, and it’s powered by wrist motion, so you won’t need to worry about battery replacements. Like in the game, the watch wants you to know your momentum.
The Atari watches also come in a special case emblazoned with the Atari logo and an inside cover featuring classic arcade art. Some versions come in “pumpkin,” orange, blue, “citrine,” yellow, and red, which all change the color and style of the watch face. The real prize is the black Nova Nightfall, with a multicolored watch face that reminds me of playing both the original Atari 2600 version of Asteroids and the recent rerelease of Asteroids Deluxe on the Atari 7800+.
It’s the kind of watch that’s fun to stare at, though it may not be the perfect timepiece if all you want is a quick way to check the time. The lack of numbers does not help the busy watch face to help with orientation. The watch is rated 5 ATM, meaning it’s nominally water—and dust-resistant. It has a two-year warranty, though the company will only replace the watch’s movements, hands, and dials.
Many of the styles are already sold out, including the “Nightfall” edition with the multicolored asteroids and the classic red Atari logo. The limited edition watches sell for $500, but their full stated MSRP is $1,650. Nubeo previously released limited edition Space Invader watches that also completely sold out before they were ever listed at the stated price.
I’ve started to appreciate old-school watches more since diving into the work of ultra-expensive smartwatches from Apple and Samsung. I enjoyed the TimeStop D20 watch with its 1970s styling, though that included the extra functionality of a random number generator for playing tabletop roleplaying games. The Asteroids watches are pure style pieces. If you want to express your love for old-school arcade gaming and you have $500 to burn, you may not get much better than this.
