Shooting for the Stars

You know what? It has been entirely too long since we have talked about a watch that that purveyor of geekery – ThinkGeek – has had on offer. The last one was, I believe, a Star Trek one. Well, this time around, they’re still in the stars, with the Stargazer watch.

Now, if you ask me, stars and glow-in-the-dark just go together. Whether it be some of those first surreal experiences at the planetarium, or having glow-in-the-dark stars on the walls growing up, it’s something that just feels right to me. This Stargazer watch has an interesting way of going about it as well. You have the traditional lume showing up on the chapter ring (hour indices), and on the circular ends of the hands.

For the stars, you might expect more lume, but that could make for a mess when it comes to legibility. So, instead, what they did, was have a backlight built in (guessing it’s of the EL variety, ala Timex Indiglow) that lights up the star map on the dial. Is this anything that is going to help you navigate home by the stars? No, not really. It’s a gimmick, but it’s a clever one, and one I’m sure 10-year-old me would love playing with in the backyard on a summer night.

If you have a 10-year-old (or just are one at heart), and have a thing for stars, you can pick up your own Stargazer watch from Thinkgeek right here for just $59.99. Sure, you might chew through those batteries in a hurry with that backlight, but this watch is – for me – the epitome of what I would consider a “just plain fun” watch.