Today's watch is not powered in the normal way, as it requires water to work.
The watch contains a water activated battery. The battery required water to work, and is depleted with use - the watch is not water powered (as is often mis-reported). The way it works is that the battery does not contain the electrolyte that is required in a normal battery, and so does not produce a voltage. When water is inserted through the holes in the left side of the watch, the water enters the battery compartment, wets the internals acting as the electrolyte, and power is produced. When the watch dries out, power is lost again, and the watch remains dormant until more water is added.
The watch module is quoted as PM3/W282NZ and has time, date, and seconds display modes.
These watches were initially released in the late 70s, but have been manufactured in the millions. This particular watch was a promotional model for Autotag (car accessories).
Got mine in 1990's as a child in the Amsterdam Technology Museum
ReplyDeleteI ve got one from my childhood around 1985 it was working then until i find it again and test it and guess what...it still working!Now i give it to my son and he loved it .
ReplyDeleteDepending on your age, you may or may not remember seeing your father wind his watch each night before going to bed. If he did not, he would surely wake to a watch that had stopped. Montre Romanson
ReplyDeleteFound a Minolta Riva quartz water activated watch in farmers market in a bowl of scrap watches. Caught my eye immediately and still works. Cannot see much info on this particular model but similar to the picture in view.
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