Tuesday 16 September 2014

Maxell cyclist watch by Smash!

Today's watch is a promotional model for a brand I'd not seen for years.

The watch is made for the Maxell company, or Hitachi Maxell Ltd to give them their full name. I knew about Maxell as they were a popular brand for cassette tapes and VHS tapes when I was young, but I'd not seen their name so much since the CD and DVD era started.  Their main product is actually batteries and the Maxell name comes from "MAXimum capacity dry cELL". Maxell was formed in 1960 as a manufacturer of batteries but expanded operations and was listed on the Tokyo stock exchange earlier this year. They hit the height of pop culture popular in the 80s with their iconic adverts showing a guy being blow  away by the power of his speakers (of course helped by Maxell tapes).

This watch is a 3 hand dial, or more correctly 2 hands and a disc. It has the Maxell name on the face, and has a design  which features a city skyline on the face and a cyclist on a clear disc for the seconds. It has a rubbery plastic strap and a very lightweight aluminium case.

The watch seems to be made by a brand called SMASH!, and their name is on the back and strap of the watch. The Smash! brand seems to have been asked about a lot online, but there is no concrete information about the brand (but it is not the same as the modern smash-watch brand who are missing the !).

As Maxell were at their most popular in the 80s, but this doesn't feature their popular advertising designs, I'd guess that this is a little later and is maybe a 90s model.

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