Metro Baltimore

The Metro brand of watches is one which I only started collecting quite recently. All of the links I have to the watches seem to tie it back to a Japanese furniture store. They make a range of watches and clocks, most of which seem to be named after places in America.

This watch follows the naming tradition and is called Baltimore. It has a TV shaped dial in a shiny metal case, and has a retro feel to the design. The face features the Metro logo (the word Metro in a script style font with a 5 pointed crown above) along with the Baltimore name, and the word Crystal, which I assume refers to the glass.

It is a quartz model with a 3 hand dial and a date marker at the 3 o'clock position. The strap is metal, and closed with an expanding buckle with the Metro logo engraved on it.

The back of the watch has the logo and watch name along with saying it is a "1970's model". This must refer to the design style, as I think the Metro watches are from either the late 2000s or within the last few years.

Metro LED Date and Time Bar Clock

I've blogged a bit about the Metro brand before, but today's model is not a watch.

The Metro brand seems to be lined to a furniture store in Japan, and they make a variety of clocks and watches. The logo for the brand is the name Metro in a script style font, which is normally found somewhere on the product.

One of the designs the Metro brand seems to be known for in Japan are their LED clocks which come in all manner of shapes and displays. This model is a bar shaped LED with 10 digits in 1 line. The display covers month and day first, with a small gap before the hour, minute, and seconds. The buttons are on the back with there being 3 buttons for modify, add, and reset. The clock is electric powered, using a adaptor to lower the voltage to 12V DC.

I guess the clocks are reasonably recent, but may be from the 2000s. I've not seen this particular model online, so don't have any idea of price or origin.

Metro Manhattan Deluxe

Today's watch is the 5th in my collection of Metro watches, and I'm finally beginning to find more information. I seem to be going through a Metro phase too, as I've found quite a few for sale recently.

The Metro brand is a bit of a mystery, especially as their brand name is such a common word, and their watch names aren't so unique either, but they seem to be quite popular whenever they are sold. However, with today's watch I had a breakthrough. I managed to get a case and manual with today's watch, and on there was a company name, Delight, and a phone number. Searching using this has lead me to a company called Delight Corporation Co Ltd in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. The company is quoted as being a furniture company, which explains why I've seen Metro branded clocks, and I guess they must have expanded into other areas too. The company may no longer be in operation though, as their web address currently has no owner.

This model is the Metro Manhattan, and is an analogue watch with a quartz module powered 3 hand dial design. It has a large rectangular case with rounded corners and a black and silver face. The face has numbers for the hour markers, and the words Metro, Manhattan, and Deluxe printed in the centre, along with the Metro 5 pointed star logo. The back has the same text, and nothing more. The strap is a wide plastic design, tapering down from the width of the case. The model number for this design is WW010.

For the date of this model, I'm still having to guess. As the company doesn't seem to be around anymore, but isn't mentioned in the late 90s watch magazines I have, I'm guessing this is from the 2000s.