Green Invisible LED Watch

I've been over in the US for the last week, and so I thought I'd buy a watch over there as a momento of the trip. Today's watch is that one, and u thought it was unusual enough to fit in with the rest.

At first glance, this watch just looks like a green silicone band with a wider section on top of your wrist. Further examination reveals there are no visible buttons around the case, and the back is a bare light grey square.

The secret is that the button is on the front and hidden under the silicone cover. The button is in the middle at the bottom of the case, and if you miss that spot then nothing happens.

Pressing the button lights the 3 1/2digit LED display which shines through the case (unless the light where you are is too bright). The LED display starts with an animation lighting all of the LEDs (as 18:88) before showing the time. Further presses cycle through time, date, and seconds.

There is only 1 button, so setting involves holding down the button until the display flashes. Short presses then change the digit, and a long press moves on to the next one.

The watch label has the model code FAS-SQ-TCH, and calls it the "invisible LED - green". There is also the number 102409, on the label, but I don't know what that signifies.

The original rrp is $49, but you should be able to find it cheaper elsewhere.

Cheap and cheerful: Blue Silicone band LCD watch

This is the cheapest new watch in my collection, and is one of the most basic.

The watch came from an "everything £1" shop in the UK (about $1.50).

The watch has a 1-piece silicone band which stretches over your hand. The LCD display is encased in the silicone, with only the display visible. The two buttons are operated through the strap for mode and time setting.

It is an incredibly simple module only having time, date and seconds.

Lenticular strap LCD watch

Today is another of my cheap and cheerful watches.

This watch was bought from a chain of shops called Octopus, but I also saw this style of watch being sold in the toyshops in Japan. The thing that appealed to me was the lenticular strap, as this gives the watch an eyecatching effect when it moves. The lenticular type of picture is the same as the 3D posters you can get and the kids toys where you see a different picture depending on the angle you see it from.

Because of this effect, I've noticed many people having a double-take when they glance at the watch and see the strap seem to move! You can see a bit of the effect in the wrist shot as the pattern seems to change part way around the strap.

The LCD module is un-named, and only has time and date functions.

John the watch

So today is the first proof that my watch collection is not just full of rare and exclusive watches, but is home to the weird, wonderful, and occasionally downright silly! This watch firmly falls in the silly category :-).

The watch itself is a standard, watch which I've seen sold cheaply in many stores. The model is called the Rubicon, and manufactured for the Yazaki Co. Ltd from Tokyo. On the box, the Rubicon is refered to as "The Great Trick Timepiece".

What got me interested in buying this one was that it had been given a cute personality ( reminding me of cookie monster from sesame street), and that we share a name - yes, the watch is called John! Everyone, say hi to John the watch :-) The conclusion of this post is that if you want to make a cheap plain watch interesting, give it eyes and a name, and make it cute (and I'll buy it. ;-) ) !!