Cawenlon Rectangular Compass & Thermometer Watch

Keeping in with the watch theme from the end of last week, I have another gadgety fashion watch to blog today.

This watch is by Cawenlon, who are a fashion brand making several different watch designs, but without an obvious homepage online. I've seen several watches of theirs online (although a lot are listed as Cawelon), and most have the same features, just in a different layout.

This model comes with a large rectangular case (5.5 cm wide by 4 cm tall) and 3 displays on the front. The right display is a standard 3 hand dial quartz analogue watch display with a curly C logo below the 12. The left hand display is a round thermometer dial with a needle pointing to the right temperature (in Celsius). At the top in the middle of the face is a smaller display, and this is a small compass floating in a bubble of liquid, and at the bottom middle is the Cawenlon brand name.

There is no information on the watch which allows me to search the history, so I don't know much more about it (except that the back is stainless steel). My guess is that it is reasonably new (early 2010s, possibly a little earlier), and it looks to be a low cost brand.

Cosmo Queen Flip-Top Compass Watch

One of the key starting points for my collection was the idea of "interesting and unusual". The collection has expanded beyond this, but I still have a thing for unknown gadgety watches like today's.

This watch seems to be called Cosmo Queen, based on how I've interpreted the hard-to-read script that the name is written in. I've found two main references to the name Cosmo Queen - one is a card from Yu-Gi-Oh! while the other is a range of watches by a Swiss brand called Titoni. I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with Yu-Gi-Oh, and based on the design, I don't think it is by Titoni either, so it must be one of the unknown fashion watches.

The watch is a standard 3 hand dial design with a Japanese quartz movement. The difference is that you can flip the lid up to reveal a compass underneath, and when you do, you can also Flip the watch part over so you can see the time and compass together. The strap also has another feature - there is a round thermometer set into the lower part of the strap.

I don't know much more about the watch (as the back of the case only says Swiss Army, but I think that is only used as a name rather than a reference to who commissioned it). This type of watch has been around since at least the 90s, so it could be from anytime since then.

Alba W800 Compass Watch

It's sunny again today, so I thought I'd choose a colourful model for today's watch. The watch I chose is by the Seiko brand Alba, and is one I've nicknamed the Alba Pokéball watch due to the colour scheme of the face.

The watch is based on the W800 module and it seems has been marketed under the 3 main Seiko brands, Alba, Pulsar, and Lorus.
It is an LCD watch with a very busy display to show lots of information at the same time. The bottom third of the screen is the time and date display over two lines. The remaining 2/3 is dominated by a circular area where the compass mode is displayed, but acts as a crude seconds marker when the time is on. Around the top half of this circle is an area which fills with the seconds (10 segments), while at the sides of the bottom half of the circle are boxes which show the selected mode.

The W800 module is a compass model, but doesn't seem to give a live compass display. From what I've read, you select the direction you are wanting to find, point the watch at the sun, and it will then point to the direction you are wanting. The watch has the other normal digital watch features of chronograph (with recall function) and alarm. Setting the watch is simple, and is done by holding the top left button until the display flashes, and then using the right side buttons to change the time (bottom to change the number, and top to move to the next option/number).

The case is a plastic design with metal back, and this variation is a light purple with yellow and light green buttons. The face is red and white with a light green circle, and this is what gives it the Pokéball appearance. Overall, the watch is 10 bar water resistant, and it was assembled in China.

The full model number is W800-0010, and both the serial number and the start date for the module date function show it is from 1992.

Innovative Time Corporation MDW031 Alarm Chronograph with Compass

Today's watch is an old digital watch from a brand which doesn't exist anymore.

This watch is a traditional looking LCD watch by a company called Innovative Time Corporation. Looking online, it appears that the brand doesn't exist anymore, with the last information being that they were bought by a company called Trendmasters in 1999 (who's website also seems not to exist anymore). Looking further, the Innovative Time logo used on this watch was registered in 1983 and went out of use in 2003, putting limits on when the brand was about. The company states on the watch that they were 'leaders in quartz technology', and it seems they also made promotional watches for companies such as Disney.

This watch is the MDW031 and is an alarm chronograph model with a compass. It has a standard LCD style with 6 digits and day markers above, and the watch modes are time, date, alarm, and stopwatch. The compass is actually mounted on the bottom half of the strap with small dome and floating compass pointer.

The back has the logo and name, and states this was made in China. It also says the watch is made from resin and stainless steel, and is 3 atm water resistant.

From all of the information about the brand, and taking into account the design, I'd guess that this was an 80s model (or early 90s at the latest).

Storm Navigator

Today's watch is one that I've been wanting since I'd first started collecting watches, but I'd not been able to afford it then while I was a student, and then it wasn't for sale anymore.

The watch is by the London based brand Storm and is called the Navigator.

The Storm brand began at the end of the 80s and have been producing many different interesting designs of watches.

The Storm Navigator was released in the mid 90s, and was one of the most high tech watches they produced at the time. The watch is large and pretty thick and the face shows 4 circular windows. It seems that the design was reissued, starting in 2009, and is currently for sale on the Storm website.

The Navigator has quite a few functions, and includes both analogue and digital time display with a 2 hand dial and a small LCD display with two rows of two digits (placed at the diagonals). It also has windows for an analogue thermometer, and a small compass. On the bottom section of the watch is an orange torch which lights for a few seconds after pressing the button.

Inside, all of the parts are in separate modules. Opening the back first reveals the torch module, and that needs to be removed to get to the rest of the modules. The thermometer and compass are small independent removable modules, and the two watch modules are also in separate slots. The analogue module is a standard Japanese quartz module, and the LCD module is a tiny unit, less than 1cm x 1cm and around 5mm thick.

Casio Protrek PRT-40 Bird Life International

I decided on today's watch as it is Easter Sunday, and that is a day I go hiking up a hill to watch the sun rise.

The watch I chose is one of my more extreme outdoor watches, and was also a milestone when it came out.

The watch in question is part of the Casio Protrek range and is called the PRT-40. It came out in Japan in 1996 and was the third of the Protrek Triple Sensor watches. On the European Casio site, the PRT-40 is shown as one of the watches in their milestone list with a 1998 release date, so I think it was just late coming out of Japan. As this was a Japanese release, and the module date starts in 1995, i think this was an early PTR-40 model.

The Protrek range started in 1994 as an outdoor watch range for hikers. They started with a triple sensor watch which evolved very little design wise to the PRT-40, but this model was the first with an automatic el-backlight.

This particular version is the PRT-40BLJ, and is a model that as released in partnership with BirdLife International. The BirdLife International organisation is a global collaboration between different conservation organisations. It was started in 1922 as the International Committee for Bird Protection, but changed its name in 1993. The organisation is in charge of the official Red List of birds requiring protection.

The PRT-40 is a typical triple sensor model with thermometer, compass, and barometer/altimeter. It has a large and robust design with a round LCD display in the centre. The LCD display is made up of three rows and a display round the edge of 60 markers for seconds or as a part of the compass. The other parts of the LCD are the time at the bottom, date or temperature /height in the middle, and a small dot matrix at the top (for day or mode).

Inside is a 1471 module which is powered by 2 batteries. Modes on the watch include altitude /temperature (with altitude graph on the dot matrix), data recall (for heights and temperatures), alarm (x5), and stopwatch. The compass is not accessed through the mode button, but the bearing button. Pressing this shows the current bearing, but it is not a live compass, so doesn't change automatically when you turn.

The strap is a fabric, leather, and cord design, fastened to the case through Protrek branded plastic connection, which also has the BirdLife International name printed on it. The first part of the strap is the black leather section, imprinted with the Protrek logo, which is sewn to the velcro fabric strap. It also connects to the secondary cord fastening with a Protrek branded hook, which makes sure that the watch can't accidently fall off.

The back contains the usual information, and has a BirdLife International logo dominating the back plate.

Aquatech Ana-Digi watch with Compass and Thermometer

I've always had a liking for watches with temperature sensors, but this one is a little different than the normal.

This watch is by Aquatech, who are a slightly mysterious company who seem to have made all manner of different designs of LCD watches.

This model is an Ana-digi design with a 3 hand dial and 3 small round LCD, windows. The watch also has a compass and a thermometer but these are strange as they are mounted on the strap. The thermometer is a dial type with readings in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. The compass has a floating magnet in its housing.

At the moment, the LCD display doesn't work. Looking at the buttons, it has at last a stopwatch mode, and there is a buzzer so I'd assume there is an alarm. There is also a light button.

It may just be a flat battery as the back states there is an SR626SW(AG4) and a CR2016, but I only found the AG4 and an AG3, but no sign of the CR2016 when I took the watch apart.

The only other information I have is that it is 50m water resistant and made in China.

Suunto Vector Black

We're expecting a storm to pass here over the next couple of days, so I decided to choose a watch that can survive the elements.

The watch I chose was the Vector black by Suunto. The Finnish company Suunto Oy was created in 1936 and are manufacturers of outdoor watches, dive computers, and compasses. The factory is next to the headquarters in Finland, and many of the watches are still hand finished.

The Vector model is called the original outdoor watch on the Suunto website, and is one of the most popular models. It is a compass and barometer watch, and uses the air pressure change for altitude calculations. The watch case is quite large and ruggedly built with a custom strap. The front us dominated by the large round LCD display. Time is shown on the largest digits in the centre, and the seconds are shown in a ring around the edge of the dial, or they can replace the date on the bottom. In the top left is a little barometer sign showing the air pressure trend. The compass mode shows the North using the markings around the edge, along with your bearing in digits at the centre. There is also a little spirit level bubble on the glass to make sure it is flat. The altimeter shows height in meters, and has a rate of climb/descent at the top of the display. You can change this to show air pressure in millibar, and in this display, it also shows the temperature. The other watch modes are alarm (multiple), stopwatch, and timer. It takes a very large, and not so common battery, the CR2450, which is accesses with a coin opening slot on the back. My one has had a bit of a hard time in the past so has lost its printing around the face.

This model has been popular in the movies and on TV, appearing in the movie Shooter, the TV series Supernatural, and being the main prop on the film Clockstoppers.

Timex Expedition WS4

An Easter Sunday tradition on a nearby island is to watch the sun rise from the highest point on the island, and hope to see the sun dance. So I decided today should be one of my hiking watches.

The chosen watch is by the Timex watch brand, and part of their Expedition line of watches.

It has probably the most comprehensive LCD display of any of my watches, having a dot matrix area (for time and mode description), two areas for numbers (both of which are also set-up to do letters), an LCD dial display, and a part with pictures of weather conditions.

The weather conditions icons are from the barometer part of the watch, as the changes in pressure can be used to predict the weather, and this is shown on the watch. Below the icons usually lies the temperature of the watch - but as with most watch thermometers, it's badly affected by body temperature. The pressure sensor is also used for the altimeter, and the watch can show graphs of a walk, store data on a journey, have alarms at a set altitude, or just your altitude on the display.

The last hiking function is the compass, which I think is gyroscope based rather than magnetic (as you have to calibrate north). On this mode, the LCD dial points as a compass, and it also shows heading in text and degrees. The LCD dial usually shows the time, but the number of LCD segments can only show changes of two minutes.

There are still even more functions in the watch. It also has a chronograph, timer, dual time, and alarm!

The model number is WS4, and on the back there are two numbers - M810, and the serial number. I guess the WS stands for Wide Screen, as the watch is known for it's widescreen dashboard display.

It is a well sealed watch (50m water resistant), but has a battery hatch on the back. It takes a CR2430 battery, and is the first watch I've come across with that big battery - 24mm by 3mm deep.
The model originally came out in 2009, but is still available today at a cost of around $120-150 (although it seems that this colour is no longer available). The instruction manual pdf can be found at the Timex website.

Body Glove BGE-2000 Digital Compass

I've talked before about things I realised about my collection through blogging, and today I realised that I have quite a few watches for surfers!

Today's watch is by Body Glove which is a family business started by two brothers in 1953 at Redondo Beach California. They were looking for a way to get protection from the cold water, and came across using neoprene, resulting in the first practical wetsuit. The company has now expanded to cover more elements of water sports, and today's watch is one of those additional products.

The watch is the BGE-2000, and is an LCD watch with digital compass. It has a large round high visibility LCD display with 3 lines of information. The middle line has the largest digits and is the time. Below are the seconds, and above the day and date. Around the outside are 16 blocks that fill and empty clockwise in pairs. When the compass is activated (by holding the mode button), the blocks are used to show where North is (like a compass needle), and the date area shows your compass direction, and heading in degrees. It also has a stopwatch, timer, 4 alarms, and dual time, and there is an el-backlight.

Googling the watch gives only Japanese sites, so this particular version may have been a Japan only model. Don't know when it came out, but I think it will have been from the 2000s or 2010s.

Super Lovers Triple Fatboys LCD dial and Compass watch

In my collection, I've ended up with quite a few watches from the Harajuku Super Lovers brand which is based in Tokyo. The Super Lovers brand was founded in 1988 and mainly aims at the fashionable Harajuku girls and they have made a few watches over the years.

This watch appears to be called XXXL Triple Fatboys judging by the printing on the face. To show the time it uses an LCD dial where the hour, minute, and second hand are segments on the LCD. Each 60th has two sections, with the minute and second hand using both sections, and the hour hand using only the middle segment. This means that the LCD display has 120 segments! To set the watch, it looks like you use a crown, however this is actually a button which, when held, moves the time forward.

Under the display, there is also a compass. Unusually, this is a magnetic compass with a spinning pointer.

No information is shown on the watch about date or model number, but a sticker on the back says it was made in China.