United Colors of Benetton Soft Digit LCD drivers watch

For today's watch, I'm blogging one that is a mix of brand and styles which have each been blogged before, but not in this combination.

The watch is from the brand United Colors of Benetton, but isn't one of the Benetton by Bulova models. Benetton has been around since 1965 when it began as a family business after one of the family members produced bright colourful clothing which was unusual at the time. Their most famous line of products came around in the 80s or 90s as United Colors of Benetton. This line was mainly where the most colourful and fashionable products were marketed, and the also produced various ranges of watches.

This watch is from a range called Soft Digit and is an LCD drivers watch. The drivers watch design means that the display is on the front edge of your wrist rather than on the top. This was originally designed so that you could see the time while keeping hold of the cars steering wheel, hence it was a watch for drivers. This Benetton model is a modern take on the design with a mirrored LCD display with 4 digits. The LCD panel is rectangular and shows 2 digits per line to make the digits as large as practical and easy to read. There aren't any real modes to the watch, but it can show time, date, or seconds.

The side mounted LCD is surrounded by a thin metal rectangle with the United Colors of Benetton name engraved into it. This is all mounted in a one piece rubbery plastic (maybe silicone) strap with an expanding clasp. As the strap needs to be cut to size, you should check what size it is if you want to buy one second hand.

I haven't worked out when this was released, but as the only ones for sale are on auction sites, I'd guess it will be from the 2000s, but not older than 2002. The earliest date is set because the price label is in Euros, and the watch sold for €40.

Gold R'Police (Tokyoflash Retrofit) LED watch

Today's watch is a rather heavy one, and a bit bling too.

The watch is by R'Police - or that is what I assume as the ' is actually a small rectangle on the real logo which can be found on the back of the watch. The history is a bit of a mystery, as it is also referred to as a Tokyoflash Retrofit watch too, and I've seen pictures with that on the back instead. I guess that there were different versions released for different markets.

The case is a heavy steel construction, and in this case in gold, but you could also get silver and gunmetal versions. It is made in the style of a drivers watch with the display on the side, but not so useful for drivers as you need to press a button to show the time.

The display is a dot matrix of green LEDs. When the button is pressed, there is a quick animation and then the time is shown. Time display is in 4 digits, but it is more unusual in that you can choose 12 or 24 hour display (the 12 hr display showing a little p when it's afternoon). Date is also a display option, but not seconds. Power comes from a CR2032 battery.

DuFFS brand side watch

It's a simple watch today as I'm on the move again, and want something easy to change.
The watch is made for DuFFs, who are a brand known for their skateboarding trainers. They have been around for a little over a decade, and pride themselves on delivering high quality and comfortable sneakers. As far as I know, they don't make their own watches, and the watch has smallprint on the dial stating "This product is made through an agreement with DuFFS".
The watch is a 3-hand dial with a large D in the face. It's shape is unusual being curved and elongated below the dial making it a sort of fish-shaped. The curvature makes it curl around the wrist (and the back is foam rubber padded), and it seems that it is designed to be able to be worn on the side of your wrist so you can see the time without turning your hand (as in the drivers watches I've shown before). It is similar to the Le Marquand Side Watch (that I'll blog about sometime soon), but the long side is below and not above the dial.
The foam rubber backing and velcro fastening fabric strap make the watch very snug and secure on your wrist, so it's good for sports like skateboarding.
The model number for the watch is ESD-503-R1, but I don't know what year it's from.

Kool Time Galaxy Cone - Conical drivers watch

Today is one of my more unusual looking watches.
It is designed like a drivers watch so that the display would be pointing towards you if your hands were holding a cars steering wheel. In this case, the body of the watch is a green anodised aluminium cone with the watch face on the cones base.
Time is shown on a small 3-hand dial with zigzag hands, and is powered by a small quartz movement.
The watch is made by Kool Time who make "Fashion Forward Timepieces". They use abstract shapes and 3D design and have developed thousands of watch designs.
The Cone watch is part of their Galaxy range and is Kool Time's most popular design. It is still available for sale, and costs $29.99.

LED drivers watch

This watch is of a type called a drivers watch. That is that the display is on the side angled towards you when your hands are on the steering wheel, so you don't need to move your hand off the wheel to see the time. Unfortunately, as this is an LED watch which requires you to press a button to see this time, that sort of defeats the purpose.

It is not a full LED watch either, as it is a red LED illuminated LCD display. It has only time and date functions with different buttons for each. The watch has no makers marks, but has a sticker on the back saying made in China.