Seiko Alba AKA V743 - Black and Aquamarine

As I'm quite a collector of late 90s fashion watches, the AKA watches are a little under reported.

Seiko released the AKA brand under their Alba brand new the mid 90s. They followed on from the Spoon watches which seemed to mark a change from function to fashion in the popular watch styles. The AKA line featured various different designs with sci-fi looks and bright colours, and were the main competition for the later Citizen Independent 1481010 watches.

This model is an oval design based around the V743 module and is similar in style to the silver limited edition V742 AKA I blogged just over 2 years ago. Looking at the differences between the watches, it seems that the V743 just has the addition of the day window compared to the V742.

It is a 3 hand dial design with the centre hidden behind a spot painted on the glass. There is a day and date window at the 3 o'clock position which fits nicely with the oval dial, and the crown is at the 4 o'clock position. This model is one of the less common black anodised versions with a black case and strap, and the case is 10 bar water resistant.

The full model number is V743-5A10, and this one was made in late 1996. It was part of a sub-range called black&gold which came out in 1997 and had black and gold cased versions for a higher cost than the normal silver models. This model had the catalogue number AMBN007 and it cost ¥15,000.

EleeNo Graph - ART014

I've had one of these watches for a while now and this is my second after a dead battery broke the first one. I liked the idea of the design, but I think it is one of the hardest watches to read, and I a couple of times I have got the time completely wrong when trying to read it in a hurry!

The watch is by EleeNo, which is a brand from the SeaHope family of watches. The EleeNo watches specialise in 'handless time' meaning that most of their watches don't show the time with the traditional hand arrangement.

This model, The Graph, follows the design style, and has the model number ART014. It has a round case which raises up to peak along the centreline of the glass. The face is an oval shape with a central line where the numbers sit. The top black half covers the hours with 12 at the top and 6 at the bottom. The hour 'hand' is a white leaf shape on a clear rotating disc, with one side a solid line, and the other a dotted line. Where the white line from this shape crosses the white line with the numbers is the time, and the dotted and solid lines let you know which way it is going (solid for 12 to 6, and dotted from 6 to 12). The bottom half of the face is white with a black text and covers the minutes. This works the same way as the hours, but uses the black 'leaf'. The confusion in telling the time comes from trying to read the wrong hand on the wrong half, and getting the dotted and solid lines mixed.

The watch came out in the mid to late 2000s, and this one was bought in 2008.

Alba Chrono W348

All of the big watch manufacturers made too many different models of watch to count them all, so it is not unusual to find models which don't appear online too much. Today's model is one of those.

This watch is by the Seiko brand Alba, and is based around their W348 module. It is an LCD model with a fast chronograph function. The watch will measure to the 1/1000 of a second, which is probably much faster than the users reaction speed. It has a rectangular LCD display, with the two lines of numbers/text only covering just over the bottom half of the panel. In that part there are two lines, the normal 6 digit time, with the date and day above. Over that are a set of 10 blocks which fill and empty with the seconds, and a curved set of blocks (at the left) which fill and empty with the 10 seconds. Along the very top of the LCD are the mode markers for the watch. For modes, the watch has stopwatch, timer, alarm (x3), and dual time.

This particular model is a colourful one in blue, green, and red, and has the model number of W348-4A10. From the serial number and style, I think it is from 1994, and my hunch was confirmed as I found it in the 1995 catalogue. In there it shows a catalogue number of ADQD007, and an original sale price of ¥6,000.

Citizen 6031 Coca-Cola watch

I've come across many watches which promote a product during my collecting. Most of the time, they seem to be the cheaper watches made by unknown manufacturers. Sometimes, they do have movements by one of the big names, but today's watch is unusual.

The watch itself is actually made by Citizen. It has a standard back detailing it was made by Citizen Watch Co., it is water resistant, and has a 6031 quartz module. The only thing missing is a serial number, which unfortunately means I can't determine the date of the watch.

It is a 3 hand dial watch, and has the phrase "Enjoy Coca Cola" on the face (but no Citizen markings on the front). The face only has hour markers, but there are roman numerals around the front edge of the case. The strap is a brown leather one, without any markings.

As this is a Citizen watch, it has a model number, which is 6031-343476.

Citizen Trans Continents 5538 Lunar Module

This is the third of my Lunar Module watches from the Citizen Trans Continents range, and has a bit of a different style to the others.

The Trans Continents watches are a collaboration between Citizen and the Japanese clothing brand Trans Continents. The watches usually have a retro space or travel theme, and the Lunar Module watches take the space theme even further.

This model uses the 5538 module, and has a different layout to the 63xx module of the previously blogged ones. This is a 3 'hand' dial design, with the hours and minutes shown on regular hands. The seconds display is a clear rotating disc with the picture of a rocket on. The rocket is positioned so it looks like it is orbiting the centre of the dial as the seconds go round. The watch doesn't actually have moon phase despite having the Lunar Module name. There is a window at the 6 o'clock position which shows a moon, but only around 12 o'clock. The disc in the window actually moves with the hours, and shows a group of planets (around 3), the lunar capsule part of a rocket (around 6), and the moon lander (around 9) as well as the moon.

Looking at the serial number, I guess that this is an earlier model compared to the others I'd blogged. I guess that is is from 2000, as I don't think it is as new as 2010, and looks too modern for 1990.

The full model number is 5538-H24458. The instruction manual comes in both Japanese and English, but doesn't come with much unique information.

Gallucci Tonneau Skeleton

Today is my third watch by the manufacturer Gallucci.

As with the other Gallucci watches, this one is a mechanical automatic watch. The Gallucci brand is from Hong Kong and was started in 2002. It is owned by the Hong Kong based watch manufacturer R and S International Limited and they chose the name after the celestial atlas by Giovanni Paulo Gallucci.

This model is a Tonneau shaped watch in the skeleton style with a Gallucci mechanical automatic movement. The movement can be seen through a round window in the centre of the dial and a large round window in the back. It has a 3 hand display and there are two other small dials (which is the same as the other Gallucci watches I've posted). At the 6 o'clock position is the 24hr dial and at the 3 o'clock position is the date. Time is set by the crown, but there is a push button for setting the date. Above the date window there is a raised section of glass which magnifies the view.

Casio Intelligent Gear Twincept ABX-52

I've had a soft spot for the Casio Twincept watches for a while now. One of the first watches I had, and wore a lot, was a Twincept style model (and i'll blog that specific one when I've found a replacement strap).

The feature that caught my eye was the combination with the dial for the time, and the LCD display hidden in the front glass. Today's Twincept has the same feature, but is probably the most basic model I've come across.

This model is the ABX-52, or to give this variation its full title ABX-52B-7E. It has a two hand electronic dial with a single button for advancing the time. The LCD display has two lines, the top is a dot matrix, and the bottom line has 7 digits. There are two modes with the LCD to cover storage of telephone numbers, and to cover fax numbers. Overall, there are 50 slots for data and it is classed as a Telememo 50. This is all powered by a 786 module, and housed in a 5 bar water resistant case.

The original sale price for this model was ¥9,500, and I guess it is from the 90s.