Michel Jurdain EG-5312 Sun & Moon Automatic

Today's watch is another mechanical watch (continuing my current batteryless watch phase) by a manufacturer with an inconsistent history.

The watch is by a brand called Michel Jurdain (which is often accompanied by alternate versions of the name like Michael /Michelle Jordan /Giordan). The capitalisation is a little unusual for the name, as on the watch it is actually written as 'michel Jurdain' . Some of the sites which refer to the brand note it as being a French company based in Paris, started in 1982, and specialising in menswear. This would be ok, except that the only other sites which reference the brand are in Japanese. The 'official' Michel Jurdain webshop is also in Japanese, and the 'about' section says it is a domestic brand...

The watch itself is a model which seems to be called Sun & Moon and has a model number of EG-5312. It has an automatic mechanical movement with the balance wheel visible through a window at the 6 o'clock position. There is no seconds hand, but from the ticking of balance wheel it appears to have a high frequency tick. On the dial there are also two smaller dials at the 9:30 and 2:30 positions. The top left dial is a 24 hr hour hand, while the top right dial also rotates over 24 hrs and has pictures of the sun and moon to mark day or night (and is where the name comes from).

The watch case is in the tonneau style in steel, and there is a window in the back so you can see the weight for the automatic winding. The back plate of the watch only says 'automatic' and 'water resistant', but the weight has the brand name and logo and the model number printed on it. The design is completed by a thick padded leather strap with the Michel Jurdain name printed know the back.

The Michel Jurdain watches are for sale now, and I've seen this model still being sold new, so I guess it isn't old, but it isn't in the official webshop anymore. The watches are expensive with the webshop showing the brand selling models veteran ¥60,000 and ¥140,000. There does seem to be many sites which always seem to be selling the models on sale, and this model is being sold for ¥15,000 after a 79% discount (suggesting an rrp around ¥70,000).

Lotte Zero 1997

Today's watch is an unusual shaped promotional model with a bit of a sci-fi feel.

The front of the watch only has the word Zero on it, but the back reveals it was made for (or maybe even by) Lotte. The Lotte Corporation are well known in Japan and Korea as a confectionary manufacturer, but not so much for their watches. The company was originally founded in 1948 as a maker of chewing gum, but has expanded over the years to be a lifestyle company (including cinemas, shopping, electronics, hotels, chemicals, and amusement parks).

The watch is an LCD model with an inverse LCD display in a metal case. The case is an oval shape (widest to the sides) with a raised round centre. The case also sticks out at the top and bottom for the strap connections and the lower of these has the Zero name pressed into it. The LCD is in the middle of the watch and is rotated by 45 degrees. The LCD module is a simple one, just covering the basic time, date, and seconds, but it does have an electroluminescent backlight. The back of the watch has the Zero name, 'Lotte Original' the date 1997 and the serial number. The serial number is only 4 digits long which suggests that there is no more that 9999 of these watches.

Zero is actually a product by Lotte and is a sugar free chocolate. It is quoted as being released in 1996, so the 1997 date on the watch is either for the first birthday, or maybe the true release date (with 1996 being the date it was announced). The Zero chocolate logo is a circle with a thick diagonal line in the centre (i.e. a zero), and looks the same as the centre of the watch (the raised round section for the circle and the LCD display being the diagonal line).

Musk MA-2118 Chronograph

Today's watch is by a brand I have come across recently, and who seem to have become quite popular in Japan.

The watch is by a brand called Musk. The Musk brand seems to have only appeared recently in the Japanese watch market. Their logo is an intertwined male and female symbol (circle with an upwards arrow or downwards cross but the male symbol is different than normal with the arrow pointing straight up), so I guess it means they are a unisex brand. I've not found any useful information in English with most of the watches found on Japanese sales sites, and I'm still unable to find their website. The brand has produced all manner of designs of watches for men and women with prices up to around ¥20,000.

This model is the MA-2118 and is an analogue watch with a quartz movement. It is a chronograph watch with a 3 hand dial design with 3 small dials. The small dials cover seconds (bottom) and minutes (left) for the chronograph as well as 24 hr time (right). The chronograph is operated by the buttons above and below the crown on the right side.

I think this model is pretty new, coming out in this decade, and is seen it on sale for around ¥10,000 but also heavily discounted online.

Storm Rollernet

I've blogged watches which move is all sorts of ways so far. There's been watches which rotate, twist, or flip up, but this is the first where the face can be rotated 360° in all directions!

The watch is by Storm of London, and is called the Rollernet. As regular readers will know, Storm watches were the ones which started me collecting watches. The brand started in 1989 to produce fashionable but affordable watches, and have a recognisable style.

The Rollernet is an analogue watch with a 2 hand dial. The dial is set into a sphere of glass and metal which houses the whole watch movement and display. This sphere is set into the body of the watch in a way that allows it to rotate freely (like the ball in a roll-on deodorant). To adjust the watch, you need to take off (unscrew) the ring holding the ball to get to the crown (as well as the back for battery replacement).

The rest of the watch has the brushed steel look of the Storm watches, and it has a variation on the normal strap design with holes in the long solid first links, but the normal Y-piece flexible section. The back gives the material (steel) and the brand and model name, but not much else.

From what I've found online, the watch was around in the mid 2000s, but it may have been first available at the end of the 90s (but I've not been able to confirm that so far). The original rrp seems to have been around $170, but that is also hard to completely validate.

Casio W-E10

Considering how many Casio watches are in my collection (-this is the 162nd on the blog), it feels like I don't wear them that often.

This model is the W-E10 (but sometimes written online as WE-10 or WE10)  by Casio, and it has a slightly different feel than many of the Casio watches I own.

The W-E10 is a large digit LCD watch with a rounded LCD panel. The display has 3 lines, but is dominated by the time display which takes up around half of the height. The other lines have smaller digits and cover day and date (top), and seconds (bottom). Inside is a Casio 2470 module which gives the watch time, alarm, and stopwatch functions. It is also an Illuminator model with an el-backlight.

The design for the W-E10 is very light, and has tapered edges which give it a very slim feeling on your wrist. The case is plastic with a steel back which has 5 bar water resistance, and the strap feels like it's made of the common flexible plastic which is common on Casio watches.

My searches have found that this had an original rrp of £24.99, but it isn't for sale anymore. The design looks relatively new, and this along with the watch's condition suggest to me it's likely from the 2000s.

United Colors of Benetton Dual Dial Watch

I've been travelling today so I decided to wear a watch which can handle multiple time zones.

This watch is by United Colors of Benetton, and also has a link to a watch I've blogged before. In November last year, I blogged a wide strap watch with a replaceable head (rather than strap), and this model is another of those. The watch has a wide rectangular head, but this time with two separate 3 hand dials, each with their own quartz movement. As with the other model, this watch has the crown unusually at the 12 o'clock positions. The back of this watch also has a registered design number, and this watch is 7451111055 (which starts with the same 7451).

The original sale price for this model was €99, but I'm not sure when it was released.

Android USA Flip Lid Dual Dial

It's a quick post for me today.

The watch I've chosen is by a brand I've blogged a few times called Android USA. The brand was started in 1991, and from the range of watches I've come across, they have made all manner of different styles of watches.

This watch is not so easy to use one handed, as the time is basically hidden behind a metal plate. Below the plate is a little switch which when pulled down allows the lid to flip open. Behind the lid, there are actually two analogue dials. These are both 3 hand dial designs, and have separate quartz movements and a crown on each side of the metal case.

The back of the watch has the Android USA logo, and a statement that it is Android design, and "Property of OKO" but I don't know why.

There isn't much info about this model, so I don't know when it's from. It looks like it would fit with the style of metal watches that came out in the 90s.