Star Trek Enterprise Watch

Today is a watch with links to another famous sci-fi series - Star Trek.

The watch was released in 1998 and has no makers mark (only text on the back is that it is copyright of Paramount Pictures, and that it is a Japanese movement).

The watch is a standard dial arrangement, but the second hand is a disc with the NCC-1701 Enterprise on. The picture on the face is a top view of the disc section of the Enterprise, along with the starfleet insignia.

There is an additional feature activated by the button on the right side of the watch - it plays the original Star Trek theme tune.

The watch movement is powered by 1 AG4 battery, and the music player uses another two.

EleeNo Eclipse

I collect all sorts of unusual watches, but some watches in my collection I feel are a little too feminine for me to wear, and instead are used by my wife. You can probably tell from the much less hairy arm in the photo!
This watch is another by the SeaHope brand EleeNo, and is called the Eclipse. In the EleeNo range, this is one of the EleeNo Lite models.

The watch has two discs showing an orbit, with a light sun for hours, and dark moon for minutes. The eclipse comes just a little longer than every hour when the minute hand passes the hour marker.

The watch was released around 2007, and came in several colours. The watch strap is a thick rubber, and has the words time design imprinted below the watch head.

Burg Phone Watch

Sometimes people ask me "why do you still wear a watch when you have a mobile phone?". With this watch, I can reply "who needs to carry a phone when you have a watch! "

This watch, by the Dutch company Burg, has a built in tri-band mobile phone. There is no display, and the modes are indicated by a blinking LED.

To use the phone, the sim card fits into a tray in the left side. To dial, the numbers around the watch act as the input, and the phone either works on speaker, or with Bluetooth.

For the watch part, it is just a standard dial display. It can be hard to read though, because the offset large numbers and brand mark make you think the watch is rotated.

Citizen Independent 1481010 - D400 Freshjive Special Edition

Time to get back to the 1481010 range today.

This is a special version of the D400 LED range of watches, released for Freshjive in 1998. Freshjive was founded in 1989 by Rick Klotz. Originally intended to reflect the varied influences of his California lifestyle, the company became known as one of the originators of streetwear culture.

The face has the shadow image of a running man, and the phrase "you are running out of time". The watch head also has this phrase below the display, and Freshjive above, and the strap has a small symbol printed upon it.

The watch has an LED display, with the hours in green, and minutes in red, and is illuminated when the bottom button is pressed. After the time is displayed, there is an animation from the LEDs, with either patterns or numbers. The animation depends on which hour it is. The watch also warns of a low battery by replacing the animation with a single flashing LED (4 flashes for low, and 10 for very low).

The full model number is D400-L18340 and the catalogue number is IT21-4308H

For more on the 1481010 range, see the overview page. LINK

Seiko Timetron-h

Today's watch is another of the late 90s Seiko watches (which seems to be the hayday of the interesting and unusual designs).
The watch shares the same W853 module as the Seiko AKA that I featured in an earlier post.
The Timetron-h was released in the late 90s, and seems to be one of the more iconic watches of the time (as it is always discussed as a very popular design on the web). The watch was on sale in the late 90s, with an original sale price of 15,000yen, and came in 5 colours. This model had the catalogue number of SCWA001.
The watch has a large inverse dot matrix LCD displays with 4 lines of data (or 3 with the double height time display option). The watch has many modes (chronograph, timer, world time, and alarm), which can be seen if you press the bottom left button.

100th Watch: Bandai Tokima Original - Matt Silver

This day marks the 100th watch posted in my blog :-D and so I've chosen one of the watches that is special to my collection!
The watch is the Tokima Original robot watch by Bandai. This is one of the set that was issued in 1998, the 15th anniversary of the original Tokima Digorobo watches from 1983.
The 1998 version differs from the 1983 watch as it is made of metal, and it's body is about twice the height. I guess that this was made for adults (and it is large and heavy) who had the plastic watch when they were kids.
Display-wise, the watch uses a dot matrix LCD panel (31x7?). It has time, date, and stopwatch modes, and uses a green LED light for nighttime use.
At random intervals, the watch also displays scrolling messages in Japanese, or occasionally an animation (smiley face, running stick man). I've seen mention that there are 800 messages that the watch will give, but haven't been able to confirm that yet. It also has an option hidden in the instructions which allows you to set your birthday, and the watch will then give you a birthday message!
This watch is special in that it was the first Tokima robot watch I got, and so this started the whole robot watch collection! More can be found on the Tokima watch range in my overview page: link

Spencer Open Wheel

Today's watch seems to be a tribute in that it shares many design features of another brand.

This watch is the Spencer Open Wheel. It was made in China, and has an LCD display rotated by 45 degrees. The LCD numbers use a more complicated display than the normal 7 segment display, with 21 segments per number. Function-wise, the watch only has dual time and date.

The watch that this shares many features with is the Casio Film Watch FS-00. Both have the same shape display and button layout, but the LCD is different (the Casio is 3 lines and inverse), and this watch is at least double the thickness.

Buckle LCD Watch

Today's watch has decided that having a watch head is unnecessary, and all you need is the buckle.

The watch comprises of a strap and buckle only, with the LCD display being integrated directly into the buckle.

The watch itself does not have any visible makers marks, and uses a basic LCD (time, date, and seconds only). Buttons are on the back, and need a sharp item to press them, and are a for mode and time setting.

Citizen Independent U000 - Ana-Digi

It's a smart watch for me today - I'm off to an engagement party tonight :-)

The watch I've chosen is one of the recent Citizen Independent watches. The watch is an unusual Ana-Digi, with the digital display being normally hidden.

The main display is the analogue dial, with the crown at the top (12 o'clock position).

The digital display is a round LCD covering the whole dial. Pressing the bottom right button switches on an inverse dot matrix seconds display (in the 3 o'clock position, and rotated to be read from the side). When the other modes are selected (bottom left button), the full LCD screen is displayed, which is a 3 line standard LCD display (also rotated to be seen from the side). In time mode, the display shows days, time and seconds on the 3 rows. The other modes are alarm, chronograph, and timer.

The watch uses the U000 module, and had a full model number of U000-002676-02. This particular watch was made in 2007.

Ovo Binary Watch

Today is another binary watch, but this time by the (German?) brand OVO. The watch seems to be a common design which can be seen commonly on the web.

Display-wise, the LEDs for showing the time are hidden behind a half-mirrored front screen.

The watch is easier to read than many binary watches, as both the time mark and number that it corresponds to lights up when the time button is pressed. Other LEDs that light up are pointers to the hour and minute lines, and the am or pm markers (am is a sun, and pm is a sunset).

The watch number may be OVO 446-114

The original Nooka by Matthew Waldman for Seiko

Today's watch is the watch that began the Nooka watches.

This watch was designed by Matthew Waldman in 1997 with an "intuitive interface to tell time" using fractions and bars. The design was licenced by Seiko who released this watch (which was a variation on Matthews original design).

The watch has an LCD display split into several sections. The top line shows the hours in blocks (up to 12) and a pm markers. The main number display shows the minutes, with a small display for seconds.
Mode-wise, the watch has time, date and alarm. For the date, the bar shows months, the main display shows date, and the small display shows the day.

Unfortunately, according to Waldman in a 2004 interview on the Wristfashion blog (link), Seiko never marketed the design (no ads, no events), and made it from a steel that couldn't be exported to Europe (which should have been the biggest market). This meant they didn't sell too many units, and the watch production stopped (2003). Waldman then ceased the licence agreement, and the Nooka range was started (2005). The Seiko Nooka is similar to the Nooka Zoo which has the hours and minutes switched.

The watch is designated the W524-4A00, and and this one was manufactured in 2002. The model number is STN001, and the strap part number is 3030-Z.C

EleeNo ART034 Transdots

Time for another SeaHope watch today :-).
This is another of the watches from the Kimura designed EleeNo Lite range, and is called Transdots.
The watch has floating hands on a normal dial arrangement (fat for hours and thin for minutes). The dial is hidden behind by a blue cover with small circular holes through which the hands can be seen.
The watch has a model number of ART034.

Casio DB-360 - multilingual data bank

The Casio I'm wearing today is one of their varied Data Bank range (model numbers starting with DB, EDB, or VDB)

The DB-360 uses a 2515 module, and has a 30 slot telememo, 5 multi function alarm, timer, and dual time. The strap is model S910DB. The display has a dot matrix LCD along the top (normally showing the day), large numbers in the centre for the time, and small numbers at the bottom for date. The calendar is auto set with weekday and summertime changes. The light is an LED back-light.

The watch is also multilingual, and can operate in: English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch, Danish, German, Italian, Swedish, Polish, Romanain, Turkish, and Russian.
It uses a CR2025 battery, which should last for 10 years.
The manual can be found at http://ftp.casio.co.jp/pub/world_manual/wat/en/qw2515.pdf

Nintendo Game Boy watch GBE-002 by Mani

The watch I'm wearing today is one I first thought was an unofficial homage to the Game Boy, but after checking about a bit, I now think it's official!

The watch is by Mani, and was released in 1992. The design is meant to resemble the original Nintendo Game Boy. On the back it states that the trademark and copyright is held by Nintendo. The strap also states the name watch boy.

The watch is a basic LCD showing time and a day marker along the top. The right action button (A) shows the date, and the left action button (B) shows the alarm time. Pressing both A and B together switches the alarm on and off. The direction pad switches the watch into setting mode.

Mani released several watches in this series (all looking like the Game Boy), with the others I've seen being game watches (eg. Super Mario Race (which can be found here), Dr. Mario). This watch is thought to be rare (according the the Game Watch Guys).

The model number is GBE-002 (all Mani items have the GBE code, including a calculator and walkie talkies)

Casio Poptone LDF50

Today is a colourful futuristic watch in the Casio Poptone range of watches. The aim of the range is to be colourful and cute, and has a mix of moulded plastic and chrome. This particular one is the LD-50-1

The watch has a 3171 module with 4 lines of display on the LCD. From the top there is the day and date, the time, seconds, and at the bottom, a set of 4 concentric rings which build and disappear with the seconds (2 rings have 3 sections, and 2 have only 2).

All of the buttons on this watch are on the front in a block puzzle pattern, and cover adjust, mode, 12/24 hr clock, and mode. Modes available are time, alarm, stopwatch, and dual time.

The watch manual can be found at http://ftp.casio.co.jp/pub/world_manual/wat/en/qw3171.pdf