Vega PA70 ladies LCD watch

I have ended up with quite a few ladies watches in my collection, as I have got them with collections of other watches, and although I can't really wear them, they are too interesting to get rid of.

Today's ladies watch is an 80s LCD model  by the Vega brand. The Vega line of watches was released by Citizen around the 1980 time frame. Citizen launched the Vega line to be their range of low priced digital watches, but Citizen ultimately decided to concentrate on the mid priced market instead.

This model is based around the PA70 module, and is a small cased LCD design. The LCD is a quite a clear display with 4 digits, and a slight slant to the numbers. It is quite a simple watch, but as well as the time, date, and seconds displays, there is also an alarm mode.

The full number on the back is PA70-341279, but I don't know if the second part is part of the model number or whether it is the serial number.

Storm "Dancing Man" watch

As my regular readers may have noticed, I've been a fan of Storm Watches for a long time, and it was a Storm that started my collecting. So I have a large collection of Storm watches, and today I'm sharing another one.

Unfortunately, today's watch is a bit of a mystery as I haven't been able to find its name, and so it's history is unclear.

From its design, and lack of name on the back, it is likely to be an early model. Storm of London started producing watches in 1989 with an eclectic mix of styles, with their early models having an unusual, but relatively uncluttered design.

This model looks very like the 1992 watch called Blast, but my watch has a different design on the glass (so maybe it's part of the same series). The front glass is thick, and covers the whole face of the watch with no border. The inside of the glass has been frosted, except for a pattern of a person in a baseball cap (who is maybe dancing). Behind the glass is a 3 hand dial watch (with a long seconds hand) and the watch face is mirrored behind that. The strap is a typical Storm design with solid end sections with a raised centre, and small links to the Storm branded clasp.

Alba Alarm Chronograph Y789

Today is my second watch with the Seiko Y789 module, but under different brand names.

The last model I showed was a Seiko Pulsar design (in early 2012), however this is under the Seiko Alba brand. Seiko released both the Pulsar and Alba brands at the same time with Alba being for the Asian market and Alba for Europe.

This Alba version has the full model number of Y789-5560 and was made in 1984. The Y789 module has a two line LCD display with time at the bottom and date on the top (and a day marker near the top of the LCD). It has alarm and stopwatch modes, and the mode button also cycles through to the time setting function too. The case design is quite heavy with a screw back, and is designed to give 100m water resistance.

Module by Poll Position Ltd. Co.

Today I'm wearing another watch which appears to come from a small independent watch company.

The watch is called Module, and has a very art deco or 50s feel. The watch name is written in a way that makes me think 1930s (with the other letters sitting in front of a giant O). The design looks like a 1950s home appliance with a curved plastic (like the old bake like plastics) and shiny metal look. The dial is just to the left of centre in a rectangular window, and there is a rotating disc for the date to the right of the dial. The strap has a matching colour to the case, and is real leather with the Module logo imprinted on the back.

The back of the watch shows the name Poll Position Ltd Co, which seems to be a purchasing company based in Osaka, Japan. The links I've found suggest they deal in manufacturing equipment (although those have Poll Position Co Ltd), but it may be they used that to make a line of watches. On the other hand, it could be that the back was supplied by Poll Position for another maker. The watch design also reminds me of the French Lip watches, and another link (which I've tried to translate) suggested that Poll Position Ltd Co were official distributors in Japan for the Lip brand.

Deadman Black Mechanical watch

The Deadman brand is a bit of a mystery. I've been trying to find out about them, but I haven't found anything online apart from some auction links. What  know is that they appear in a few magazines from the late 90s, they could be found in the cool second hand stores in Tokyo, most of the designs have a 60s or 70s feel, and they made both quartz and mechanical watches. The brand is identified by their name on the face with an 80s computer font style, and most have a model number starting GV.

This model is also a mystery as it doesn't have a model number on! It is a mechanical watch with hand winding and a 3 hand dial design. The case is rectangular with rounded sides, and the numbers are large around the dial (and it looks very similar un design and font to a Michel Jurdain watch i saw online recently). It is a partial skeleton, having a window at the 9 o'clock position showing the balance wheel. The back is also see through so you can see the mechanism working, but there is no text on the back. It is quite a smooth movement, with around 14,000 bph.

Rado Silky Silver Ladies Mechanical Watch

I'm blogging a ladies watch today as this is sort of in my collection, but it's not one I can normally wear (as it looks very wrong on my wrist).

The watch is a vintage Rado from their Silky range. The strap on this watch is a very tight knit chain link mesh strap with a silky feel to it. I've see  a few different Silky designs, but as all had this fine weave strap, I'd guess that this is where the watch got its name from. The strap is not really adjustable, as you need to cut it to the right length and attach the fastener parts with screws.

It is a small cased mechanical watch, but with just a 2 hand dial. The case is octagonal, but more of a rectangle with the corners cut off, and it has a textured silver face. I don't know exactly when this is from, but I think it's a 70s model.

The back just has the Rado name and logo, the material type (stainless steel), and the serial number, but no model number. These models were popular in Japan, and I've seen different Rado Silky watches being put for sale at over ¥15,000, but a very similar one to this sold on eBay in 2013 for around $40.

Alba W192 Solar Watch

Solar watches have always been promoted as watches with everlasting power. Unfortunately, like most rechargeable batteries, the battery/capacitor inside does have a life, and eventually, the watch only works while there is direct sunlight (like todays watch).

This watch is a W192, and is a small square solar powered LCD watch. The W192 module gets a special mention in the Seiko history as the Pulsar W192 Solar module. This module was released in 1984 and was one of the early Seiko solar watches. This watch is a little newer and was made in 1986 (although there is a website suggesting these came out in the 70s, but that is too early). 

It has a 6 digit LCD display at the bottom of the face, with the rest of the face dominated by the solar panel. There is a date display option, but I don't know if there are any other mode, as mine doesn't have enough power to change made. 

It is a very smart looking solar watch with a small size, light weight, and simple elegance. 

The full model number is W192-4090.

Casio AW-48 Ana-Digi watch

The more I cover, the more I realise I don't understand the numbering system of Casio. Some of the numbers such as DB being data bank watches os obvious, but the AW range today is more of a mystery as it covers different styles of watches from many ranges, but they are all Ana-Digi models (but not all Ana-Digi models are AWs).

This model is the AW-48H by Casio, and seems to be the variant AW-48HE-8A. It is a small and light resin case Ana-Digi watch with a resin strap (part number 642 EA1 16 PUR). The analogue display is an electronic 2 hand dial which is set using a button on the right side. The two buttons on the left control the digital display which is a 6 digit LCD. The watch uses a 3321 module, and has dual time, alarm, and stopwatch modes. Strangely, the top button is the mode and the bottom is the adjust which feels the wrong way around.

It seems that this watch has been produced for a while with other variations still on sale (with a numbered dial rather than using shiny markers like this variation). Saying that, I don't know when this watch is actually from.

Seiko AirPro Camo S651

Today, I'm wearing the second design of Seiko AirPro to appear on my blog, and the third AirPro I've featured.

This model is based around the S651 module, and is a large screened LCD model. As with the other AirPro, the watch is special because of the pump system that takes up a significant portion of the watch. Below the display is a rubber pump which is used to inflate an airbag on the back of the watch. This airbag forces the strap to get tighter and holds it in place, but because it is a cushion, it remains more comfortable than a tight strap would normally be. Above the display is the release valve where he air can be removed. The AirPro watches are very collectable, often going for a similar or higher price than the $275 it cost when it was originally released (- the Japanese price was 19,800 yen). Unfortunately, they are prone to aging, with the pump button often breaking as the rubber gets old and brittle.

This model has a two line inverse LCD display with stylized digits. The S651 gives it a stopwatch, a timer, and an alarm. This is the Camo model with a green and black camouflage pattern panel around the LCD. This shape of AirPro came under two range names which seemed to depend on the colour, and these were Street or Mode. This colour doesn't appear in the catalogue, but looks closer to the Mode range.

Zeon Projector watch

At one time, it seemed that projector alarm clocks were the popular thing, projecting the time on the ceiling so you didn't meet to turn to look at the clock. Of course, if you can do it in a clock, why not a watch.

That's exactly what the watch manufacturer Zeon did with their projector watch. On the right side of the watch is a large cylinder shaped add-on, which has a red light source, a display, and a lens. When the light button is pressed (which is not the big red button on the front, but on the left side), the light is activated and the time is projected. The projector shows 4 digits of the time, along with the Zeon name. The watch also has stopwatch and alarm modes, and these are also able to be shown on the projector. For the stopwatch when it is projected, it only shows whole seconds and skips the 10th and 100th of a second digits.

On the front is a normal LCD display with 6 digits for time, and a day and date above. On the front are the buttons for mode (-the big red one), and for the stopwatch modes. The first part of the strap is plastic, and so curves around your wrist, and the rest of the strap is fabric and velcro (with a Zeon branded leather tip).

As the projector takes much more power than a normal watch, this watch is powered by 2 batteries, a CR2032 and an LR41.

Thos model is a basic Zeon version, and on the back is has the number ZR22066. Online, I've seen Batman, Thundercats, and Nerf versions, but I've not found the basic Zeon version like this one anywhere. For the branded ones, the original RRP was between £15 and £20.

Geneva Ana-Digi Disc and LCD

Today's watch is probably one of the first unusual watches I bought on Ebay when I started collecting in the late 90s.

The watch is by another of the mystery brands called Geneva, and there isn't anything online which links to this watch's manufacturer. There is a brand called Geneva which sells Japanese quartz watches for low prices (and is only found on the sales sites) which may be the right company, but the font used for their name on the watch is not the same. I bought the watch because of its unusual look and low price (which can be seen by the build quality).

The top half of the watch has half a large dial, and a small dual in the centre. The half dial covers the hours with a two colour hand with a red pointer for 1-6 and a black pointer for 7-12. The small dial covers minutes and seconds with a rotating disc with a pointer for the minutes, and a disc with numbers on for the seconds.

The bottom section of the watch is the 6 digit LCD display. This part is an alarm chronograph, and only has an alarm and chronograph.

Apart from that, I don't know much else about the watch. I know it's from the 90s based on my purchase date, and the information on the watch says it is water resistant to 50m and the back is stainless steel.

Casio WV-59J Multi Band 5 Waveceptor

I've been through a lot of Waveceptor watches on the blog, and a lot have been Japan frequency only. Today's model is one that is a multi band version, so will work in Europe and the US too.

The watch is a Casio Waveceptor model WV-59J, and is a Japanese model. The full model number is WV-59-1AJF, and it is still for sale for around ¥4000.

The WV59 is a rectangular model with a black and shiny silver design, and a curved glass (which is a little strange for an otherwise squared watch). The display is dominated by the time across the centre, with a small display for date (8 digits) above, and a small dot matrix for the day below. In the bottom right is the receiver icon to show when it is searching for a time update (which normally happens 6 times per day).

Inside is a 3053 module, and this has dual time, timer, stopwatch and alarm modes. It works with 5 locations of radio reception from the atomic clock transmitter stations - using 40, 60, and 77.5 kHz. On top of this, it has world time with 48 cities covering 29 time zones.

Roboroid 0002 by Bandai

Today is another boxed robot watch, but one that was part of a robot series rather than a watch series.

This is the Roboroid 0002 and was one of a series of 5 robots released in 1984 by Bandai. Only 0002 was a robot watch, with the others being a radio (AM only), a calculator, and two robots. The watch, radio and calculators were all transformers, changing from this function into a robot.

As a transforming robot watch, it is quite a simple one with small arms, legs, and a head popping out from the large yellow body. All of the fittings are rotated out of the body, more like the Kronoform watches than the Bandai Tokimas.

The watch part is a 4 digit LCD display, which is openly shown ln the front of the watch. As far as I can tell, the watch is a simple one with the basic time, date, and seconds. As the watch is still packaged, I can't test anything, but I don't want to break the seal...

Twelve 5-9 - Q Version

I'm out to a club night again tonight, so wanted something flashy. Although, it's going to be rather difficult to tell the time at a glance.

This is another of the SeaHope 12-5-9 or Twelve 5-9. The SeaHope brand are specialists in LED watches which are often limited release. The 12-5-9 refers to the LEDs which are arranged in 12x hours, 5x ten minutes, and 9x minutes.

This is the Q Version, which is one of the newer design models. It has a more organic design with curved metal surfaces, and looks like some sort of alien technology. The hardest part with this design is working out which line is which, and which direction the bar fills. Starting from the 12 o'clock position and going clockwise it fits with the order of the name, and as there are a maximum of 6 LEDs per line, the first two are hours, next is the 10 minutes, and the last two are the minutes. Showing the time is done by pressing the button (at the 2 o'clock position), and there is a short flashing pattern before the the time is displayed.

This model is not available anymore, but was originally sold for around $190 through the Tokyoflash website. It originally came out around December 2007.