EleeNo EG5 Turning Wheels

My Friday watch is one that takes a little getting used to for reading the time.

As is often the case with the unusual designs, this watch is one of the Japanese watches in the SeaHope family. To be more specific, this watch is part of the EleeNo range who are there to produce watches showing 'handles time'. The EleeNo range was started in 2008 by the SeaHope founder Yasushi Kimura. There is more on the SeaHope family on my SeaHope summary page.

This model is in the EG line which is part of the Cyber family of EleeNo watches. The Cyber watches are the EleeNo digital range, while EG means that it tells the time with segmented LCDs.

This is the EG5 and has the additional name Turning Wheels. It works on the 12-5-9 principle, meaning it has 3 LCD wheels with segments that cover hours (12), 10 minutes (5), and individual minutes (9). The watch actually has 10 segments on the minutes wheel, with the last one just flashing to show the seconds progressing. Pressing the button causes the el-backlight wheels to show a turning animation before displaying the time. Time setting is done through the inset button and needs the tip of a pen (or similar) to press.

The design has a rectangular case in silver with a mirrored inverse LCD with a coloured background, and a black leather strap. It was available in a few different LCD colour and strap combinations. Many sites I've found quote this as being an LED watch with LED segments, but as far as I can see, this is purely an LCD watch with a backlight.

The back just has the text "Turning Wheels, EG5, Graphic Art by EleeNo" and the SeaHope website address.

It seems that this watch came out around 2010, and had an initial price somewhere around the $70-80 range. Outside of Japan, it has been available through the usual sites Tokyoflash and Intelligent Watches.