Super Lovers Donut

This is the thing I like about Super Lovers watches - this is another from my collection, and yet another completely different design.
The Super Lovers brand are from the Harajuku district of Tokyo, and are one of the popular brands for clothes with a club and punk feel. This is the 18th I've blogged, and there is a lot more brand information spread through the other posts - I'll probably collate that into a brand summary page before too long, so watch this space...

I've nicknamed this watch the 'donut' due to its design. The face is a small white circle with a black Super Lovers logo in the centre. This is home to the hands, with the watch being a 3 hand dial design. The nickname comes from the bezel which is a very large black ring around the face. The whole watch is 4.5cm across, with a 2 cm wide face and so the ring is 1.25 cm thick making it dominate the look of the watch. On the bezel is the Super Lovers name in large white letters. The strap is a white rubbery design, and fits in the black and white theme.

The Super Lovers watches have been around for a while (since 1988), but never come with any indication of date. From the state of the watch, I'd guess it was a newer model, but it might just have been kept well.

Franc Dot Matrix LED - Gold

Today's watch is a design I've featured before, but with some slight variations (and I wanted something bright for the concert I'm going to tonight).

The watch is by a company called Franc, but it is a challenge to find anything about them online (either because there isn't anything, or their name is too common). The brand name is on the back of the watch and has a very distinctive round/curvy font style.

I've blogged a white version of this watch before (June 2014), but this version is in gold with a black trim and a black padded (fake?) leather strap. The white model I blogged had writing on the back as well as the brand name, but this model doesn't have anything else.

The watch is an LED design with a dot matrix display (a 17x5 array). Pressing the time button sets of a random animation before the time displays, and after a short while the display switches off in another animation. Pressing the button again while the time is showing starts another animation followed by the date.

When the watch is from is also a mystery. They seem to be new watches, and similar designs are from the late 2000s and early 2010. However if the brand was selling watches still, I'd have expected to find something in my web searches, so my best guess is late 2000s.

Boy London BOY-10-W - Yo

Today's watch is by one of the brands that I seem to be one of a limited number of collectors.

The watch is by the fashion brand Boy London. I've featured quite a few different watches from this company on the blog, but although the brand is well known, I haven't been able to sort out the true history of the watches as their time line doesn't fit. The original Boy London brand was started in the 1970s in London and was popular in the underground club and punk scene. The brand had a pause in the 90s before coming back in the 2000s, but it appears the majority of the watches started in the 90s, probably by a company who bought the rights to the brand name.

This watch is a BOY-10-W, but I can't see why the model number is different (as it is similar to the more numerous BOY-31-W). It is an analogue watch with a Japanese quartz module and 3 hand dial design. The case is a common Boy London design with a plain round bezel with the Boy London name taking up 1/4 of it. The face is mirrored, with the word BOY diagonally across the middle and YO written at the 2 o'clock position. The O in the middle of BOY has a line across the middle so the shape resembles a London Underground station sign. The strap is also a common Boy London design with two colours of leather and a presstud, but this has the text Boy and Fun of wearing pressed into the brown leather part.

The back is the variant with the name and model number plus the statements "This is an original Boy London product" and "Any product not bearing this mark is not genuine".

Everlast ED501 LCD watch

Today's watch is by a sports brand that I've not featured here before, but one which I remember seeing a lot when I was younger.

The brand is Everlast, who I remember due to their connection to Boxing. They are an American brand who are known for their sportswear, mainly in boxing, martial arts, and fitness. The company is based in Manhattan, and their products are sold worldwide. It was founded in 1910 making swimsuits which were designed to last longer than the product on the market at that time, and so called Everlast. They made their first boxing equipment in 1917, and has since become one of the most well known boxing gear brands in the world.

This watch is an LCD watch by Everlast and appears to be part of a line called Everlast Timing. Based on the Amazon listing, it appears to be called the ED501, but only has the number 49-0032 on the watch (and 49-0032-501 on the price label). It was originally sold for ¥5,250 (incl tax), but is not available anymore. For this model, there aren't many references of which aren't from the far east, so I think this may have been only released in that area.

The watch itself is an LCD with a dot matrix style display. As the main display only shows numbers, I think it is just that the digits are made of LCD pixels, but that it isn't a true dot matrix array. The display has 3 lines of information, with the top showing day and date, the middle showing time, and the bottom showing seconds. The watch has dual time display, as well as alarm, stopwatch, and timer modes, and there is an el-backlight. The back of the watch has the Everlast logo as well as the usual info (316L Stainless steel bezel and back, 5 atm water resistant).

As the watch seems quite new, but isn't sold anymore, I'm assuming it is from the 2000s, or maybe the early 10s.

Okaya City Nagano watch

I've blogged all sorts of commemorative/ promotional watches on my blog so far, but I think this is the first which is for a city!

This watch is made for a place called Okaya City, which is a small city in the Nagano Prefecture (county) in Japan on the banks of Lake Suwa. The city was founded in 1936 is in the centre of the prefecture and has a population of just over 50,000. After WWII, the city established itself as a place for high precision manufacture, and is now home to Seiko Epson and Olympus.

The watch is a standard round case analogue watch with a 3 hand dial design. The face features a picture of a colourfully dressed person holding drumsticks with the Okaya City name on their drum. In the background, the picture has what looks like bells, trees, and maybe a city landmark.

The back has the city name engraved into it, as well as the usual watch information (water resistant, stainless steel and base metal).

The watch is made by Seiko (which is appropriate as they have a base there), and is based around the V701 quartz module (which inside is revealed to be a Shiojiri V70C). It was manufactured in a year ending in a 5, so could be 1985 for the 50th anniversary of the city in 1986, or 2005 for the 40th anniversary of the twinning with Mount Pleasant, Michigan, US, or something completely different. My guess for the watch style is that it's an 80s watch, but possibly 90s.

Conart LED watch

I'm going out to a clubbing event later so wanted a watch which lit up (and also was good for seeing the time during the solar eclipse later too). So, I chose this LED watch.

This watch is by a brand called Conart. From what I have been able to translate, the brand is Japanese and inspired by the graffiti culture of the 80s and 90s. They grew to become a street wear brand, and have been very popular in the Hiphop scene in Japan. There isn't much else about the brand that I've been able to find, but they appear to have produced several different LED watch designs.

This model is an LED watch with quite a retro sci-fi feel. It has a curved stainless steel case with both brushed and shiny sides. The face is covered by a domed glass, through which you can see directly to the circuit board. The LED display covers 4 digits and is a traditional LED style with thin LED lines making up the numbers. Each digit also has a magnifying dome for ease of reading, and these also catch the light giving it a high class feel. There are two buttons for the display, allowing the watch to show time and date, and the setting button is inset and requires a pointy implement to activate.

Similar Conart watches are still available online at Japanese sales sites for around the ¥3,000 price. I've not seen this particular model, but I don't expect it to be from earlier than the 2000s.

Android USA Interceptor AD449

It's been almost 3 years since I blogged my last Android USA watch, so it was about time I blogged another.

The Android USA watch brand was started in 1991 by the now CEO and lead (only) designer Wing Liang. The brand has the philosophy "high-quality production of cutting-edge designs with forward-looking technology and the support of excellent service.". The brand started with fashion watches, and now has a global reach from their base in Florida. The watches have a mix of materials to suit the design, and the movements are sourced from around the world.

This watch is a called the Interceptor (which may have been a range rather than just this watch). It is an analogue chronograph with a 3 jewel ISA Swiss quartz movement inside (based on information on the back). The design has a 3 hand design with two small dials. The small dials are at the 2 and 10 o'clock positions (which is unusual), and there is also a window showing the date running between the 3 and 5 o'clock positions. The seconds hand on the main dial is the one for the chronograph (and has the Android USA logo on the back end), along with the top left dial, with the clock seconds on the top right dial. Other information on the back is just the material (solid stainless steel), the serial number, the water resistance (100m/330ft), and that it was designed in the USA.

This model has the model number AD 449 (or more correctly AD449BBU with this colour combination), and came out in 2013.

Biaoka S017 Automatic Skeleton watch

Today I'm wearing a fancy looking watch from a brand I've not come across before.

The watch is by a brand called Biaoka. From what I've found online, the brand is Chinese and seems to specialise in mechanical watches. I've not found a website for the brand themselves, but the watches are sold at many different sales sites across the Far East. It doesn't look like the brand has spread much beyond the Far East though, as there is limited information on English language sites. The watches they produce seem to be in the low/reasonable price range, with many for sale in the $20-$50 range, but I've seen some models being sold for up to $360.

This model is the S017 and is a mechanical analogue watch with an automatic movement. The movement is a sweep hand design with a beat frequency greater than 14,400 beats per hr (-it looks to be around 17,000 bph from my crude counting). It has a 3 hand dial design with a small extra dial at the 6 o'clock position. The unusual thing is that the small dial covers seconds along with the seconds hand on the main dial, so there are two seconds hands running in sync.

The watch has a skeleton design with the gold and silver movement showing through the holes on the black face. Where the face isn't cut away, it is engraved with a fine pattern giving a high-cost feel. The brand name and small dial are in a pink colour, and there are also jewels/crystals at the hour markers. The back of the watch is also clear so you can see the spinning weight, and there is the text 'Biaoka' and 'Time Concepts' printed on the glass. The strap is metal, but very light, so I think it is a mix of stainless steel and base metal.

I don't think the brand is that old, so I'd guess that the watch is from this decade. I found one for sale on a Malaysian website for around $35, so I don't think it is a high cost model, although everything apart from the strap seems well made and high quality.

Casio W-220 Alarm Chronograph

Today's watch is another of the many designs of Casio LCD watch.

This model is the W-220, and is the 3rd of the Casio W series that I've blogged. It is an LCD model housed in a rounded resin case with the shape and design being continued into the resin strap.

The LCD has two lines of digits covering the day and date along the top and time (6 digits) below. Above the time, in the top left corner, is a round LCD window with 10 segments that fill and empty with the seconds. To the right of that are 3 indicator mark for the alarm, chime, and split function on the stopwatch. Apart from the stopwatch, this watch also has alarm and dual time modes, all powered by the Casio 2963 module.

From what I've seen, it appears that this design (or similar) has been around for a while, and is still shown on the Casio website (with a full model number of W-210-1BEVS).

Nike WR0105 Imara Keeva watch

I'm wearing a sporty model today with a watch from Nike (which technically is a ladies watch).

The watch is the WR0105 and appears to be called the Imara Keeva. I've tried to find the name Imara Keeva to see if it means anything, but I only found references to the watch in my search. The Nike watches seem to have started in the late 90s and are now discontinued.

This model keeps with the Nike tradition of a large and easy to read LCD display. It is an inverse style LCD with two lines of numbers. The time (4 digits) takes up about 2/3 of the display, with the day and date as the default display below. When changing mode, the watch shows the name of the mode in the bottom line before that mode starts. The modes covered by the watch are alarm, dual time and chronograph. The design in unusual with a small rounded rectangular face, but in a quite deep case. It has a very narrow rubbery strap which mounts into the back of the case.

There is also a lot of information about the watch on the back. It is copyright to Nike USA, and covered by US patents D528439 and D528441. The watch is made in China from a mixture of stainless steel and performance polymers, and is 5atm water resistant.

For the date, the main hint I'm working from is the start date for the watch module. This begins at 2005, and as the Nike watches haven't been active for a while, I'd assume this was first released in the late 2000s.

Michael Kors MK-5036

After yesterday's post, I decided to keep up the theme of blogging a fashion brand I'd not featured before.

This model is from the American fashion brand Michael Kors. The brand was started in 1981 by an American, Michael Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr), who started making clothes from his parents basement. The Michael Kors brand is known for creating classic American sportswear for women, and has become best known for their high end fashion accessories (including watches).  

Today's watch is the MK-5036 (or MK5036), and is quartz analogue chronograph model. It has a 3 hand dial with three small dials, and a date window at the 4:30 position. The main dial only uses two hands for the dial, with the seconds being shown on the bottom small dial. The seconds hand on the main dial is part of the chronograph function along with the left hand small dial, so the chronograph measures seconds up to 60 minutes. The last small dial on the right side is for 24-hr hours.

The watch has a round mother of pearl face in a gold coloured case. The watch bezel around the glass is covered by a ring of small jewels/crystals, and the design is finished off with a padded brown leather strap.

The back has the brand name and model number, as well as the CE mark. It also has the usual info on materials (all stainless steel) and water resistance (10atm /100m).

Ive not been able to find much about the release date or price online, with most of the sales being on eBay or from the far east. The lack of current references suggests it is at least a few years old.

Bossini Z-Gear B-623

Another different watch, and another different designer today on the blog.

My watch today is by the Hong Kong based fashion retailer Bossini. The Bossini brand was founded in 1987, selling casual wear and apparel for men, women, and children, and they have released a few different watch designs over the years. The company has over 1000 stores spread across 40 countries including Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and India (which is an interesting mix of locations).

This watch is part of a range called Z-Gear, and is a quartz analogue watch with an unusual case shape. It is a 3 hand dial designed watch, with no markings on the face apart from the bossini name (without a capital letter). The case is silver and gold, and has an unusual shape on the right side where the round shape of the rest of the watch is cut-off and has a design looking a little like a screwdriver or bottle opener. The tab that sticks put hides the crown, and is marked with a 'b' logo, with the bossini name is engraved on the other side of the face as well.

The watch came in a range of different colours, and this model has a dark red face and tan coloured leather strap. The back is etched such that it is split into 4 quarters, either having etched text on a shiny background, or an etched background with shiny letters. The back shows the bossini logo and Z-Gear name, along with the model number B-623. It also states that it is a quartz watch with stainless steel back, and is showerproof.

The watch isnt available anymore and so I'd guess a 90s or 2000s release, but I've seen the sales tag for one that showed an original rrp of ¥8,500.

Adidas ADH4003 Alarm Chronograph

I decided that for today's watch I'd wear one of the models from one of the big sports brands - Adidas (a German brand which is the second largest sportswear brand in the world).

This model is one of their LCD watches with a retro style. Based on the style and the use of the shuttlecock/trefoil logo on the face, I assume it is part of the Adidas Originals line which began in 2008 and covers products with a retro 70s/80s feel.

The watch is the ADH4003 and is a relatively large resin cased watch with an inverse LCD display. The LCD has 3 lines of information, and the digits are made up of square and rectangular blocks. The top line is the smallest, covering the day and date, with the mid sized seconds display at the bottom, and the time in  largest digits in the middle. Pressing the mode button cycles through the modes, showing a text description on the top line, followed by that mode if you stop pressing. The modes included are dual time, chronograph, timer, and alarm.

The back reveals that the watch wasn't made by Adidas themselves, but that it was 'Made under  license from adidas AG'. The logo, brand name, and model number are also on the back, as well as informing that the back is stainless steel, and the watch has 5 atm water resistance.

It is still possible to buy this model online, so it is pretty new. It does appear to be a popular watch though, as I've seen a sales site where it was scoring 4.7/5 in the customer reviews.

Void V02

Today's watch has a familiar way of telling time, but from a brand which I've not featured before on this blog.

This watch is the V02 by a company called Void Watches. Void Watches was founded in 2008. It began as a side-project of Swedish designer David Ericsson before expanding into a small company. The name Void refers to the large empty areas of space, which is likened to time, being something always present that cannot be seen or touched, only measured. Their website says that the designs are telling the story of bringing ideas into reality, and are meant to inspire. Their core philosophy is the Swedish speciality of simplicity. They use simple designs and the best material for the job, focusing on quality and attention to detail.

This model is the V02 and is a quartz analogue 2 hand design. It has a silver shiny rectangular case with a solid feel and only the bottom half has a window showing the face. The design is finished with a black leather strap with the Void name and logo imprinted on the back. The window for the face only shows the bottom half of the dial, and so the hands have two different coloured ends which correspond to the different colour numbers on the dial. On the website, it says "By changing the traditional way to display time the user is encouraged to reflect on its value. Most users however, use it as an excuse to be late!".

The front of the watch has the Void name, and the face reveals it has a Japanese quartz movement. The back has the Void logo, name, and model number, as well as the signature of David Ericsson. It also reveals that this watch is stainless steel and 3atm/30m water resistant.

The watch is still on sale at the Void website, and has an rrp of $205. Based on the brand starting date, and the low model number, I'd guess that this design was originally from the late 00s.

Seiko Alba Neatnik V707

Today's watch is from one of Seiko's lesser known lines of watches - the Neatnik range.

The Neatnik watches were released by the Seiko brand Alba, starting in 1999. A Neatnik is someone who is habitually neat and tidy, and the watch was marketed with the tag line "Are you neat?".

The early watches are easily identifiable by their small dials and aluminium cases. This model is one of the square designs with a deep case. The cases have the designation h.a.o.c, which stands for hard anodic oxidation coating and refers to the manufacturing process. This model is more unusual in that it has a black anodised case and strap. It also has one of the common Neatnik strap designs with aluminium links and a plastic fastener (with a strap part number of F1BGFZ-C).

It is based around a Seiko V707 module, and is a 2 dial design. The larger dial is in the centre and is a 2 hand dial for time. The second dial is smaller, covering the seconds, and is places next to the main dial in a window which gives the feeling they are wheels connected by a belt/chain.

The back has information about the construction materials (base metal (Aluminium) an stainless steel), and quotes it as being water resistant. There is also a set of letters, KMN-MNJ-SGT, which appears on many of the Neatnik watches, but I don't know what it means.

The full model number is V707-5080, and it was made in 1999.

Watchup GMT watch

At a first glance, this watch is one of the most normal and boring watches in my collection.

It is a quartz analogue watch by a brand called Watchup. After trying to find about the watch online, I've concluded that the brand is another of the relatively anonymous fashion brands that are throughout the watch market. It looks like the watch is a pretty new model, so despite the lack of internet coverage, I think think this is a watch from within the last 5 years.

So why is it part of my collection? I like to have some kind of interesting feature, historical value, or links to other watches in my collection in the watches I collect. This watch has a subtle and easy to miss at a glance feature which meant it was one to keep. The special feature is that this watch is a 4 hand dial design (and there is a normal date window at the 6 o'clock position too) . It has the usual 3 hands for hours, minutes, and seconds but with an extra one on the central pivot. The extra hand moves slower than all of the rest, and is a 24 hr hours hand, pointing to a second set of hours markers on the sloped edge around the outside of the dial. Apart from the brand name, there is a little bit of information on the watch covering the water resistance (100m/330ft), and material of construction (all stainless steel), but that's about it.