Nixon - The Iris

Two days running, and I'm blogging!
Today's watch is one of the most bright pink watches I own, and is by the Nixon brand.

This model is called "The Iris" and is sold as a womens watch (although the 39mm case is large enough for it to be unisex).
It has a rounded square design with a tiny window in the centre, where the rotating discs can (just) be seen for the time. There is also a second window at the right side of the face which has a second dial rotating with the seconds, but this only shows different shades of pink as it rotates. This means that inside is a little cramped, with the watch having 2 separate quartz movements, one for each dial! The rest of the face is pink, only broken-up by the mirrored silver Nixon name in the bottom corner, but in the right light you can just about see the two sets of discs through the face. The two movements also makes the placement of the crown a little unusual, with it being on the left side of the watch (so the watch is especially good for people who like to wear their watch on their right arm).

The strap is a clear rubbery design (which seems to have faded to yellow here), and has the Nixon logo cut into the lower half of the strap.

The case is shiny stainless steel, and the watch is 50m water resistant. The back has the Nixon name and the watch name, as well as their usual short catchphrase for the watch, "Eye of the Storm".

From what I can see, it was released in at least 3 different colours, and this one is 'bold pink' with a model number of A106-971

The original retail price was ¥16,000

Happy Halloween - Super Lovers Skull Watch

Hi blog followers.
It's been a while!
As it is Halloween today, and I'm wearing a spooky watch, I thought I'd do a quick blog post while I'm sitting on the bus.

Today's watch is by one of my favourite brands for unusual designs - Super Lovers. The watches are from the Tokyo based company Super Lovers, who seem to release many different watch designs, but only in small quantities.

This particular design uses a watch head designed as a skull, with a small round dial in its forehead. The face also has text around the centre, with phrases "1950-1998 good future for you!", "Tokyo Rock", and "80s New wave ivy punk".

This skull design is coupled with a black leather strap with a presstud type fastening. The strap is also decorated with a skull design, and the words SUPER and LOVERS on the top and bottom sections of the strap.

Inside is a typical Miyota quartz movement, using an AG4 battery.

Metro Design - Omni

Today's watch is another Metro watch, but not the same line of watches I blogged a couple of days ago.

This watch is by a brand called Metro Design, and so far they are a bit of a mystery. I've seen the watches on the Japanese auctions, but when I try to search online, there are too many answers about Metro design relating to city planning for me to find anything about the watches (an when I try to be more specific, I get no results).

The watch is called 'omni' and according to the back of was designed by Romago. It is a large watch, and at a first glance, it appears to just have a blank face with the hour numbers just visible around the edge, and the Metro Design name on the glass. Pressing the button above the crown lights an internal light, and as if by magic, the hands appear behind the glass to show the time. When the light isn't on, you cannot see the hands at all through the glass, no matter what angle you look from. For the time, it has a 3 hand dial design with a quartz movement.

The all black design is followed by the black leather strap, and this has the Metro Design name imprinted into the back of the leather.

The only other information on the watch comes from the back which states it is 3 atm water resistant (suggesting a European market), and that the case and back are stainless steel.

With regards to date, there is no information I've found to be able to definitively determine when it's from, but my hunch is that it is from the 2000s (and maybe 2010s).

UPDATE: It seems like this watch is part of the same Metro brand that I've posted before, but with the name Metro Design rather than Metro Delight. I've seen in an auction that the watch has an instruction manual from the regular Metro brand, and the model number is WW046

Deadman Quartz GV 4089

Even though I've not been blogging for a while, I've been keeping up with trying to find more watches in some of my sub-collections.

Today's watch is one of those and is from the Deadman (or Dead man) watch line that I still only know small amounts about. I do plan to pull together a brand page to cover all of the models I know about (which is more than I've blogged so far) so keep an eye out for that page soon!

This model is the GV 4089 (or GV4089), and is one of the more 'normal' designs that Deadman produced. It is a quartz analogue design with a very 60s/70s feel to the design. It has a deep metal case with an oval face covered by thick glass. The face is a 3 hand dial design with silver hands and numbers at the 3, 6, 9, and 12 o'clock positions on a black background. The only text on the front is Deadman and Quartz, and the back has the brand name and the model number. The design is completed with a silver metal strap with the usual Deadman embossed bracelet clip.

I have confirmation that the Deadman watches were out in the late 90s, but don't know how long they lasted, and when released, they seem to have been sold around the ¥4000 mark.

Metro Baltimore

The Metro brand of watches is one which I only started collecting quite recently. All of the links I have to the watches seem to tie it back to a Japanese furniture store. They make a range of watches and clocks, most of which seem to be named after places in America.

This watch follows the naming tradition and is called Baltimore. It has a TV shaped dial in a shiny metal case, and has a retro feel to the design. The face features the Metro logo (the word Metro in a script style font with a 5 pointed crown above) along with the Baltimore name, and the word Crystal, which I assume refers to the glass.

It is a quartz model with a 3 hand dial and a date marker at the 3 o'clock position. The strap is metal, and closed with an expanding buckle with the Metro logo engraved on it.

The back of the watch has the logo and watch name along with saying it is a "1970's model". This must refer to the design style, as I think the Metro watches are from either the late 2000s or within the last few years.

Super Lovers Floating Dial

Sorry it's been a while since my last blog, so I home some of you out there are still following! I plan to get back to blogging a bit more, but don't think it'll be back to daily updates just yet.

For today's watch, I'm wearing something that expands the mystery of the linked designs even further. Regular readers may remember that I've been following various Japanese fashion watch brands which seem to be linked by common designs. Watches by Deadman, Module, Deep, etc. seem to have produced their own versions of the same watch over different time periods.

Until today, the Super Lovers brand seemed to be separate from this group, but this watch shares a remarkable similarity to the Deadman Live Wire I posted last year. As I have a hunch that the Super Lovers brand commission watches from a variety of manufacturers, I guess it shouldn't be unexpected that they ended up with something similar though!

The Super Lovers brand originate from the  Harajuku district in Tokyo and have been known for their mix of punk, clubbing, and cute influences.

This watch I've nicknamed the Super Lovers Floating Dial as the dial and mechanism is surrounded by glass so you can see right through the watch from front to back, with the only connection to the case being the stem linking the module to the crown. The back glass in this design isn't completely clear, but is in red glass, and has the text Super Lovers All Stars written around the edge. I think the All Stars name might refer to a line of watches, as I've seen it before on other designs.

Time is shown on the "floating" 3 hand dial and is powered by a Japanese quartz module. The dial features the Super Lovers logo which is like the Superman symbol but with a heart instead of the S. The strap is metal mesh with a buckle, and matches with the metal case. There is no information on the back of the watch, but you can see right through to the quartz module.

I don't know exactly when the watch wad released, but I'd guess this was late 90s or early 00s based on the link to the Deadman design.