Noon Copenhagen 43-003

Today's watch is a little more unusual in design than it first looks, and is by a brand that is new to this blog.

This watch is by Noon, who are a Danish brand based in Copenhagen. Noon Copenhagen was established in 2007 based on their display concept, and they worked with Danish award winning designer Henrik Sørig (who has worked for many companies, including Bang & Olufsen). The company came with the aim of affordable Danish design with a twist, and a motto of "not afraid to be different".

The Noon watches are all based around the Noon patented disc system dial design. At first the watch looks to be a standard 3 hand dial design, but as they promised, there is a twist. The hands are mounted onto discs, with each disc being a different colour either side of the hand. On this model, the watch has red and grey halves which move with the hour hand, while the minutes disc has a clear and a cloudy white (transparent) half. This has the effect of looking like the watch is split into 4 colour sections which change as the time progresses.

This particular model is the 43-003 type and is classed as a "Standard" design on the website. The colour is red and black with  hour numbers around the edge and it has a round silver stainless steel case (5 atm water resistant) and black leather strap, with this colour and case variation designated 43-003L1. The watch has the Noon name and logo printed on the glass on the face, with the name, logo, website and usual info on the back. Inside is a quartz movement which the website quotes as a 2035 module (which I think may be a Miyota module).

This model is still for sale on the website, meaning that it is a current design, and the price is $155.

Hanes watch 2035

Today's watch is by a brand more known for its underwear than for selling watches.

The watch is by the American company Hanes. The Hanes brand is owned by Hanesbrands Inc (which was spun off from the Sara Lee Corporation in 2006) and was originally founded in 1901. The Hanes name is most associated with clothing essentials such as underwear, socks, and some active wear, so it is unusual to see a watch for that brand. Other companies under the Hanesbrands banner include the sports company Champion, and Wonderbra.

The watch itself is a sporty looking 3 hand dial design, with glow-in-the-dark hours and minutes hands. It has a black plastic case with blue trim, and there is an inset rotating bezel. The back of the watch states it was assembled in China and is 10 bar water resistant. There are also some numbers on the back which will be model and serial numbers. One of the numbers is 2035 which is a common Citizen quartz module, so I'd guess that this may be inside. The other numbers are 0406 and 92-4791. The watch comes with a matching blue and black fabric and velcro strap (so good for outdoors use) which also has the red Hanes logo on a leather patch.

For the date, I don't know definitively, but if my hunch about the 2035 module is right, it'd suggest a late 90s or early 00s date.

326 Thick Glass watch

Yesterday, it was 'out with the old' and today for the new year it is 'in with the new'. In reality it is not so new, being from the 90s, but it's never been worn so it is technically new...

This watch is the third of the watches I have by 326, but is probably the most normal looking. 326 is the alias of Japanese artist and singer Mitsuru Nakamura. He released a Wonderswan game in 1999 with Megahouse, and it seems that these watches were released to mark that occasion.

This model is a 3 hand dial with the 326 logo on the face, along with some Japanese writing which I've not yet translated. The back states that this has a 2035 movement using an SR626 battery. This is probably referring to a Citizen Miyota 2035 movement, which is strange as one of the other 326 watches seemed to have a Seiko movement. The usual part of the design is how thick the glass is sticking out almost 1/2 cm from the front of the watch.