Seiko Alba Wired - Beams W510

Today's watch is a special edition of a design I've featured on this blog before.

The watch is one from the Seiko Wired line of watches based around the W510 module, and this one was released under the Seiko sub-brand Alba. The Wired watches seem to be a high tech line released from the late 90s which blended advanced technology and elegant fashionable designs.

One of the designs that was used in several watches around the turn of the century was the high complexity curved digit LCD display. This display used many more segments in the digits than normal, leading to text which looked more like a printed font than normal. I featured a watch from the ViViDiGi line with this W510 module in June 2013, and there's been a few others on the blog too (see under the Wired tag).

This particular model is a special watch designed for the Japanese brand Beams. The Beams brand are a popular clothing, accessories, and interior products brand originating in 1976 from Harajuku, Tokyo, and they've produced a few watches over the years. It has a different colour scheme (black with red trim) than the other W510 watches I've seen, and has the Beams name at the top of the display. The back also the Beams logo (a planet with the path of a satellite around it), along with the text "Beams. Basic & Exciting". The other text on the back is the standard information that it is stainless steel, 10 bar water resistant, and made in China.

This watch is from 2001, and has the full model number of W510-4A50.

Beams - Time can't stop you

Today's watch is a funny looking model, and definitely has a retro appeal.

The watch is by the Japanese clothing company Beams. The Beams brand was started in 1976 in Harajuku, Tokyo, and now has offices in the major fashion centres of the world. Their stores contain all manner of lifestyle products, and they often have a bright or cartoon-like feel.

The watch has the phrase "Time can't stop you", so I've decided thats what I will name it. The case is made from silicone and is shaped like an old Nintendo GameBoy (but with subtle differences on the design to not be a copy) with the Beams name on the front. The strap is a bendy wraparound rubber coated metal design which snaps around your wrist, and is printed with the Beams logo.

The watch part is a simple unit with a 4 digit LCD display. It can show time, date, and seconds, with the button hidden under the gameboy button design below the screen.

These only appeared in my searches recently, so I guess they have been released n the last year or so, and may have been a magazine promotional item.

Independent 1481010 Neophilia Jonathan Barnbrook + Beams Works D501

After discussing 1481010s yesterday, I thought I'd share another one today. And this one is one of the most limited release watches from the entire range. You can find out much more on the 1481010 range in my overview page (link).

At a glance, this looks like it has the same module as the 'shutter' D500 watches that I've blogged before. A closer look shows that the seconds shown in the middle of the LCD display have a curved look. Starting up the time display reveals the LCD digits which are all very stylised too. This is due to the special edition done for the Japanese clothing brand Beams with British designer Jonathan Barnbrook.

Beams is a clothing brand and department store established in Harajuku, Tokyo in the mid 70s, and have been involved in a few watch designs. Barnbrook is a designer who is most known for work with album covers (including David Bowie and Jamie Foxx), but is also a well known font designer, and this has been put to use in the watch. All of the text on the watch also has a special font. He is well known in Japan, having designed the logo and identity for Roppongi Hills in Tokyo.

The watch has a special D501 module which is a variant on the D500 or D510 (link) with the new fonts. It is part of the Neophilia line within the 1481010s and this particular one seems to have been given the name Ignis. These watches match the 'shutter' LCD design with the resin surrounded metal straps from others in the range.

The display starts as a mirrored LCD with inverse seconds in the middle. The time display below is a standard LCD with 3 lines of two digits which is revealed on a button press (with an animation of the mirrored display opening like a shutter). This normally makes a beep unless you start the light first. This module gives the watch chronograph, alarm, and timer modes too.

It had a very limited release with only 200 being made (so is one of the rarest 1481010s). It came out in 2000, in the middle of the 1481010 era.

The full model number is D501-S92693.

Beams Bohla one beam one life

This watch seems to be a very well known type of watch, as I've seen many auctions comparing the watch for sale to a Beams Bohla watch, and it can be seen many places on the net. It's even been spotted in the movie Lost In Translation!

Beams is a Japanese fashion brand/shop chain and was established in 1976. It is one of the brands that was a pioneer of the Japanese fashion industry, but has not had much influence outsize of Japan (although it does have stores in New York, London, Paris, and Hong Kong).

The Beams Bohla is a popular series for Beams, and was designed by Bohla with to be a high-tech multifunctional piece. This watch, the "one beam one life" model, seems to have been the second version which added more colours to the original range (called vol. 1). Design-wise, the watch features two logos (both I think are for beams); a multicoloured bPr, and a red globe. It also mentions the name Timetron Beams above the display.

The watch can still be bought from Beams for 5,250yen, but the green colour variant is not for sale anymore.

It has a 2-line, standard inverse LCD display showing time, day, and date. Other modes are alarm, stopwatch, and dual time.