Twelve 5-9 - Q Version

I'm out to a club night again tonight, so wanted something flashy. Although, it's going to be rather difficult to tell the time at a glance.

This is another of the SeaHope 12-5-9 or Twelve 5-9. The SeaHope brand are specialists in LED watches which are often limited release. The 12-5-9 refers to the LEDs which are arranged in 12x hours, 5x ten minutes, and 9x minutes.

This is the Q Version, which is one of the newer design models. It has a more organic design with curved metal surfaces, and looks like some sort of alien technology. The hardest part with this design is working out which line is which, and which direction the bar fills. Starting from the 12 o'clock position and going clockwise it fits with the order of the name, and as there are a maximum of 6 LEDs per line, the first two are hours, next is the 10 minutes, and the last two are the minutes. Showing the time is done by pressing the button (at the 2 o'clock position), and there is a short flashing pattern before the the time is displayed.

This model is not available anymore, but was originally sold for around $190 through the Tokyoflash website. It originally came out around December 2007.

LTD EDN x SeaHope 12-5-9 B Version - Jon Burgerman

It's the opening night of the NuArt festival in Stavanger tonight, so I had to wear an arty watch. It's also the music festival, so I need something bright, so today's watch fits both needs.

This watch was actually designed by an artist called Jon Burgerman who I had the pleasure of meeting at last year's festival. Jon is an English born artist living in New York who has a vibrant cartoon-like style, and never seems to stop doodling.

The Jon Burgerman design is part of a collaboration between the SeaHope watch brand and Love Through Design. I've blogged quite a bit about SeaHope, and you can find much of the info on the SeaHope summary page. The Love Through Design company work with various key artists through all areas, and act as a consultancy, organizing events and exhibitions, and art licensing. They also work to produce very limited edition watches with the profits going to charity. This range with the 12-5-9 B Version watch was done for the War Child charity and featured 6 designs by 6 different artists, with only 100 of each design being produced.

The watch itself follows the same pattern as a normal 12-5-9 with LEDs in groups - 12 hours, 5 x 10 minutes, and 9 minutes. Pressing the right hand buttons sets off one of several patterns of flashing lights before settling on the correct time. The left button is just for setting. The strap is set into the edge of the face, so you only see the middle strip of the case. The back has the edition number, LTD EDN x SeaHope, Jon Burgerman's logo, and a quote from Martin Luther King Jr - "The time is always right to do what is right."

This version was released in late 2011, but the B Version design originally came out sometime in the 2000s.

Twelve 5-9 G Version

It's day 2 in my 4-day LED watch marathon to mark a local electronic music festival!

Today's watch is also from the SeaHope brand, but part of their Twelve 5-9 range. SeaHope watches specialise in limited releases of unusual watches, and more information can be found in my SeaHope overview page.

The Twelve 5-9 range are named after the way of telling the time. They use 3 groups of LEDs 12 for hours, 5 for 10-minutes, and 9 for minutes.

This particular model is the G Version. It features a solid metal case with holes drilled down the front for the LEDs to shine through. There are actually 27 holes in the case, but only 26 LEDs (hence the confusion in some other articles) - the 6th hole in the middle section does not light in any of the patterns, and looking down the hole you can see there is no LED.

When the button on the bottom is pressed, the LEDs flash and then stop on the time. This version is silver metal with a metal strap and blue LEDs, but there are versions with black casing, and/or leather strap, and the LEDs can be in a variety of colours.

The G Version was originally released in 2005, and sold for 11,900 yen.

Twelve 5-9 B Version SV Green

At the festival again today, but wanted something more sci-fi (to go with the Pet Shop Boys stage show).

This watch by Twelve 5-9 fits the bill, and it seems was also featured in the movie Avatar!

The Twelve 5-9 brand is released in the west by Tokyoflash and Intilegent Watches, and is another of the SeaHope watches. The brand is named after the way of telling the time with 12x hour LEDs, 5x 10-minute LEDs, and 9x minute LEDs.

This is the B Version (-all are lettered versions), and is one of the easier to read. When activated, the LEDs flash in a pattern (a second press bypasses this) before showing the time. The hours are in the left circle, with the top bar for minutes, and lower bar for 10-minutes.

The full model name is 1259B SV Green (due to the SilVer and Green colours)