Zeon Tech Solsuno NIL4972

It's time for a family Christmas meal today, so I chose something smart looking with Christmas lights!

This watch is also one which I got from an unusual source - I bought it from an auction TV channel in 2003. I hadn't seen the start of the auction, but caught how the watch looked and rang in a bid, and got it for around £60.

The Solsuno is an LED watch, but with a difference. It uses 138 LEDs to show the time, but no more than 3 LEDs are really required at any one time. It has individual LEDs for every second, minute, and hour, a marker for am/pm, and 5 for other indications (such as alarm). The LEDs are set in rings so they are where the hours, minutes, and seconds would be on a normal dial watch. The time is shown by pressing the top button which sets the seconds LEDs going until the correct second is shown, and the hour and minute then appears too. There is also a flashing mode where the time shows in a quick flash every second - this is the mode I normally use so I don't need to press the button every time I need the time.

The Solsuno watches came out in 2000, with the idea coming from Greenwich (the home of GMT). They were originally distributed by Zeon (who may have been the original manufacturer). Zeon watches are a British company who are one of the largest distributors of novelty watches, and have been featured on my blog many times before. The Solsuno watches are not done by Zeon anymore, so only the early ones were. Many different variations have been released over the years so the watches are quite common. A lot of discussion online has said that people think the watch is too large, even for medium sized wrists, but I have a small wrist and I think it looks fine!

Most of the Zeon models have a ZT or ZR model number, however this has the number NIL4972, but still says Zeon Tech on the back.

TransFormers Optimus Prime Converting LCD watch

Today's watch is a sibling to a watch I posted about 2 years ago, and is now timed well with the cinema releases.

This watch was one of (at least) two watches that were issued for the release of the Transformers Dark Side of the Moon movie in 2011. I posted the Bumblebee watch last time, and this time it's the turn of the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime.

The watch was made by the British brand Zeon who, based on all of the Zeon watches I've blogged, appear to be one of the main distributors of novelty and film tie-in watches.

It has the style of the 80s Kronoform and Gobots watches, with simple arms and legs which fold out when you take the robot from the strap. The LCD display is in the chest and is a 4 digit LCD. As with the original robot, there are two buttons, and the display has time, date, and seconds modes.

The watch was manufactured by Zeon, and has links to General Motors (who licenced the vehicle details) and is copyright to Hasbro and Paramount Pictures Corporation.

Zeon Projector watch

At one time, it seemed that projector alarm clocks were the popular thing, projecting the time on the ceiling so you didn't meet to turn to look at the clock. Of course, if you can do it in a clock, why not a watch.

That's exactly what the watch manufacturer Zeon did with their projector watch. On the right side of the watch is a large cylinder shaped add-on, which has a red light source, a display, and a lens. When the light button is pressed (which is not the big red button on the front, but on the left side), the light is activated and the time is projected. The projector shows 4 digits of the time, along with the Zeon name. The watch also has stopwatch and alarm modes, and these are also able to be shown on the projector. For the stopwatch when it is projected, it only shows whole seconds and skips the 10th and 100th of a second digits.

On the front is a normal LCD display with 6 digits for time, and a day and date above. On the front are the buttons for mode (-the big red one), and for the stopwatch modes. The first part of the strap is plastic, and so curves around your wrist, and the rest of the strap is fabric and velcro (with a Zeon branded leather tip).

As the projector takes much more power than a normal watch, this watch is powered by 2 batteries, a CR2032 and an LR41.

Thos model is a basic Zeon version, and on the back is has the number ZR22066. Online, I've seen Batman, Thundercats, and Nerf versions, but I've not found the basic Zeon version like this one anywhere. For the branded ones, the original RRP was between £15 and £20.

Doctor Who Action Sounds Watch Dalek

I've covered watches for the big Sci-fi franchises Star Wars and Star Trek, but there is one other (especially in the UK) who's turn it is now.

This watch is from the UK series Doctor Who. The Doctor Who series started in 1963 and was relaunched 2005 after a short break. It covers the adventures of a time travelling alien (a Time Lord) as he explores the universe working to right wrongs, help people he meets, and sometimes save entire civilisations.

Doctor Who's oldest and most recognised adversaries are the Daleks. They are encased in a metal armour with an eye stalk at the top and speak in a recognisable metallic voice. This is a talking Dalek watch and has two of their phrases; "Exterminate" and "You would make a good Dalek" which are activated by pressing the two Dalek pictures, one on each half of the strap.

The cover of the watch has a 3D moulding of a Dalek which is swivelled open to reveal the LCD display. As with most novelty watches like this, it has a basic 4 digit display with time, date, and seconds options.

The watch was made by Wesco Limited which is a Zeon sub-brand. It looks to have been made in 2004, and has various copyrights to the BBC and to Terry Nation who was the writer who invented the Daleks.

Transformers Flying Disc Watch - Autobot

I made a mistake today - i got mixed up and wore a watch I'd worn and blogged before. So I am blogging another boxed watch instead.

Today's watch is one of a line of toys that was made for the Transformers film Revenge of the Fallen.

It was made in China for the UK company Wesco Limited. An online search for the linked website sends you to the Zeon watches site (who are the largest UK watch distributor). The watch was made in 2009, and is copyright 2009 of Hasbro and 2007 of Dreamworks.

This watch is both a basic LCD watch and toy. It has a 4 digit display, with a standard module covering time, date, and seconds. The module is powered by a LR621 battery which is replaceable.

For the toy part, it has a flying disc launcher which can shoot small plastic discs with the transformers logo on.

There is a model number on the box of TF1B.

Zeon Thunderbirds - Thunderbird 2 (carded)

Today is another Thunderbirds watch, but a European rather than a Japanese one.

This watch is by Zeon and is modelled on the Thunderbird 2 aircraft from the TV series Thunderbirds. The show is set in the 2060s, and follows the adventures of the secret organisation International Rescue. Thunderbird 2 is a supersonic carrier aircraft which carries heavy equipment for the International Rescue organisation's missions in the various episodes.

Zeon are part of the Herald group, and is the UK's largest watch distributor. They are also the largest distributor of character timepieces in Europe, and have released the Western versions of many of the Japanese game watches.

This watch was released in 1992 (about the time Fox Kids reran episodes of the original series) by Zeon Quartz with copyright to ITC Entertainment Group Ltd (who originally commissioned the show in the 1960s). It has a basic LCD module inside the shaped case, which is revealed when the front is opened. The module is basic, and has only time, date, and seconds.

This one still has a price label showing it was originally bought for £4.99.

Zeon Tech Touch Screen Watch

Today's watch is different as it has no buttons! It's also suffering from the brittle strap problem too, so I can blog it, but it's too fragile to wear.

The watch is the Zeon Tech Touch Screen, which was released sometime in the 2000s (at a guess, maybe late 90s). It has no buttons as such, but if you look closely at the screen, you can see 4 segments with lines zigzagging over them. These 4 areas work as the buttons, and correspond to set (top left), mode (top right), light (or snooze, bottom left), and up (for setting, bottom right). Pressing the screen once activates the screen, and little descriptions appear in each corner to say what each bit of the screen does.

It appears to be a resistive touch screen, as a hard press with a stylus works, but only a very light touch is required with a finger.

The LCD display has two lines, the top is a 4 digit time display, and the bottom row is 6 digits (with smaller seconds) and shows information based on the mode. Speaking of modes, this watch has dual time, and dual alarms, but that's it. There is also an electroluminescent back-light.

On the back there is a number, CE1328B/S, which I guess is model number. For batteries, it uses a CR2032.

Zeon See-through LCD watch ZR21150

Today is a watch with an interesting feature - you can see through the display.

The watch is by Zeon, who are Britain's biggest importer and distributor of watches, and have 13% of the UK timepiece market.

As watches go, it's pretty simple, with a large 4 digit LCD display, and only time, date, and seconds options. One interesting part is how small the watch module is. The module is hidden in the end of the strap and almost disappears under the battery and clip.

The other more visible feature is that the LCD display is completely see-through. Why you would want to see a small square of your wrist through the watch window is unknown, but if that's what you want, then this is the watch for you! It also has water resistance of 30m.

This was one of the early watches in my collection and was bought online in the early 2000s which roughly sets the latest date it's from.

On the back is the model number ZR21150.

Transformers Bumblebee converting LCD watch

It wasn't just in the 80s that robot watches were in - this watch was made in 2011!

The watch is a Transformers Dark of the Moon Bumblebee Converting LCD Watch by Zeon. It was released as a tie-in to the new Transformers movies, and is of the character Bumblebee (a yellow and black Chevrolet who talks through radio clips). It is fully licensed by both Hasbro (for the transformers brand) and General Motors (for the Chevrolet markings).

The watch is very similar to the 80s Kronoform transformers watches, but the arms and legs are a little simpler.

The LCD module is a basic 2-button model with one cycling through time, date, and seconds, and the other for setting the time.

Zeon Nintendo Super Mario Bros watch

Ever since the early days of the LCD watch, there have been attempts to make game watches. This is the first I'm showing of my game watches, and is a Nintendo Super Mario Bros watch manufactured by Zeon.

The Super Mario Bros watch was first released by Nelsonic in 1989, but was released in Europe in the early 90s by Zeon.

Zeon is the British subsidiary of the Chinese Herald Group (and is the current owner of the Ingersoll watch brand name), and is the largest watch company in the UK. In the early 90s, they handled the European versions of many of the Nelsonic Nintendo watches (including Zelda, and Tetris).

This watch is the first of 3 Super Mario watches, and also seems to be called Super Mario World.

The watch part itself only has a time function, and is mainly set-up for the game. The game uses the 4 buttons at the bottom, and is typical of the 80s/90s Game and Watch style games. In the game, 3 popular characters appear: Mario, Yoshi, and Bowser, but I don't exactly know what the aim of the game is (apart from somehow defeating Bowser).

The most unusual feature is the large section at the top of the watch housing a headphone socket. When used, the beeps of the game are able to be heard (very loudly) through the headphones (and a set were originally included as part of the package).

The model number of this watch is ZR9910 UI

Gundam 20th Anniversary Zeon version

Today's watch is a special edition released in 1999 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Gundam franchise.
This particular version shows the symbol of the Principality of Zeon, and shows a picture of an MS-06S Zaku II (Char's Custom?) Commander Type mobile suit on the face.
The watch itself is a limited edition, with only 1979 of them being released. The body of the watch is curved down at the bottom, with foam rubber padded for comfort and fit.
At the moment, I do not know anything on the watch manufacturer, but will update this entry if I find out (and if anyone out there knows something, please contact me!)