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

Diesel DZ-5195

Today's watch is a simple one, so probably a short blog post today.

The watch I've been wearing is by the Diesel clothing brand.

This model is the DZ-5195 (which is sometimes written online as DZ5195 or DZ 5195). It is technically a ladies watch, but suitable for anyone with a small wrist. The watch has a 2 hand dial design in a square face. The case is curved at the top and bottom and fits around your wrist (which would be a problem if your wrist is too wide). The case has a design with dots and dimples which also extends from the case onto the face. Below the face is a small Diesel signature in amongst the dots. The rest of the strap is black leather, and if you look closely the dimples extend onto the lower half of the strap.

The back of the watch has the usual Diesel picture with the profile of a person with a mohawk hairstyle and the Only The Brave name (for the company which Diesel is part of). There is also the normal info on the back such as material (solid stainless steel) and water resistance (3 bar), as well as the CE mark.

Looking at the Amazon site, it says that it first was available in 2011 so I don't think this is old, but it isn't available anymore.

Storm Pentax Round

It's a quick post today as I'm a little sick.

The watch I'm blogging is another of my Storm watches, and unfortunately, it has a broken LCD.

The model is called the Pentax Round, and it is a small ladies LCD watch. I've seen the watch online a couple of times, but it has been marketed then as a ring watch with a short strap - my one has a long strap, and so is definitely a wrist watch. The LCD is very small with the hours and minutes in opposite corners. Looking inside, I think that the module used is the same as the Storm Navigator I've blogged previously. It is a simple module with just the 4 digits of time, and the watch doesn't have any buttons (except for the inset ones for time setting) so you can't even change the display.

This watch still seems to be for sale online, so I think it will align with the 2009 reissue of the Navigator and is likely a 2010s model. The place I've seen it for sale was New Zealand, and it stated there that the rrp was 149 New Zealand Dollars.

Storm Heaven

There are some watches that are a nightmare to search for because the name means so many other things. Today's watch is one of those, as a search for Storm watch heaven leads mainly to a lot of weather sites about watching the heavens to spot storms.

This watch is by the London brand Storm, which is one of my bigger sub-collections, and a brand which I've blogged lots of information from before.

This model is called Heaven and is one of the ladies watches from the Storm brand. I don't know if it is an uncommon design, but I haven't found another online. The watch is a wide rectangular design with a two hand dial. The face has a oily design glass with just the numbers 9 and 3, and nothing else.

The strap is made up of square plates, 2 wide, which are linked with small metal loops. The back section has rectangular links which are all fastened together with the same type of clip as the fastener, meaning that it is easy to remove sections to adjust the length.

Because of the lack of online information, I don't know exactly when it is from. It is a little like the style of the Academiplex from 2003, so my best guess would be that this is from a similar time.

Nixon The Widgi

Today's watch has me back with the American brand Nixon for the 11th time.

This model is called the Widgi and is one of the Nixon LCD watches. The design has a motto (just like the normal Nixon) of "In style and on time". Unusually, this only appears on the box rather than the watch, but that is more due to how the watch is constructed. The Widgi has a round polycarbonate case to house the LCD, and this sits inside a silicone shell. The silicone shell is a one piece unit incorporating protection for the case as well as the straps. The silicone also covers the back of the watch, which is why there is no writing on the watch itself.

For the time, the Widgi has a round LCD display with dot matrix digits. The dots also fit in with the round theme as they are also round rather than the normal square pixel shape. The display has two lines with the time across the centre (in 3 1/2 digits) with the seconds and mode markers below. The watches buttons are hidden by the shell, but there are 4 buttons which cover for the modes (alarm, timer, and chronograph) as well as the el-backlight.

I'm sat on a bus writing this, and have concluded the watch has a low battery as pressing the light has caused my watch to malfunction. As I don't have any repair tools, I hope this can be fixed before I take photos for this post later today.

The Widgi has a model number of AO34 and came in a range of different colours, with this being the all orange model. It isn't a current model, and by the dates of some reviews, it came out in 2010 or a little before for an rrp of $80.

Steltman Bracelet Watch

Today's watch is one of my ladies watches that fits my wrist, and I liked this one as I think it looks like a wristband from a sci-fi movie.

The watch is by a company called Steltman, who's logo is the Steltman name with a large S across the middle. The Steltman name is mainly linked with a Dutch watch company that works with high end watches, but I don't think this brand is linked with them. The Steltman watches are like many other design brands in that they only seem to appear on sales sites.

This watch is a 3 hand dial design built into a solid metal bracelet. The dial is quite wide and tapers into the shiny metal bracelet, and there are jewel markers at the main  hour marks. The bracelet is hinged and fastens with crocodile clip style fastener on the bottom side. Inside is a Seiko Epson AL55A module, but no other information about the makers.

For the date, I haven't found anything definitive, but the one other I've seen of this model was sold as new in the last couple of years.

Vega PA70 ladies LCD watch

I have ended up with quite a few ladies watches in my collection, as I have got them with collections of other watches, and although I can't really wear them, they are too interesting to get rid of.

Today's ladies watch is an 80s LCD model  by the Vega brand. The Vega line of watches was released by Citizen around the 1980 time frame. Citizen launched the Vega line to be their range of low priced digital watches, but Citizen ultimately decided to concentrate on the mid priced market instead.

This model is based around the PA70 module, and is a small cased LCD design. The LCD is a quite a clear display with 4 digits, and a slight slant to the numbers. It is quite a simple watch, but as well as the time, date, and seconds displays, there is also an alarm mode.

The full number on the back is PA70-341279, but I don't know if the second part is part of the model number or whether it is the serial number.

Rado Silky Silver Ladies Mechanical Watch

I'm blogging a ladies watch today as this is sort of in my collection, but it's not one I can normally wear (as it looks very wrong on my wrist).

The watch is a vintage Rado from their Silky range. The strap on this watch is a very tight knit chain link mesh strap with a silky feel to it. I've see  a few different Silky designs, but as all had this fine weave strap, I'd guess that this is where the watch got its name from. The strap is not really adjustable, as you need to cut it to the right length and attach the fastener parts with screws.

It is a small cased mechanical watch, but with just a 2 hand dial. The case is octagonal, but more of a rectangle with the corners cut off, and it has a textured silver face. I don't know exactly when this is from, but I think it's a 70s model.

The back just has the Rado name and logo, the material type (stainless steel), and the serial number, but no model number. These models were popular in Japan, and I've seen different Rado Silky watches being put for sale at over ¥15,000, but a very similar one to this sold on eBay in 2013 for around $40.

Seiko E029 Ana-Digi

Today is another of my retro watches, and another watch which is really for ladies.

The watch I've chosen is one of the old Seiko Ana-Digi watches, which seems to be from the early 80s (-1982 from the serial number, but it could be 1992).

It has a slightly hexagonal face with the majority taken by the analogue display which is a 3-hand dial. There is then a small 4 digit LCD panel at the bottom of the face. All of the functions are accessed from the crown, which shifts mode when turned. When pulled out, it has two positions, the first setting the digital display, and the second turning the dial.

The watch has dual time (as the analogue and digital parts are not connected) along with an alarm.

The full model number is E029-5100, and the strap part number is PA 06A.