Takara Kronoform / Watch-Q Calculator Robot - Kaltor

One of the main sub-collections in my main watch collection are robot watches. The majority are Tokima robots, but I have a few Takara robots too.
Today's watch has to be one of the geekiest in my collection as it is not only a transforming robot watch, it is also a calculator watch too.

The watch is the Calculator Robot by Takara, which is part of their Watch-Q line issued in Japan, and Kronoform robot watch range in the US, and was released in 1984. For the Kronoform line, the name of the watch is Kaltor. I'm not sure if this is the Japanese or American version.

The module used has time, alarm, and calculator, and is powered by A CR1620 battery. Time setting is unusual in that you type in the new time using the calculator keypad.

The watch is connected to the strap by a spring loaded clip, with a release button on the left side. To transform to the robot, the following steps are taken:
-arms are folded out from the side (two hinges)
-legs are folded down (two hinges), the bottom sections rotated, and feet folded out from underneath
-head flipped over from the top.

Citizen Independent 1481010 Eco-Drive D600-L20280

Today, I'm wearing another of my Citizen Independent 1481010 collection. The watch is part of the Citizen Eco-Drive range of solar powered watches, and has a D600 module. The watch is large, but lightweight, and has a massive solar panel above the display. When left alone, the watch goes into a low power mode, the display turns off, and in-theory it is able to last for up to 5 years in the dark from a full charge.
Mode-wise, the watch has dual time, alarm, stopwatch, and countdown timer. The mode can be seen through the 5 circles across the top of the dot matrix LCD display. The level of charge can be seen from a small "fuel gauge" style indicator on the screen.

The watch is curved at the top, so it sits snugly on the wrist (and ensures the solar panel is pointing away from your body), and is held by a leather strap with expanding metal clip.

For more info on the 1481010 line, see http://whichwatchtoday.blogspot.com/p/citizen-independent-1481010-overview.html

Nooka Zub Zoo - wide strap blue

Today's watch is a Nooka Zub Zoo. The Nooka brand was started in 2004 by Matthew Waldman to produce his watch designs. The brand name comes from New York City. His first design was made for Seiko, but only had 1 production run. The naming designates the display and strap style; Zub is the strap type (and could be narrow or wide), and Zoo is the display.
The Zoo LCD display has a large window for the hours, and a horizontal bar for the minutes. There are also indicators for AM/PM and alarm. Function-wise, the watch has time, date, and alarm only.

Casio G-Shock G-8000B 3V

It wouldn't be a modern watch collection without at least 1 G-Shock in! So here is the first of mine :-). This particular model is a G-8000 series watch, the G-8000B. The particular watch is the 3V, coming with a black case green & mirror inverse LCD. There appears to be 3 colour variations (the 2V, 3V, and 4V) and these watches were released around November 2005.

The watch has a 2958 module with; world time, stopwatch, timer, and alarm (souls and light), and has an electro-luminescent backlight. This series is also called Shock Resist, and is designed for heavy duty, and have a shock absorbing structure. Technical details can be found at:

Pulsar Alarm Chronograph Y789-5489

It's retro LCD day today! This watch is a Pulsar Alarm Chronograph watch with a Y789 module. It was released in the early 80s under Seiko sub-brand Pulsar. Watches with the same module were also released under another Seiko sub-brand Alba.

The watch has a 2 line display with date (day) and stopwatch features on the top line, and time, alarm, and chronograph on the bottom line. There is also a small day marker at the top of the LCD.

Quiz 2 - Intercrew Peanuts watch

As it's another lazy Sunday, I thought I'd do another time telling quiz.
The watch in question is the Peanuts watch by Intercrew, and has a model code of ic3788. I have also seen it marketed under the name Bacteria. This watch bears more than a passing resemblance to the Tokyoflash Infection, but you can tell the difference if you look closely. The Intercrew watch has matt peanuts on a shiny surface, and a smooth leather strap, whereas the Tokyoflash version face has a matt surround and dark bacteria, and a textured leather strap.
As for telling the time, it uses 27 coloured LEDs - but the rest of the info cones once someone works out "What Time is Displayed???"


[UPDATE] Again, a correct answer came through Facebook. You can tell the time as follows: The red lights are hours, the orange lights are groups of 5min, and the green lights are 1s. So it is 10:8*5 +4 = 10:44

It's quite a challenging watch to tell the time quickly with, as it normally takes a little while to count the orange lights, but after wearing it a while you start to recognise key points and can work from there.

Citizen Independent - ITJ21 cool military style

A lot of my collection is from the Citizen Independent 1481010 line of watches, that were out from 1997 to 2003 in Japan. In around 2007, a new line was released, called just Citizen Independent, and this is one of those watches.

This particular model was part of the Cool Military Style range,and designated ITJ21. It has two separate dial movements; a 5421 movement on the left, and a 5432 movement (with a second hand) on the right.