Timex K-28 Surf - Chill Factor

When my blog was very young, I posted about an unusual watch called the Timex Skiathlom (often auto corrected to Skiathlon). It was released as a watch for use on the ski slopes but didn't seem to be very common.

What I now know is that Timex also produced a (maybe even rarer) surfing version, and that is what I'm wearing today.

It is called the Timex K-28 Surf, and is nearly identical to the Skiathlom. The Skiathlom watches seem to have come out in 1987 based on some info I found on a forum, but the K-28 Surf trademark request wasn't filed until 1988, so I guess this came out in 1988 or 1989 (when the trademark was granted). The watch is sometimes it is referred to as Chill Factor as this is written along the top of the watch. It is 50m water resistant, but because of the surfing theme, it calls it "50 meters wipeout resistant".

The watch has a 2 line LCD display showing day, month, and date (top line ) and time (6-digits, bottom line). It also has chronograph, timer, and alarm functions.

As with the Skiathlom, the watch has a temperature sensor, with the temperature shown in a bar along the top of the LCD display. Pressing the top front button also shows the temperature in numbers (Celsius or Fahrenheit).

With this watch there was also an attachment for the strap called Zebug. This is a small orange plastic container shaped like a beetle (with the name Zebug on the back). This was included as a place to store your sunscreen or lipbalm while in the water.

It uses the same back panel as the Skiathlom (even saying Timex Skiathlom). There is also the number 70 along with the battery type (CR2016) etched on the back.


For more on the Timex Skiathlom, see my page here

Seiko Alba Spoon W650 Vivitix Girls x Hello Kitty

After a few days of novelty watches, today I have a regular watch collaborating with a brand known for for it's novelty items.

The watch in question is one of the Spoon line of watches by Seiko (under the Alba sub-brand, but Spoon watches were also released under Pulsar). The Spoon watches were released in the 90s as a fun sporty fashion line. This watch has a design with the combination of ovals and circles which is typical of the Spoon watches.

This watch was released in 1999 as a special edition. It was made for the Japanese (character goods?) store Vivitix Girls and features Sanrio's Hello Kitty. This is most noticeable on the watch face where Hello Kitty's face in heart symbol is printed inside the glass in a partially transparent, partially reflective ink. It makes it easy to see the symbol, but you often need to turn the watch to different angles to be able to see the time past the symbol.

The watch uses a W650 module, and has a 2 line inverse LCD display. The top line has month, day, and date, and the bottom line has the time (6 digits with smaller numbers for seconds). It has a chronograph and timer function as well as an alarm.

The full model number is W650-4400

Etch A Sketch watch by Basic Fun Inc

Today is another novelty watch that looks like it's for kids, but you need quite a large wrist to wear it.

The watch is an digital watch with a miniature Etch A Sketch built in.

The Etch A Sketch is a mechanical drawing toy originally released in 1960. It was designed in the late 1950s by André Cassagnes. The original toy was/is manufactured by the Ohio Art Company originally in Ohio, but they started manufacturing in China from 2001.

The Etch A Sketch is hidden under the watch module and has a screen covered on the inside with Aluminum powder. Two wheels then move an internal stylus up/down (right wheel), and left/right (left wheel) which scrapes the Aluminum from the screen leaving black lines as it reveals the dark inside. The screen is refreshed by upturning and shaking the device, and there are polystyrene balls inside to help return and smooth powder. The toy is in the top 100 list of children's toys, and in the National Toy Hall of Fame.

The wristwatch version was made in 1995 by Basic Fun Inc.

Basic Fun Inc started in 1991 in Pennsylvania, USA. They began with miniature keychain versions of regular toys (starting with the super soaker). They still produce many licenced miniatures and key rings from companies such as Hasbro, Nintendo, and Nickelodeon, along with a range of Fisher Price classic toy recreations. The company also became a division of Good Stuff Company in 2008.

The watch part is a basic LCD module with LED large 4 digit display. It only has time, date, and seconds displays, changed by the top button. The bottom button is for time setting.

Takara Watch-Q Take Off Dash Car 300ZX

On this fine Sunday, I thought I'd share another of my transforming watches. But this time it's not a robot!
The watch is part of the Watch-Q line of watches by Takara. The Watch-Q range, also known as Kronoform in the west, was released by Takara in 1983/84 and sold their transforming watches. As part of the line, they had a couple of non-robots in the form of a gun, an aeroplane, a stereo, and two types of car.

This one is modelled on the Nissan Fairlady Z 300ZX which was a Nissan sports car released in 1983. It looks like a special version of the 300ZX Z31 which came out to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Nissan in 1984, and this also fits the 1984 release date of the watch. The watch came in 3 colours, blue, black, and red.

The head of the watch is a mount for the toy car which sits although it's about to drive up your wrist. Time is displayed on a small LCD screen inside the car's windscreen, with 4 digits staggered so the hour digits are in the top left, and minutes in the bottom right. To change the time, you need to use the pin accessory to access the buttons through two small holes in the underside of the car. One button is used to change the display mode between the time, date, and seconds (although it's a bit fiddly for everyday use). The other button sets the time and date (but you should cycle through the mode button after setting to make sure the time starts).

To get the car off the holder without damage, you should push it to the right (with the short end of the strap at the top), and then lift the left side first. When taken off, the car has a small pull-back and go engine. The car model is quite detailed,with the car name on the back bumper, and the rubber tyres even say 'Goodyear GT radial' on the side.

The watch originally cost 2,800 yen when it was released in 1984.

Inazuma Eleven - Gōenji/Blaze version

Today I'm posting a watch from a series I've blogged before.
Inazuma 11 is an anime, manga, and computer game (DS and now Wii) following the escapades of the football team called the Inazuma Eleven. The team is lead by the team captain and goalkeeper Mamoru Endō / Mark Evans (depending on whether you know the English or Japanese versions). The anime has gone through multiple series from 2008 to 2011. I've been watching a couple of the anime series so far, and am also enjoying the DS game.
Today's watch is based on the star striker Shuya Gōenji / Axel Blaze. He is known for his powerful shot called Fire Tornado (and more, but that would give spoilers for later series), as well as his combination plays with his other teammates.
The watch is a simple LCD watch on a wide strap. It is produced by Sega and seems to have been made to be a prize from an arcade. It has only time, date, and seconds, and takes a LR621 battery.

Seiko Alba W040 LCD Watch

Today is another example in the retro watch part of my collection.

This one by the Alba sub-brand of Seiko looks like it would have been one of the higher end watches in their range. Alba was started in 1979, and was mainly released in the Far-East (with Pulsar and Lorus being other global variants usually releasing the same watches).

It was released in most likely 1985 (it could be 75 or 95, but I don't think so based on the look of the watch). This particular one is actually the first watch off the production line in April in that year (so it has a 0001 serial number).

The watch has a 3 line LCD display with time (6 digits) along the top, day and date in the middle, and year and month along the bottom. Between the date and year lines, there is a black bar with text showing the modes, and a flashing LED block behind indicates the mode in use. The LCD panel itself is a different style, and has faded a little to a red colour.

All of the watches modes work on the bottom line of the display, and are alarm, timer, stopwatch, and dual time. It has a bulb based light, and is 100m water resistant.

The full model number is W040-5050, and it has a strap number of GA95A. Other case parts details can be found at the Boley site here

Casio BP-120 Blood Pressure Monitor - Resin English version

Here is the 3rd (and final) of my BP-120 watches. I've blogged these watches before, and had originally bought this as a spare, but when it arrived I found it was subtly different than the others.
The watch, by Casio, was released in the mid-90s (maybe as early as 1993) was a follow up to their BP-100 blood pressure monitor watch. It came in two main versions, silver metal and black resin, and with different text depending on the market it was intended for.

This particular model is the black resin model, but instead of the all-Japanese text of the other version I've blogged, it has the button description in English (although there is still Japanese text below the LCD). The other main difference is the design of the text panel by the sensor which is identical to the later BP-300 watch rather than the other BP-120 designs. The colour of the text on the strap is yellow this time (along with the bottom start button), but the strap is still a 374 H1 and H2 (although which part of the strap is H1 and H" is different between the two different resin versions).

It still uses the 1101 module, and has time, date and blood pressure modes. The LCD panel has both a standard 6 digit time display, along with a top dot-matrix LCD display. Blood pressure is monitored through a method called Pulse Wave Transit Time (PWTT).

There are more details about the watch and the sensor in my original post on the BP-120 which can be found here. The other resin model can be found here, and the BP-300 can be found here.

Spot the difference between the two resin versions!