Void V02

Today's watch has a familiar way of telling time, but from a brand which I've not featured before on this blog.

This watch is the V02 by a company called Void Watches. Void Watches was founded in 2008. It began as a side-project of Swedish designer David Ericsson before expanding into a small company. The name Void refers to the large empty areas of space, which is likened to time, being something always present that cannot be seen or touched, only measured. Their website says that the designs are telling the story of bringing ideas into reality, and are meant to inspire. Their core philosophy is the Swedish speciality of simplicity. They use simple designs and the best material for the job, focusing on quality and attention to detail.

This model is the V02 and is a quartz analogue 2 hand design. It has a silver shiny rectangular case with a solid feel and only the bottom half has a window showing the face. The design is finished with a black leather strap with the Void name and logo imprinted on the back. The window for the face only shows the bottom half of the dial, and so the hands have two different coloured ends which correspond to the different colour numbers on the dial. On the website, it says "By changing the traditional way to display time the user is encouraged to reflect on its value. Most users however, use it as an excuse to be late!".

The front of the watch has the Void name, and the face reveals it has a Japanese quartz movement. The back has the Void logo, name, and model number, as well as the signature of David Ericsson. It also reveals that this watch is stainless steel and 3atm/30m water resistant.

The watch is still on sale at the Void website, and has an rrp of $205. Based on the brand starting date, and the low model number, I'd guess that this design was originally from the late 00s.

Seiko Alba Neatnik V707

Today's watch is from one of Seiko's lesser known lines of watches - the Neatnik range.

The Neatnik watches were released by the Seiko brand Alba, starting in 1999. A Neatnik is someone who is habitually neat and tidy, and the watch was marketed with the tag line "Are you neat?".

The early watches are easily identifiable by their small dials and aluminium cases. This model is one of the square designs with a deep case. The cases have the designation h.a.o.c, which stands for hard anodic oxidation coating and refers to the manufacturing process. This model is more unusual in that it has a black anodised case and strap. It also has one of the common Neatnik strap designs with aluminium links and a plastic fastener (with a strap part number of F1BGFZ-C).

It is based around a Seiko V707 module, and is a 2 dial design. The larger dial is in the centre and is a 2 hand dial for time. The second dial is smaller, covering the seconds, and is places next to the main dial in a window which gives the feeling they are wheels connected by a belt/chain.

The back has information about the construction materials (base metal (Aluminium) an stainless steel), and quotes it as being water resistant. There is also a set of letters, KMN-MNJ-SGT, which appears on many of the Neatnik watches, but I don't know what it means.

The full model number is V707-5080, and it was made in 1999.

Watchup GMT watch

At a first glance, this watch is one of the most normal and boring watches in my collection.

It is a quartz analogue watch by a brand called Watchup. After trying to find about the watch online, I've concluded that the brand is another of the relatively anonymous fashion brands that are throughout the watch market. It looks like the watch is a pretty new model, so despite the lack of internet coverage, I think think this is a watch from within the last 5 years.

So why is it part of my collection? I like to have some kind of interesting feature, historical value, or links to other watches in my collection in the watches I collect. This watch has a subtle and easy to miss at a glance feature which meant it was one to keep. The special feature is that this watch is a 4 hand dial design (and there is a normal date window at the 6 o'clock position too) . It has the usual 3 hands for hours, minutes, and seconds but with an extra one on the central pivot. The extra hand moves slower than all of the rest, and is a 24 hr hours hand, pointing to a second set of hours markers on the sloped edge around the outside of the dial. Apart from the brand name, there is a little bit of information on the watch covering the water resistance (100m/330ft), and material of construction (all stainless steel), but that's about it.

Univers Watch De Luxe mechanical watch

Today's watch is an old one, and looks to be one of the oldest wrist watches I've blogged so far.

This watch is an analogue model called the Univers Watch De Luxe (with the unusual spelling). It is a mechanical model with a 2 hand main dial and a small dial for the seconds hand above the 6 o'clock marker. The movement is a hand wound sweep hand movement, with a high frequency (either 14,400 or 18,000 beats per hour (bph)), and so the seconds hand is very smooth.

The design looks to me to be from an older period than the other mechanical watches I've blogged. The 60s and 70s Mechanical models all seem to have a robust and solid feeling construction with shiny faces and thick glass. This watch has a more delicate feel, and the shape, simplicity of design, and even colour make it feel more like something my grandfather would wear than my father.

On the movement inside one of these watches online , the watch stated that this is by Eastsun Timepiece Co. From a register of watch trade names, I've found that this company is a Chinese company which was established in 1953. This therefore sets a limit on how early the watch can be, but the design makes me think it is a 1950s model. Inside this particular watch, the movement actually says Everest, and it is a 10 jewel movement. I've not found anything about Everest which would like to this watch, so I'll assume the date is still late 90s.

The back doesn't give much more info apart from the stainless steel back and serial number, but spells the name 'Universe'.

Seiko Alba AKA V782

Today's watch is a smarter looking model from the AKA line of watches.

The AKA line was a set of watches released by the Seiko brand Alba. They come out in the early to mid 90s and ran through to the end of the decade. The watches were one of the early fashion watches which appeared in the 90s compared to the functionality and practical focus of the 80s designs.

This model is an analogue watch based around the V782 module. It has a different style than most of the AKA models I've posted. The design is a little similar to a couple of the watches I blogged in 2012, and as this has a manufacturing date of 1999, I think this style is one of the late designs compared to the more colourful and curvy early AKAs.

The watch has a 3 hand dial design with a round dial in a rectangular case. At the bottom of the dial is a tiny date window too. The case is quite a bit larger than the watch face, and is deeper towards the top of the watch. It has a silver colour and is made of stainless steel and base metal, and the case is 10 bar water resistant. The strap is silver stainless steel and is designed to match the watch case. The first link in the strap is a typical AKA design, having a U-shape (but more square than the others), followed by the standard Y shaped links.

This particular watch was made Feb 1999, and had the model number V782-5090. The catalogue number was AMAZ001, and the original sale price was ¥15,000.

Nooka Zub Zot 38 Purple

It's been a while since my last Nooka watch, so I felt like today was a good day to wear one.

This model is a Zub Zot 38 design in Purple, and is one of the standard models. The Zub watches are noted as being the very first one piece construction monochromatic polycarbonate watches on the market (according to the Nooka website). It came in a few different strap widths, and the 38 in the name denotes that this has the 38mm wide strap. The Zot name is for the display type which are the Nooka specialities. The Zot has 12 dots along the top half of the face covering the hours, and there is an LCD bar below which fills up with the minutes. In the bottom left corner is a small LCD window for the seconds, while the bottom right shows am/pm and whether the alarm is active.

I've written much about the Nooka watches in previous posts, along with the history of how Matthew Waldman began the brand, so you can just check out the Nooka tag on the right side to see the different styles and how the brand came to be.

Eccentric Classic Sun & Moon watch

Today's watch is from another relatively unknown fashion brand which seems to be a common theme in my collection.

This watch is part of a range of watches called Eccentric Classic. The brand logo is the Eccentric Classic name in a script font, and I've seen both wrist watches as well as pocket watches with this text. Looking around, I found a link between the Eccentric Classic name and a manufacturer called RSSP. Unfortunately, that is as far as I've managed to follow the trail so far, as I haven't found any web site for RSSP, but most of the links with Eccentric Classic and RSSP are for pocket watches which are still for sale, so I'd guess the brand is pretty modern.

This model was called Sun & Moon in the listing where I bought it, and that is written on the dial, so I'm assuming that is the model name. It is a 3 hand dial design in a tonneau (barrel) shaped case. The text on the face is in copper coloured roman numerals, with the brand and watch name in silver writing. To the left of the centre is a large window which at first glance looks like a moon phase marker. Instead, it is a wheel with the sun and moon on, and shows when it is day or night, giving the watch a 24 hr indication. The pictures on the dial in the window are stylized (cartoon) representations of the sun and moon (as well as stars), with the watch indicating sun rise starting about 7am.

The brand doesn't seem to be an expensive one, so I'd guess this wasn't expensive either, and as products are still for sale (but not watches), I'd guess a late-00s to early-10s for a release date.