Slashdot Mirror
Interesting Wrist Watches?
brobak asks: "I've always been interested in interesting, wearable timepieces, and lately I've been wanting to start my own collection. They needn't be wiz-bang, high tech gizmo's, so much as interesting ways of displaying the time. What are some unique, or interesting time pieces that Slashdot readers own? Where should I start my collection?"
There's the selection of binary watches at ThinkGeek. I personally prefer simple classic analog timepieces, though.
This guy's the limit!
Ever since my watch battery ran out and I didnt get another, Ive found Im really good at knowing the time without one, clocks are everywhere so you can recalibrate when you enter a building etc, also when I used to work outside, I became very adept at knowing the time by the position of the sun, (the one thing that Daylight savings fucks up when the time changes, I bet farmers are pissed too).
Anyways, im not knocking your habit of collecting time telling devices, just saying you already have a fairly accurate one built in.
There is truth in humor.
When I get a job, I will be finding myself a nice old red LED watch. These old watches are the defacto standard for fine programmers everywhere. LED watch == fine programmer.
...
You still think digital wristwatches are a pretty neat idea? How primitive.
I suggest you get a Citizen Skyhawk like mine, it's great for a pilot cause it has a whiz wheel (it's a circular slide rule), really comes in handy.
Who is this Jimmy character, and why was he cracking corn in the first place?
http://www.tokyoflash.com/viewwatch.php?id=75
When asked why, the answer is almost always: "It's 2014".
I have a neat watch from Mondaine (makers of Swiss Railways watches) that only has one hand, and little hashmarks that show the minutes in 5 min increments. It's very minimalist - after all, if you have a good enough eye, one hand is all you need - and it never fails to confuse people when they see it. (Someone has it on ebay.)
sulli
RTFJ.
First I'd take a look at getting at least one mechanical automatic in your collection. You can get brand new mechanical Seikos using their 7S26 movement (a real workhorse) off eBay for around $50. These usually have glass backs so you can see the movement and the hairspring ticking. Another option is a skeletonized automatic - Swiss versions of these are quite expensive, but recently there have been a lot of lower-cost mechanical automatics available.
Another good option is an ana-digi - i.e. a watch with hands over an LCD dial - the LCD dial can show the time digitally while the hands show it as analog.
It's sort of embarassing to say this, but if you have the ShopNBC channel on your lineup, you might want to look for their watch shows. The guy who runs them (Jim Skelton) is knowledgeable about watches, and they often have interesting watches available. If you're looking for "funky", watch out for shows with Android Watches. Often they will have inexpensive (relatively - note that in the watch world anything under $1000 is considered a "poor man's watch") skeletonized automatics ($100 - $500 depending on the complications and the quality of the decoration on the movement.)
Of course, if you want really funky and price is no object, take a look at either the Ulysse Nardin Freak or the Harry Winston Opus V.
My wife bought me a Tag a few years ago and I love it. I'm thinking of getting an Omega while I save for my Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona with meteorite dial. At $27k, that will take me a few years to save for! As you can tell, I'm into nice watches, not funky one. Probably not what you were looking for.
Higuchi is a great place for Japanese watches, BTW. They ship to USA.
I've heard that it was developed because Bill Gates mentioned to a Timex executive that he'd always wanted a watch he could set from his PC, so they came up with one. Mine is a few years old and reads barcodes off the screen; the newest ones hook up with USB. In either case, get one and geek out.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
Good luck finding it, but it has always been my favorite watch (from a decorative standpoint).
My favorite normal watch? I've got a Timex Datalink (early generation) that I can no longer use (I'm on Mac and use a laptop, so I don't have a CRT). I can't use it's data features, but that's OK, it's a great watch too. I've been wearing it for a LONG time now (7 years+) and I just love it. I'd might a new one, but they don't have the band style I like any more.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-two million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
(Copied from http://www.hhgttgonline.com/)
When you are sure of something, you probably are wrong (search for "Unskilled and Unaware of It").
Frankly, I think watches are kinda old hat.
Cell phones have clocks on them, why would you want to carry two time pieces on you?
Some say he is made with ascii, others that he is eyeballed daily by millions. All we know is, he is known as the Sig
Strap a Linux PDA to your wrist, and have it show a world map and the phase of the moon!
When you want something built, come see me. If you want correct grammar and spelling, get a F*ing liberal arts student.
Borderline dorky. There are thousands of very nice watches out there. Why settle for something somewhat original but god ugly (or ugly retro-wannabe)?
;)
I bought a London Boy watch about ten years ago (ex-wife's father collects 'em too). That was one of the weirdest watches I had ever seen. Looked quite nice, very decently priced, but impossible to read when drunk
I have a fair amount of watches, but honestly I prefer wearing a nice and normal looking watch (currently wearing a plain Timex Chronograph)
I have a "Minstrel Copper" from Milieris' Watchcraft. Very cool stuff in their catalogue.
The Rolex Blackface Oyster is coveted worldwide.
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
I've bought several interesting / alternative watches from TokyoFlash My favorites have been the Equalizer, Pimp, and Twelve 5-9 B. When I was in China and Thailand, I bought some by brands called ODM and Thix, a few of which are carried / were carried by TokyoFlash as well. You'll see many of the same models on ebay too, although often around the same price.
I did have to send back my Equalizer due to it being extremely dim, even with a new battery, and TokyoFlash turned it around pretty quick and paid me back for my shipping to them. As far as readability of those funky designs, I find the Twelve 5-9 to be the quickest / easiest, with the Equalizer a bit behind the Pimp.
You need to include something like this http://www.suunto.com/suunto/main/product_short.js p?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673958098&FOLDER%3C% 3Efolder_id=9852723697223384&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=8 45524442492820&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=140847439590 3526&bmUID=1140393060596 , which has GPS, altimeter, and compass, among other features. Naturally, data can be transferred to your computer.
What's that? You're a Slashdot reader so you don't go outside? Righto. Then my consider my favorite for a while, the Breitling Aerospace (http://www.breitling.com/en/models/professional/a erospace_avantage/).
One button interface with sophistication very much appreciated in this day of unforgivable human factors design. Little things like a alarm that beeps discretely at first, allowing the owner to silence it before it becomes a nuisance. It stopped being my favorite after the minute hand fell off and servicing that broke the speaker and introduced intermittent timing failures. Gott send it back for probably $300+ worth of repairs...
I really like atomic clock sync-age. It lets my watch agree with my NTP time on my computer. But it has a battery...
Today, for $50-60 US, you can get an atomic clock sync'd watch which recharges with solar power. That will be my next watch, but probably after it cheapens a little....
To me, watches are mainly functional. Nothing keeps better time than my watch, but lots of things cost more...
you need an atomic wristwatch (and not one of those radiocontroled ones)
http://www.leapsecond.com/pages/atomic-bill/
Casio has (surprisingly) pretty good non-dorky looking atomic watches. I love mine.
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
http://www.tokyoflash.com/
I used to wear a nice Armitron watch that I bought at Kohls, however when the battery died I started just look at my cell phone's time and haven't yet gone back to buy a battery. The watch died about a year ago.
http://www.tokyoflash.com
Always has interesting stuff.
I used to wear the railroad watch daily, until disaster struck. I dropped it on the granite floor of a jewelry store (of all places) which broke the flywheel shaft. One jeweller quoted me $375 for a guaranteed repair (higher than its value when it was working,) so I took it to a different jeweler who "fixed" it for $100 (but it won't keep running.)
Anyway, when it was running it kept perfect time, never drifting by more than a few seconds a month. The fact that it was my grandfather's made it even more special to me. But hauling out an old pocket watch by the chain always caught people's attention, and it sparked a few conversations.
You can still buy mechanical pocket watches today, but I find the older watches more appealing. There's something about a hand lapped mechanism that makes you appreciate it more, even if it's hidden inside the case.
John
AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!
Spam as a slashdot post!
Oh, wait... that's about par for the course, actually.
Nevermind.
A year or two ago on ThinkGeek I saw an awesome watch they had for about $400. It's not there anymore but I think this is it. It has a holographic image of the world floating under a bubble, and it turns (with day/night effects) to show the time.
Why is it that when you believe something it's an opinion, but when I believe something it's a manifesto?
I don't know if it ever made it to the market, but a wristwatch powered by temperature variations of the air would be really cool. (Its inventor, Steven Phillips, died in March, 2004, and I can no longer find his shop, the Budapest Watch Company of Guilford, Connecticut, on the web.)
Real men type 'date' in bash. The women move the mice to the lower right corner of the screen. Why do you need plastic wrapped around a limb?
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
If you're serious, travel to Hong Kong, Bangkok, or any other major Asian city with a lax view of copyrights.
You'll be able to start a large collection of many different styles for not very much money. And on top of that you will have traveled around and have a story for all of your watches. The story really makes the watch.
Other than that, try a
Casio Waveceptor (note, doesn't work in New England)
Fossil PDA Watch
USB Watch
YES watch
MP3 watch
Sleep Tracker Watch (too bad it is so ugly)
Tokyo Flash
Nike Watches (always something interesting)
Also, consider pocketwatches. They're rare enough that you get immediate oddball points for using one, but they're common enough that you can find interesting ones.
The ______ Agenda
Not geeky, no gizmos or doodads, but Storm watches look the coolest (and are fairly cheap, too).
I have two Storms, one Diesel and a beautiful St. Moritz for scubadiving. Am always on the lookout for nicely designed watches.
Omega Speedmaster Pro - only watch worn on the moon
HP-001 - only RPN calculator watch
Nixie Watch - only watch based on vacuum tubes
You need to visit http://tinyurl.com/
I looked long and hard to select my current watch. I'm quite happy with my find. I wish I had an automatic now, but I still thoroughly enjoy this watch. http://www.russiansouvenirs.com/web/watch/pc225.ht m
http://www.brentcastle.com
I know everyone has their own needs or wants for a watch...
t ion=Classic%20Museum
:)
For my tastes, I like Movado. Their styles are usually minimalist; the watch I chose for my wrist is this one: http://www.movado.com/selector/results.cfm?Collec
Of course, I just like minimal. I'm sure there are others here who may want a lot of other tools handy on their wrist. For me, I don't even want #'s on the face of my watch..
Karnal
If I were to wear an analog watch, I would definitely consider this one:
Swatch analog watch with visible gears (zoom in to see detail)
There's something about watching moving parts that inspires the engineer in me.
I love my kinetic watch! Even though my old automatic was cool, the whole idea of a self winding quartz watch is even more cool and kicks solar ass. It even has a window on the back side where you can see the generator weight, gears, coils and capacitor, so you can show poeple how it works.
The only thing I don't like about kinetics is that there are virtually no options. They're all analog display. Why is it that the Casio G-Shock solar watches come in all sorts of flavours including a plethora of digital options and even 'atomic' setting radio, but none of this is available for kinetics, which seem to be a much more reliable power source? The fact that my ultra-cool Sieko kinetic watch requires manual changing of the date at the end of each month is pathetic!
What I want is an atomic, digital, kinetic watch with a few simple alarm and calendar functions, but nobody makes one. At this stage in our technological eveolution, a watch that you never have to wind, change batteries or set and has the capability of keeping track of the day of month shouldn't be too difficult, but seems to be almost beyond the capabilities of the marketplace.
P.S. Repost of Kinetics kick ass, but have no other cool options.
Signatures are a waste of bandwi (buffering...)
Talus. Click the one on the right for a demo.
If Chaos Theory has taught us anything, it's that we must kill all the butterflies.
Many years ago I remember a guy I knew had a watch that was water powered. Well, you had to hold it under a tap for a minute or so every couple of weeks, and it would charge the battery. It was pretty cool then, and just thinking about it, its pretty cool now.
If anyone remembers this watch......
Not too enthusiastic about aesthetics - the most useful feature I've found on watches is a compass, which I wear on my Timex Expedition watch. As long as you're not doing surveying, you can definitely solve a lot of problems in unfamiliar cities with it.
A got to have for any collection. One of the earliest electronic watches from the 1960s - used a tuning fork for timing, very accurate for the time. You can hear the hum if you listen closely. The Spaceview had a clear face so you could see the tuning fork and all the guts. My scout master had one (and a GTO), and we thought he was a very cool guy. I bought one in the early 70's. http://members.iinet.net.au/~fotoplot/acc.htm
Since the seventies I've wanted a scientific
calculator watch, but the ones made then are
pretty run down now. So, I got a Fossil Abacus
wrist pda and put a scientific calculator program
on it. Also, a lisp interpreter so I can run more
complex problems like intergral eqns.
I have a Casio Wrist Remote Controller. It's a calculator watch with a built in 'universal remote'. It's not super great as it's really only useful for VCRs and TVs (no DVD player...) but it does have a learning function. I was able to control my fancy-ass remote controlled fan with it. I'm sure a more creative geek could find a use for it. I should warn you guys, though, that it's not very fashionable. Watches with calculator buttons on them scare away the ladies.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Why not get a watch that shows the correct time on Mars? This fellow made some watches for the JPL Mars Exploration Rover team and I think that he sells them to the public too.
I had a Kinetic. I loved it, but it broke after just over a year. I got it repaired, about a year later it broke again.
So, I switched to a Casio G-Shock titanium solar.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
My Polar S725i Heart Rate Monitor has to be one of the more impressive feats of wristwatch geek engineering ever invented. It records heart rate, temperature, and altitude right out of the package, as well as cycle speed, cadence, and power with optional wireless or wired sensors. All of the captured data can be downloaded to a PC using the built-in IR port and analyzed/graphed using Polar's own software or other publicly-available packages.
One is not forced use the HRM or cycling functions to utilize the watch's other sensors. I once used the watch on a vacation trip around Colorado. When I got back home I was able to download the sensor readings into Polar's software and better visualize the elevation changes I had experienced during my trip.
A word of note: this watch is huge. I bought a runner's version of the same watch for my wife and it looks very out of place on her dainty wrist. A fashion statement it is not, but I've been surprised at the number of comments I've received about it (mostly from people who own HRMs of their own.)
I play volleyball a lot. I've been looking for a thin but shock resistant watch to wear when I need to play but keep an eye on the time. (Strapping one to my ankle or someplace else isn't just inconvenient, it's.. well, really dorky.)
Suggestions?
Get off my lawn.
>These old watches are the defacto standard for fine programmers everywhere. LED watch == fine programmer.
:)
Ohhh. I get it! There's a secret code word in the parent's post! I'm guessing this is the same "fine" that people use when telling someone politely to "read the fine article". When you're not in polite company, the root word rhymes with "duck". So I guess in this case it rhymes with "ducked up" instead of "ducking".
What do I win?
-B
A little off topic, but still related.
This xmas I was looking for a nice looking, sub-$500 watch and picked up the Citizen Calibre 2100. While searching for watches I stumbled across the ridiculously rich timepiece enthusiasts at thepurists.com. Don't bother looking for a watch you can buy there as most of the pieces they review are >$10000, but those same reviews are fascinating to read. I warn you though, after you see a flying tourbillon in action you will be unhappy with whatever you end up getting.
The cool part was that I've got my name as a domain name. So I set up wrist@example.com to forward to my wrist.
Unfortunately, it died while I was giving my kids a bath one night. :|. I'm back to the g-shock I got 12 years ago.
Powered by Web3.5 RC 2
Sure it's blatant self-promotion, but it is a rather unique watch that is also easy to read. The chicks dig it!
The determined Real Programmer can write Fortran programs in any language.
I collect cheap, tacky watches.
My favorite watches are both wind-ups: A "Charlie the Tuna" watch my dad got me when I was 6 or 7 (i.e. circa 1970) and a "Ritz Cracker" watch that he owned for at least 20 years.
I also own the following quartz watches:
* an M&M Nascar watch
* Mickey Mouse (of course)
* Jerry Lewis
Clear, Dark Skies
How about a nice Gyrotourbillon? It'll only set you back oh, maybe a quarter of a million USD. That or something with a minute repeater. Anything else is pure junk.
Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
Even better, my laptop has a clock on it! Why not just pull that out, turn it on, and check the time?
With my watch, I just flick my wrist to see what time it is. Done and done. Sure, I oddly wear my watch on the wrist of my dominant hand for some reason, meaning I need to stop writing for a second if I happen to be doing so, but still, a flick of the wrist tells me the time. Not even that if I wear my watch... er... sidesaddle, I guess.
With my cell phone, I need to dig into my pocket, pull it out, press a button to wake up the display, and then return it to its home in my pocket. The problem gets worse when I'm sitting down, making the pocket harder to dig into. Fancy-schmansy cell phone clips only remove one step from the puzzle and make returning it harder. At any rate, far more effort than it's worth, I think.
Demanding constant attention will only lead to attention.
I'm not much of a collector but being a driving enthusiast the watch I would hunt down would be the old Gruen Ristside Curvex. It's the only watch I know of that was ever designed to be worn with the watch face on the side of your wrist instead of the top.
Link here: http://www.pixelp.com/gruen/1929.html (about halfway down the page)
I'm not sure why this concept never caught on but I wish some designer would start making such watches again. Maybe it died when clocks started showing up on dashboards...but i still want one anyway!
I'm surprised noone mentioned the Tissot T-Touch touch screen watch, compass, altimeter, etc. It's not cheap, but not outrageous, I think $500-800 on ebay.
Also for divers, Citizen has a dive watch/computer that's actually close to a normal watch size called the Cyber Aqualand NX. It has full dive computer functions, including nitrox, and you can get a communications unit that lets you download dive profiles etc.
damn! wish I still had my old teeter-totter watch from when I was in kindergarten. show up all you guys!
I'm good with numbers -
Get the bond ones
The Reveal watch is quite unique:r eview
http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/reveal_watch_
I bought myself a Movado Museum for my birthday several years ago, and I'm still very happy with it. It is one of the few watches that I think actually looks like art (it is also very thin, which is surprisingly comfortable). Museum Two-Tone
Simplicity. I stumbled on this really nice stainless steel Billabong watch at Winners, got it for about 1/4 regular retail, its just a watch, only tells time, it's analogue and has no other features, it's probably my favourite watch ever, classic and simple.
piss off
I just picked up a Casio solar powered watch, digital with a rechargable battery and solar cells above and below the face. It's got tons of features like world clock, 5 alarms with 4 alarm modes, phone number memory, count down timer etc. It even appears to have a motion sensor to come on after it has gone into power saving mode. It's strange to have a watch with a power level display on it. .signature: Permission denied
I dont use anything interesting, just a cheap blue single-alarm sports watch from kmart. So far it's been driven over by a truck twice and still works fine. 1$, disposable, and near indestructible.
A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
Cabestan
Ulysse Nardin Freak
Parmigiani Fleurier Bugatti Type 370
Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon
Urwerk Control Board
Harry Winston Opus VI loved my spoon (by seiko) watch. It's now discontinued. Pixel based display. Great backlight. Veritcal and horizontal layout. I would actually get complements about it. Unfortunately the band broke. The band couldn't be replaced because it was integrated into the case. The guts work fine. One of these days I'm going to have machine shop make a new aluminium case for it.
I'd send it back - obviously they sent you the EBCDIC model by mistake.
I haven't used a watch for the last 5 years, ( I have survived with my cell phone's one) , buy one week ago I saw the models from Fossil... and now Im thinking seriously in use one of those... Those displays with asteroids , minimalistic hands and those changing kanjis.... are completly geek ;)
"We all know Linux is great...it does infinite loops in 5 seconds." -- Linus
As a collector of slide rules, I was drawn to my Breitling Navtimer, which has a circular slide rule on the bezel. For all of my love of slide rules, I never became proficient until I wore one on my wrist every day and just used the thing... The Navtimer has been in production since shortly after WW II, and mine is approaching 30 years old and works perfectly.
For a more modern watch, the Luminox models are simply amazing--the illumination system has to be seen to be believed.
Annoy a liberal--work hard and be happy
http://yeswatch.com/
If you happen to own a Toyota that uses their 'Smart Key System', their Smart Watch.
(It's for their high-end 'Crown' model in Japan, rougly analogous to the Avalon in the U.S. The Avalon and the Prius in the U.S. do have Smart Key as an option. But not the watch.)
Another non-functioning site was "uncertainty.microsoft.com."
The purpose of that site was not known.
I own 2 Tissots and I'm very happy with them.
Both of them are the t-Touch series, which incorporates a touch screen on the analog face to control various functions.
The price isn't bad (Mine lists for $680 and $780 CDN, but I did get them for cheaper overseas), good Seiko's cost at least that, and Movados and dress timepieces cost well in the thousands. The best thing is, that the t-touch series maintains a cool gadget factor with the touch screen and things like the altimeter, ambient temp, immediate world time switching, etc. while still looking sophisticated and non-geeky.
http://www.tissot.ch/ is their website.
-Misao Little Weasel Girl
I have two. They're lighter than the Fossil branded variants.
http://www.abacuswatches.com/
Tiger Direct is selling them for $49.95 plus shipping right now, and all kinds of folks are selling them on eBay for around US$50 (with shipping).
Not bad for a very portable B&W PalmOS 4.1 device, IMO...
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
Unfortunately I can't seem to find any pictures of it on the internet, but Fossil made a great watch which had Chinese/Japanese numerals for both the hours (printed on the face; not that hard to find) and the seconds (digital!). Sets you back about Y8500 in Japan. Mine has a deep blue face and always gets attention.
The men's version is big and heavy, and the LCDs forming the numbers aren't the rectangular ones we're used to. Rather, they crafted the shapes of them so that the numerals look like they're written with a brush or pen. There are a couple of kludges -- the "1", which is normally a horizontal line through the center, reuses the bottom of the "3" so it's a single horizontal line at the base, and rather than use the perfectly-circular kanji zero, they used the 10 sign instead (looks like a big plus sign if you're unfamiliar with Chinese). So it counts '57, 58, 59, 60, 01, 02...'
The problem is that when I wear it in the US, people inevitably say, "Oh, that's right; you live in Japan. Of course you'd have an all-Japanese watch."
To which I have to reply, "No, this thing is special and rare and you can't find it just anywhere. This is the first-ever watch with digital kanji numerals. See? Look at... hey, wait, come back here!"
The Fossil/Abacus watches synch using a USB cable (a mini-A plugs directly into the watch), and a full battery charge lasts from 1-3 days depending on usage.
It's easy to synch via Palm Desktop, and it talks IR to other Palms (so flipping files back and forth between it and other Palms is a snap).
Fnord.
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
The only watch I'm interested in is the one which sets the time by itself by listening to GPS or Galileo signals.
I'm not sure if it's the same one thinkgeek used to carry (doesn't seem to be there now) but it looked very similar. I bought one, thought it was pretty cool for a while... then the USB connection went flaky. The watch had to be held in a certain position for it to connect properly. I got it replaced and it happened again. Now I just use a steel watch and a tiny usb key...
-ReK
md5sum -c reality.md5
reality: FAILED
md5sum: WARNING: 1 of 1 computed checksum did NOT match
It's a simplified E6B Flight Computer, or "Whiz Wheel". It's refered to as an E6B in the manual of the Citizen Navihawk (similar watch). Besides, E6B sounds better when trying to impress people. ;-)
It really is a good watch since it saves you from having to carry a full sized E6B in flight, but it lacks the wind and temperature functions of a proper E6B. It's also a little hard to read in vibration/turbulance. The UTC dial, however, is fantastic. The only fault is that the function dial sometimes sticks, at least in the Navihawk model.
Ever had the cellphone battery go flat? Ever check the time while talking to someone to arrange a meeting?
Kodak in Hong Kong was giving these away as a mail-in gift for using their film, IIRC. It ran for a remarkable amount of time on nothing but a few drops of water through 3 tiny holes on the left (and possibly out the 3 tiny holes on the right). It had nothing fancy though, just a 88:88 style LCD without backlight.
I doubt it really ran on the motion of the water as the holes were far to small to allow proper flow. It likely used capillary action some how. Maybe someone else had this as part of their childhood memories too?
Got the (regular) two hands, but also minimalistic and very stylish: Rado "Cerix":
http://www.rado.com/208/489/490/647/745/750.asp
It does away with markings for the different hours - the only thing you can really judge by is that the dial is in two different shades on the left on the right (i.e. only 12 and 6 are "clear cut", everything else - well, you'll see it). And in terms of design it's the most distinctive watch I've seen in ages.
But, alas, the price tag - US$2.200 for the base model (which IMHO is the best looking one, too - I don't think that the two models with embedded diamonds really make this watch look any better - worse if anything)...
Try the Tag Heuer F1 Kirium, it's analog, and looks very smart, but hidden in the display is a digital readout that can be accessed at the push of a button... The digital display also has chronograph and date functions.
The Tag official page for it doesn't show the digital readout, so here's the Google Images link.
I just bought from ex-USSR soldiers a Raketa 24 hour mechanical watch. Great conversation starter : almost anyone notices something weird about my watch after a few minutes of casual staring. It has a rotating bezel to dispplay the time in every world timezone, and the 24-hour rotating small hand is convenient to visualize the progress of the day.
Google passes Turing test : see my journal
I use a 1950s ingersol mickey mouse pocket watch. It's awesome.
Well, being typically german in that respect I guess, I took a long time finding a proper watch.
- Funkuhr-030-2012-00-Neu_W0QQitemZ8904977010QQcateg oryZ74513QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I wanted the following: titanium body (doesn't scratch, ever), crystal glass (dito), very highly accurate, simple appearance, very quick to glance at, especially at night, waterproof.
After many years I found a Junghans Spektral. Can't find it at the Junghans URL anymore, but somebody on eBay is selling one: http://cgi.ebay.de/JUNGHANS-Spektral-Titan-Herren
It's nice and simply, doesn't look fancy, meets all my requirements, and is controlled by the sender in Frankfurt, meaning it sets itself every hour to an atomic clock.
And the simply face makes sure that I can read it at a glance - no additional little faces in it or anything.
Free PC version of ChipWits at http://www.breueronline.de/klaus/chipwits/
A watch fan myself. Storm are really fantastic. Dolce Gabbana are very nice too (http://www.dolceandgabbanawatches.co.uk/dgindex.h tm -- not sure of where to get 'em in the US).
h -153530.php
I bought one of these suckers recently, and love it:
http://us.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/reveal-watc
Have a look at the LAKS collection of watches:
https://www.laks.com/
Not only do they offer nice looking things, there is also a wide range of USB-Memory enhanced or MP3 playing pieces available.
Regards,
muecke.
Does anyone here know where to get a nice looking digital watch, I have looked forever for a watch with a nice metal band that is digital. I don't like the ones that stretch to fit over your had as they are very 80's, maybe one that is a bi or tri-fold.
I think a company could make a fortune selling these to geeks who like percise time and need a watch that looks good. The only one I have ever found is http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/72bb/ and it is way to expensive and has much more than I would want in a watch. I need time and date.
The nice thing about Windows is - It does not just crash, it displays a dialog box and lets you press 'OK' first. Reg
All you need to tell the time is a bit of paper ... courtesy of Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, etc.
Bluebottle:What time is it Eccles?
Eccles:Err, just a minute. I, I've got it written down 'ere on a piece of paper. A nice man wrote the time down for me this morning.
Bluebottle:Ooooh, then why do you carry it around with you Eccles?
Eccles:Well, umm, if a anybody asks me the ti-ime, I ca-can show it to dem.
Bluebottle:Wait a minute Eccles, my good man...
Eccles:What is it fellow?
Bluebottle:It's writted on this bit of paper, what is eight o'clock, is writted.
Eccles:I know that my good fellow. That's right, um, when I asked the fella to write it down, it was eight o'clock.
Bluebottle:Well then. Supposing when somebody asks you the time, it isn't eight o'clock?
Eccles:Ah, den I don't show it to dem.
Bluebottle:Ooohhh...
Eccles:[Smacks lips] Yeah.
Bluebottle:Well how do you know when it's eight o'clock?
Eccles:I've got it written down on a piece of paper!
Bluebottle:Oh, I wish I could afford a piece of paper with the time written on.
Eccles:Oohhhh.
Bluebottle:'Ere Eccles?
Eccles:Yah.
Bluebottle:Let me hold that piece of paper to my ear would you? - 'Ere. This piece of paper ain't goin'.
Eccles:What? I've been sold a forgery!
Bluebottle:No wonder it stopped at eight o'clock.
I don't know if it's in the U.S. yet but yesterday for the first time, I saw in a Tokyo shop two G-shock watches that have TV/VCR remote controls with infrared transmitters. One was just channel up/down and volume up/down, the other also had standard vcr controls, I mean dedicated buttons on the watch. A big red transmitter at the top. So I guess if you frequent pubs with tv sets etc you can be annoying. Don't know if this has any use as an irda device. Must be programmable..
Check out "atomic watches" (which is what the marketing people call them to get people's attention). They're really just watches that sync to a "radio station" (WWVB near Fort Collins, Colorado) to keep precision down to the second. I have a Casio one that gets charged via solar power, has an automatic backlight (turns on when you rotate your wrist) and syncs to WWVB every night. It works around 80% of the time if I leave it on my night stand and. Casio makes a lot of different models.. a lot of them are pretty gaudy but other manufacturers make some much nicer looking ones.
A few years back, I decided I wanted a "nice" watch...even though I'm surrounded by clocks, I still wanted something nice for my wrist. (it's about the only jewelry I wear, aside from my wedding ring).
:) ). I think it may be discontinued, too... (I can't even find it on their webpage anymore, which highlights my previous comment about the difficulty of finding good information online).
As I looked, I was astounded at what was out there in the watch world. Unfortunatly, it's difficult to get really good information on all watches (manufacturers' sites are full of flash, and any Google search generally turns up thousands of fly-by-night outfits). I quickly decided I wanted something elegant, analog, and with a few key features (perpetual calendar, especially, 'cause I'm sick of resetting the date every month).
Some watches I looked at:
* The Yes Watch - Very cool concept, especially with the solar focus, the moon phase, and the day/night display. I decided against it because I didn't like the look of the LCD. If they'd used a pair of overlapping black wedges or something instead of individual LCD bars for the day/night display, and maybe a small analog dial instead of the digital time readout, then I'd probably have bought one. (again, I was focusing on mechanical (or at least semi-mechanical like a quartz).
* The Epos Emotion is especially nice. Very simple and elegant (that is, not gaudy like some seem to get), with a nice triple-date feature and a moon dial. This is my current favorite, but the nearest dealer is in New York, IIRC, and I'm not about to drop a kilobuck on something I haven't at least held in my hands, and definitely not from the grey-market resellers on the web.
* I briefly looked at Breitling, and while some of those are very nice and interestingly complex, most of them were too busy-looking for my tastes. (the same goes for some of the Citizen models...cool stuff, but I really don't need an aircraft fuel consumption slide rule on my wrist.) (now, if they had a regular slide rule, that'd be cool).
* While browsing through a very high-end watch store in Tysons Corner, VA, I picked up a free "magazine" that turned out to be a promotional rag for the International Watch Company. It had a great article about their Grand Complication, which sells for a cool quarter-million a piece. A sidebar article by their customer support team had some great stories, about people who own them complaining abut it stopping working after an ocean swim (he'd damaged the crystal beforehand), and another person complaining that the the chimes were inconsistent on his two watches (yes, he owned *two* of these...presumably one gold, and one platinum, and he was annoyed that the tones were a bit off).
* And I don't remember how I found this one, but the granddaddy (as far as I've seen) for complications and cost is the dual-faced Patek Phillipe Sky Moon Tourbillon. I seem to remember they go for multiple millions of dollars a piece.
* I ended up buying a Tissot New Titanium. It's not an automatic, but it's got some good features I like. Perpetual calendar (though on an LCD display), alarm, chrono, sapphire crystal, and a titanium band / case. Unfortunatly, this was never available in the US and I had to order from a company in Switzerland (who sent along a box of chocolate with it
What I'd really like to know is how one can get into collecting such expensive timepieces. Somehow, I imagine that you'd have t
The Dork "tells" the time in Tony Hawk's voice. They also make the 286, which isn't bad too. Yes, a 286 stapped to your arm...
I'm so tempted to get one of these:
_ mode=Home&category=watch&swfname=watch
http://www.philosophersguild.com/index.lasso?page
particularly the Einsteinian relativity watch.
B
Can't stand wearing things on my wrist. My Timex clip watch has, belive it or not, a "screen saver" mode and a built-in "magic 8-ball" yes/no question answerer (no competition for the real thing of course, though that site seems to be down). For dressing up I have a brass pocketwatch I got in Japan - battery powered, nothing fancy but nice.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Bah! He needs to learn how to use HTML.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
True. Which lead me to the desire to have a least one really accurate wristwatch. Came across the Casio Waveceptor line and got what I was after. Loads of different styles (both analog and digital) and it receives a time calibration radio signal from an atomic clock in Colorado which keeps the watch accurate. Price was right, too. About the same as those Timex or Boliva models mentioned above.
Many years ago I was given a 'greenpeace' watch. It had some clever gyroscopes in it, and it recharged itself using kinetic energy. It was awesome. Sadly I lost it and can't find another. If you really waved your arm quickly you could hear the spinny doodads recharging.
Anyone know where you can get them?
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
Most of the recommendations on here are for modern, tacky stuff. Fun stuff, for certain. However, if you are looking to start a collection of traditional watches, you should look at Oris. They have a very good reputation for creating high-quality, affordable, automatic watches.
http://www.oris.ch/
One great source for heavy discounts on fine watches is Bernard Watch.
http://www.bernardwatch.com/
If I were going to shop for a Rolex or, more likely, an Omega, this is where I'd go. Multi-thousand dollar discounts sometimes. You often won't get the manufacturer warranty, but he'll stand behind the watch himself. Many TZers (http://www.timezone.com/) have recommended him in the past and I've bought from him no problem.
I also find the IWC watches to be beautiful, technically interesting, and highly regarded.
https://www.iwc.ch/
Have fun!
I found Nooka watches (www.nooka.com) to be a perfect combination of cool (unique looks), geeky (linear time) and stylish (beautiful finishes and straps).
cat
I am very surprised no one has mentioned Tokyo Flash as of yet. They have the wildest collection of strange display watches I've ever seen, and their prices are not excessive (though you're still buying a watch directly from Japan...).
o n-Maker-watches.html
I bought one hillarious digital watch from them a couple of years ago. It's still on their page, and it's pretty much how they describe, except that it comes with an amazingly funny Engrish manual.
http://www.tokyoflash.com/viewwatch13M1OVO-Decisi
http://www.tokyoflash.com/
I currently am wairing a Casio Atomic HT-G. It's solar and sets itself via WWV every nite around 3am, so I never have to set it. Not sure what's going to happen to it next year when the governement screws with daylights savings time, but it's a REALLY tough watch, waterproof, and doesn't look horrible but it is a bit big and heavy. Not geeky, but definately no stylish. One of my favorite watches that's actually pretty much unusable is my old TI LCD analog watch. It's a LCD display with analog hands, but it uses batteries at a crazy rate and is bigger than the Casio, ugly as hell, but I bet you can't find one if you tried. I also have several Seiko and Bulova watches, including an old shake-to-wind auto, which doesn't keep time well at all. On weekends I wear an old Casio with pulse that is in an epoxy case and is virtually indestructable. It's about 20 years old and I've only replaced the batteries twice. Press the button and it gives you a moving heart rate, and it's actually pretty accurate if you are patient with it to let it stabilize. It's also ugly as hell, and the original band (plastic) broke, so it's got a twistoflex on it.
I've been pleased with my Lexon Tao. It is an elegant, simple analog watch - only an hour and minute hand - with a twist: the hands come out tangentially from the hub, not radially.
The only problem is that the case is plated brass so it can be scratched to reveal brass.
A jump hour watch is a mix of analog and digital. As the name implies a good jump hour watch has a wheel that displays the hour in a window and jumps every hour. The minutes are displayed on another wheel and in an analog format where an arrow points at the minutes. The seconds are either not shown, a hand going around the face or most expensively a rebound where the hand goes across a speedometer type gauge and jumps back at the beginning of each minute. These are avalible in both Quartz and Mechanical (not sure about automatic).
sudo mod me up
I have three or four watches that hang on necklaces as pendants. The antique ones are best because when these were common, the makers figured out to make the clock face upside-down so it can be easily read by the wearer. The modern makers seem to have forgotten the practicalities, since they're more "please look at my chest to find out what time it is" with the 12 at the top.
What I've been keeping an eye out for years to find is a pendant watch on a pin clasp. The kind that British nurses, and others with better things to do with their hands, used to wear (at least they did on TV and in movies). It really seems as if that ought to be a more common configuration since it seems as if it would be useful. I have found several clip watches, some in the shape of interesting steel animals and such. Just nothing really jewelry-like.
Back when I wore a lot of vests to work (gotta love the 80's) I enjoyed pocket watches. Those are less functional than most, requiring a lot of motions to figure out what time it is, but they are fun, and always attract notice.
Maybe Fuze could make a blue-LED, swarovski crystal, binary, kinetic watch on a necklace. I'd buy one.
~
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." -Emerson
1) Get a nice analog watch. The money you're going to spend on your next processor or RAM upgrade? Put it in your "nice watch fund."
2) Get some good shoes
3) Match your belt with your shoes
DST helps urban factory workers and industry far more than it helps farmers, who are by and large unaffected either way.
The rationale I have always heard for it is that, by keeping the "work day" as much as possible in line with actual physical daylight, you keep factories' lighting requirements at a minimum.
That was, of course, back when factories actually had windows in them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Check out the Feb. 2006 issue of Astronomy Magazine for an article about astronomical watches. I couldn't find it on their website, only current issue articles were there. But if you can find the magazine you'll love the article if you are into watches. They have descriptions and pictures of watches that can tell you all kinds of astronomical stuff. Simple things like moonrise and set times, up to actual star charts (a planisphere built into the dial) and planet locations. It even describes a watch from a swiss maker that only produces 2 per year. It costs a few hundred thousand dollars and had over 600 parts in it. It's basically a planetarium software program you wear on your wrist. Some of the cheaper ones are only a few hundred bucks so they would be in range of a normal collector.
My motto is: Never give up - unless it's harder than you want it to be.
Looks like I'm a bit late to the party, but I'd recommend you check out aviation watches - they're often very classy looking, and you can get interesting technical features like a flight computer on the edge of the bezel. I've got a Chase Durer Pilot Commander which I like a lot, and wasn't very expensive, although they make some fairly high-end automatics as well. Hamiltons are good to check out too, as they've got a bit more of a vintage look. Omegas and Breitlings are really cool on the high end - I believe Neil Armstrong wore an Omega Speedmaster on the lunar surface.
For the geek factor, I just had to buy the Atari Fossil. I think it's really ugly, to be honest. And I don't really like leather bands (I prefer metal). But something about "limited edition Atari" blah blah blah... And who knows how long our beloved Atari is going to last.
For the punk rocker in me, I couldn't help but buy this Diesel watch (not the right color in the link). It's solid and heavy and is spikey. I really enjoy things with spikes...
A lot of people have suggested some really awesome watches. If money wasn't a consideration, there're definitely a few I'd go out and buy tomorrow. Since it is though, I've just gone for things that meet my functional requirement and I think look good (the Atari watch being an exception). They've all been under $200, keep great time and look good on my wrist. And let me tell you... it's a lot of fun to hit someone in a mosh pit when you're wearing 1/4 lb. of spiked black steel on your wrist. ;)
You don't need to adjust it because it'll get its time by radio from an atomic clock.
You don't need to change batteries because it takes a quarter of an hour of sunlight to run for a day.
It's close to indestructible because of its ceramic housing and scratch resistant glass.
All of these great features without screaming to the world what a nerd you are - what more could you want?
Now, I've got to admit, I love how it changes seconds exactly the same instant than all my NTP-synchronised computers. But I'm weird...
Now, the other watch I have, which I display at home as a "collectible", is some kind of pocket watch I picked up at the Tuscon Gem and Mineral show a couple of years back. The individual selling it had all kinds of old scientific measuring tools (old brass slide rules, astrolabes, clocks, watches, etc) - at least, they looked old. I have spent enough time in antique stores and such to know when I am looking at fake or not, these didn't look fake - if they were (and as with anything of this nature, they could be), they were excellently faked and only something a true appraiser would pick up.
The pocket watch I picked up (for around $80.00 - so it likely wasn't a very old antique, probably something from the early-1900's, if it is real, which I have no clue) is very interesting, in that the watch has a front and back glass crystal piece that make the watch look almost like a sphere. These pieces magnify the movements and watch face, so it is very easy to read (when held right - at an angle there is distortion, of course), and the movements are very interesting to watch. It has a full three hands, and the windup and settings are done thru the same knob (pull out to set, push in to wind). One side of the glass (on the rear crystal), at the bottom of the watch, is ground flat so you can set it on a desk or shelf and view it.
I bought it because I liked the way it looked, it seems to be a unique watch. The seller had a similar, but much larger, desk clock, which had multiple dials and such, and was about 4 or 6 inches in diameter (I wanted to buy it too, but the price was way more than I was willing to spend). I have never seen any similar watch or clock like these two pieces before or since. I haven't had time to take it anywhere to get it checked out, appraised, or figure out what it is or where it may have come from. I haven't been able to see (from looking in the glass) any markings inside the case (on the movements or otherwise). That doesn't mean they aren't there, just that they aren't easily visible.
So, for an interesting watch, maybe a pocket watch or a wristwatch with a visible movement might suit you?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
The original legendary Omega Speedmaster -- the watch chosen to go to the moon. Big deal? Note that they strapped it on the outside of their spacesuits, exposed to the airless, dusty lunar environment, as can be seen on Pete Conrad's left wrist. A bit pricey, though.
Franck Muller watches are expensive, ($14,750 at one retailer) but you can get a replica for $199 or even $179.
whatever happened to fancy techno wirdness in the world of time keeping like the milenium clock? when can I expect an implantable clock that tells my brain what time it is so that I will just know? or how abute e-ink tatooed into my skin with a small body powered electronics package implanted under the skin? Where are the cool high tech self powered electro mechanical watches like the kenitics? where can I find cool time keepers that hang on my wall?
I know we all like being nerds, but there are times when we don't want to project our nerdery. For those times you're going to want a good looking watch. /., but I'll recommend them here none the less.
I recommend Nixon watches. They are cool.
Maybe they're too cool for
There are two types of people in this world: those that categorize other people and those that don't.
Or Lorus, if you can't afford the $$$. Totally sealed because there's no battery to change, powered by wrist movement like an automatic watch but with quartz accuracy. Hardly any "ladies" watches made because of the size of the mechanism, but if you're a guy, go for it.
I paid $35 in Tijuana for my Rolex Submariner watch in January of 1997. It STILL works, although I have to change the battery every couple of years. Of course, mine is a (cough! cough!) "replica" of a true Rolex (hence the need for a battery), but I have to tell you that at 35 bucks, it is honestly one of the best watches I have ever owned.