Ask Slashdot: Wrist Watch For the Tech Minded

NNUfergs writes "Sure, my smartphone can deliver just about any piece of information I could want in under 30 seconds, but I miss being able to just look at my wrist to get the time, date etc. I've been shopping around for a while and haven't come across anything particularly inspiring. There are loads of various features that have been incorporated into watches, but you usually only see a small, specialized set in a given watch. Budget is always a concern, but I am willing to invest in a quality time piece. In short, I'm not looking for a piece of jewelry; I'm looking for a gadget to wear on my wrist. Are there any neat, fun or just plain cool watches out there for techies? What do you have?"

Comments

Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[StylishGuy]

Why would you be looking for a gadget with so small screen and that is always attached to your hand? Smart phones and (to a lesser extend now) PDA's serve that purpose much better.

Now, I would understand if you did actually say it was for your style. There is still certain amount of glamour and style in wearing a watch, especially if it represents your other outfit and the way you act. If you are a rich guy, it's a good way to show it. Women know this and men notice it too. I would totally bang a guy with a nice stylish watch, good jeans and a tight white shirt. But as for a tech gadget? Hell no!

Just get a nice watch that represents your style. No, not the geeky type. Something that makes you look good and gives you respect from men and women. Leave the tech stuff to your mobile phone and home. You don't need to make everything in your life resolve around tech and geek stuff. For once, be fabulous!

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[TheRecklessWanderer]

Man you have to read between the lines. He wants a toy for his wrist. He doesn't seem to care about style too much. The geek stuff is just what he wants. I get that. It's fun. I could understand if you were saying this on the FHM website or the Gentlemen's Quarterly, but this is slashdot. To the OP: My Watch is a citizen, it's called an Eco-Drive watch. The neat things it has are a slide rule around the outside for converting things, it runs on sunlight and it will connect to a radio broadcast to correct the time. It has lots of cool dials on the front. Stay true to your techie roots. Don't be one of these guys that calls themselves a hacker because they can open a dos prompt. Don't be that guy!!

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[txoof]

Geek can be a style! Check out this amazing Nixi Tube Watch. It's awesome, geeky and pretty great to look at. It doesn't go too well with an Armani suit, and it isn't quite classy enough to flash around a funeral, but it sure would score you some points at a geeky interview.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Reddog99]

Smart phones may be "better", but they're also about ten times bigger and there are plenty of times you don't carry a phone, but would wear a watch. I used to own a Casio full scientific watch (in the '80s) and used it as such all the time.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[SirSlud]

You can go nerdcore, as some below have pointed out, but there can be a medium. I love my Tag Heuer, it's a stylish and a quality timepiece, but it won't be too long (I dunno, 4 years?) before the two ends meet and the high end meets the unobtrusive technology. Case in point, you used to need a fucking nerd machine calc to graph shit on the go, now you can do it on your status symbol smart phone. The guy specifically says he's not specifically looking for jewelry, but the idea that high end tech isn't a part of the status symbol equation now a days is a little out of touch.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[strength_of_10_men]

I am really disappointed that there was no anti-google rant in your post. But back on topic...

Try to motoactive watch. GPS, music, radio, android- based, records your workouts, syncs with your android phone to receive texts and messages. And touch screen. What more could a geek want?

http://phandroid.com/2011/10/18/motorola-actv-a-smart-fitness-watch/

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[cratermoon]

A friend of mine showed me a motoactive watch recently. Cool idea. If it had an e-paper screen like the Pebble I might want one.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Gerzel]

Yes but as chips grow smaller and voice functions grow easier to use the watch might just come back.

Say you have a watch, with a good sized data storage for music, able to make cell phone calls, and bluetooth. Combine with an earpiece and decent voice commands and then you don't really need nearly as big of a screen.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Fluffeh]

I always thought that this binary display watch is a rather novel way to spray your geek scent on. It is also fairly styilish and not too loud in design - the LEDs only come on when you press a button.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[ArhcAngel]

Second the MOTOACTV if it's a gadget timepiece your after.

If you're not in a hurry there is always the Pebble

And if you want a cheaper alternative we have Sony's offering. It says it is running Android but CMW seems to have debunked that claim.

That said I also believe as others here have stated that your watch is more about style and status

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Doctor_Jest]

I have one of those... and it is good as an icebreaker (well, sometimes)... but traditionally I wear my $9 Wal Mart timepiece (analog) because it's not a crime if I lose it or scratch the face of it.

It's a flexible band, so I can wear it easily on either wrist (left-handed geek here.)

There also was a Fossil watch a while back that had the cascading "matrix code" in the background. I could kick myself for not getting one because, like the Binary watch... it's just geeky enough not to look like I'm wearing a PDA on my arm...

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[El Torico]

Geek - the new cologne from Slashdot. A base of Mountain Dew and Natural Nerd Musk with topnotes of Delivery Pizza and Cheetos.
Coming soon - Magic Green, for when you want to be "electric".

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[thsths]

I agree with the features, and it is a cool idea, but a watch has to be stylish to make sense. (Because let's admit it, as a watch it is outdated.) And unfortunately the motoactive is pretty fugly in my eyes...

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly the same reasons why I have a Casio GW-2500BD-1AER:
- Solar powered (as long as I wear it at work, which is inside all of the time, it stays charged 100% meaning it'll keep running for 6 months in total darkness)
- Multi Band 6 radio sync every night so it's always correct (unless I'm on vacation further North in Norway) and I'm always on time.
- Both digital and analog
(- and since it can withstand 200m of water pressure I can safely think of it as being properly waterproof).

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Chrisq]

I always thought that this binary display watch is a rather novel way to spray your geek scent on. It is also fairly styilish and not too loud in design - the LEDs only come on when you press a button.

I was thinking of one of those - but come on, what geek would use 12 hour time?

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Joce640k]

This far in and nobody mentioned CASIO yet? There's only one true geek wristwear - a humongous CASIO G-Force.

You can get them with lots of gadgets in them - solar panels, thermometers, altimiters, compass, radio controlled, etc. They can even have motion sensors in them to turn the light on when you make the right arm gesture ("auto-light").

Get a really big one.

If you're on a budget get a F91W. Retro cool and there's people locked up in Guantanamo just for wearing one (really).

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[martas]

A while back Nokia had some concept wrist phones which I thought were pretty cool, but they don't seem to be going anywhere with the idea. To be honest ever since I saw Predator I wished for something like that, until I realized that the whole one-handed thing is a pretty big limitation... Unless it's somehow very easy to quickly remove (but also safe against falling off), I don't see anything more advanced than what you've linked to taking off.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Any Web Loco]

I love the fact that they use a random /. comment to market it - hilarious!

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Anonymous Coward]

Guys wearing $1000 watches get about as much respect from me as guys wearing $1000 earrings.

I hate to braeak it to you, but you are in the minority. In the real world, women actually appreciate a man with style. Not sure about 1K man-earings ... odd comparison, but whatever ... but stylish clothing, nice watch, nice car, yup women do dig them. Show up in your cheeto-stained armpit-holed thinkgeek tshirt and android held like a lightsaber in your meaty paw ... all their questions are pretty much answered before you even utter your first 'whatsup?'.

And would I choose a stylish watch to act as a compliment to my phone ... in a cold hard second! Pebble hardly qualifies as stylish, but is on the right track. I don't want to dig my phone out every time it dings or rings, esp. in meetings, at meals, driving, among friends, at a movie, on a date, on a hike, riding my bike, etc. but life and work demand this attention. A watch would clearly be much better and more socially graceful.

Heh, but look who I'm talking to.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[JaredOfEuropa]

Surprisingly ugly, in fact. Same for the Sony watch... It looks great at a glance but from most angles you will notice that godawful cheap-looking white wart on the back of the stylish steel and glass body. Steve Jobs used to kill designers for atrocities like these (rumor has it they're buried behind the Infinity Loop sign).

Speaking of which, the iPod nano would make a nice smart watch; it looks decent with the right strap. Shame we can't put apps on it (plus it lacks Wifi).

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[rapiddescent]

Exactly the same reasons why I have a Casio GW-2500BD-1AER:.

I've just started wearing my Casio OCW-650T again after 6 months of fishing around looking for my smartphone and continually being late for things; sounds like my casio is similar to yours; it looks like a normal watch but also has the geeky solar panel and it syncs with european radio clocks.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Suferick]

I wouldn't want you driving me if you kept on fishing a phone out of you pocket to tell you the time

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Suferick]

Sorry, misplaced - see further down the string

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Chatsubo]

I agree with you that as a geek gadget watches don't do it as well as phones or PDA's.

But I don't see wristwatches as jewelery. I wear one, usually not a very fashionable or expensive one. I try to get something expensive enough to last. I've found cheaper ones break, rubber straps degrade over time, etc. So when looking for a timepiece I've got very utilitarian guidelines. Stuff like "the strap must be metal" because those last forever. It must be big enough to tell the time quickly but not be so huge as to be in the way - like the fashionable ones - stuff like that. Looking good does count but not as much as other attributes.... Which is why I'd call those the geek criteria for a watch.

I don't buy the (not your, the) "your phone is just as good as a watch" argument and to be blunt I'm a bit dumbfounded by it. Grappling around for a phone in my pocket and unlocking the screen, etc. just to see the time is actually a burden and a clumsy way to get the time.

Thus, I'd say use the unix philosophy: One tool to do one thing well: I'd get a normal everyday timepiece. The point is to be able to lift your arm and tell the time instantly. That's what it's for: glancing. The moment you spend more time than that on your watch with added fancy geekery, I'd say a smartphone is a better tool.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[selven]

Wait, so it's legitimate to use a watch to show off your wealth, but it's illegitimate yo use it to show off your geekiness?

Wearing things for style is perfectly fine, but if you're going to wear for style it should actually be your style, not your conception of society's conception of what the most "glamorous" style is.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[ccandreva]

Or the classic chrome version:
http://www.amazon.com/Casio-A158W-1-Classic-Digital-Bracelet/dp/B000GAYQJ0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1337338925&sr=8-3

But yes, I look at my wrist for the time.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[laird]

+1 for the Pebble. I love tech, and watches, and I've been waiting for many years for someone to make a good looking, programmable eInk watch. There's a reason that they raised $10m on Kickstarter. Of course, you can't buy one now - they had the integrity to stop taking people's money at $10m, when they could have kept taking orders like crazy for another week, because they didn't want to commit to making more than 80k watches in the first batch. But that means that you can't even order one one, though you can (http://www.getpebble.com/) see a nice video, read about the SDK on the dev blog, etc.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[MrAngryForNoReason]

Grappling around for a phone in my pocket and unlocking the screen, etc. just to see the time is actually a burden and a clumsy way to get the time.

I would hardly describe checking the time on a phone to be a burden. I can't think of any phones that don't display the time on the lock screen so unlocking the phone is unnecessary. Also 'grappling around for a phone in my pocket' seems a bit of a stretch. Put hand in pocket, pull out phone, look at phone, hardly a difficult process, it does make me wonder how big your pockets are and what you have rattling around in the same one as your phone.

Watches are useful as they let you know the time at a glance but they are hardly indispensable. I normally wear one but when the battery ran out recently I coped fine for a couple of months just using my phone until I got round to replacing it.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[arth1]

Also, because traditional time is in sexagesimal, it only replaces one abstraction with another. An analogue watch is geekier because it actually works in the correct number system.
If it showed Unix epoch time in binary, it would at least have some geek value. As it is, it's useless other than to show that you're not really a geek, only playing one.

My watches include:
- A Yes watch which shows sun/moon rise/set along with equinoxes and solstices, and uses a 24-hour hand.
- A wooden case one that is more accurate than any other watch and also works at relativistic distances[*].
- A lime green Shrek watch that came with a happy meal. I kick myself for not saying "for a girl" to get the Fiona one.
- The one I currently wear: a cheap Casio calculator watch.

I'm currently looking for a watch with a hairline slide rule. I.e. a slide rule that isn't just for show like on recent Seikos.

[*]: Vgf snprcyngr fubjf "Abj" sbe hygvzngr npphenpl.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[StatureOfLiberty]

I have a Timex Ironman Datalink watch. Unfortunately, they don't make them any longer. But, I have been wearing one since probably 1996.

The watch can receive data from your PC (phone numbers, alarms, timer configurations ...). When initially released they received data via your CRT. The software flashed patterns on the CRT that the watch captured and turned into data. It does not work for LCD screens. I actually have their 'laptop adapter' which lets me program it via a flashing LED instead. It is old enough that I have to use a USB to serial adapter.

You could actually write real programs for some of the watches (wrist apps). Mine does not support that.

My favorite feature is the 5 configurable timers. I have them set up for when I cook on the grill or the smoker. (Beep every 5 minutes for burgers, 20 minutes for chicken ...).

These were certified for space flight by NASA and were worn by some of the astronauts. I hope mine continues to hold up. It really is a great watch.

Datalink Wikipedia article

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Joce640k]

spray your geek scent on.

I that's what you're after then get one of these - real dip switches and a strap that looks like ribbon cable.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[serviscope_minor]

I have a Casio ECW M300E, which has the same or very similar innards.

It's pretty much the first model where they managed to figure out how to get the receiver working properly in a fully stainless steel case. It's very nice, works well and looks good, but there are a few niggles that make it somewhat less good than it could be, centred round its robustness.

The first one is that they have gone for spring-bars in the strap for looks. A steel case and band is very hard on spring-bars since it transmits all force to a little bit of metal. They've also designed it in a way that puts the support posts quite far from the strap, so the leverage is high. Bottom line is that the spring-bars get damaged quite easily.

The second is that the rim of the glass front is exposed. It looks nice, but the corner is rather more fragile than the main face (and is covered by metal in most watches), and so it is slightly prone to getting chipped.

Overall, I;ve been pretty pleased with it, and I'm very picky about watches.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Joce640k]

I've got a big scar on my left forearm where one of those metal straps broke and sliced it open (five stitches).

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[serviscope_minor]

As it is, it's useless other than to show that you're not really a geek, only playing one.

It also shows you're not a Scotsman, either.

Seriously, a binary watch is geeky.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Barbara, not Barbie]

I wear my $9 Wal Mart timepiece (analog) because it's not a crime if I lose it or scratch the face of it.

Almost the same here. A cheap ($14.95) watch at a small place in the local mall. When the battery dies, $5 for a new battery, installed. When it finally gives up the ghost (I tend not to take it off to wash the dishes), I'll just buy a new one.

If someone were to give me an expensive watch, I'd be worried about breaking it, or losing it, or scratching it, so I'd only wear it occasionally. So what's the point?

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Trailer Trash]

I just came in here to recommend the Citizen Eco-Drive and I see I'm not the only one. Listen, I bought mine about 3 weeks before Service Merchandise liquidated in 2002. The lady there didn't know how to resize the band so mine fell off about 5 times (hitting pavement) before I finally took it to get the band fixed. It was unaffected by the trama. The watch simply kicks ass and takes names.

So, mine is now 10 years old and still looks sharp. The slide rule still works, the battery still works, and I've never changed the battery since it recharges itself with the built-in solar panel. It's a geeky watch that doesn't look geeky. It has all the time zones in it and does day light savings time (manually) so I can easily tell what time it is when traveling. It has alarms and stopwatches and all that, too.

It's also a joy to read how it's programmed to save battery. At the bare minimum, if it's totally dark the second hand will simply park at 0 and quit moving. When exposed to light, it will race around to catch up.

Did I mention the slide rule?

Lastly, my wife - who is an asian babe - loves it. That alone should do it for you.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[DigiShaman]

I ordered from these guys before at LEDWatchStop. I know such merchants are a dime a dozen these days, but so far I've been pleased with my shopping experience.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[BrokenHalo]

Thus, I'd say use the unix philosophy...

Setting aside *nix for the moment, one could always embrace your fundamental and innermost nerdiness and check out some of the offerings at The Unemployed Philosophers Guild. (I have the Leonardo and Dali watches...)

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[b0bby]

Yes, the Casio G-Force is the way to go - tough, looks good/geeky, lots of options.

Though if you really want to geek out on watches without spending more than a car costs there are replica communities like http://www.rwg.cc/ where all the various "quality" knock-offs are discussed...

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[mcgrew]

Man you have to read between the lines. He wants a toy for his wrist. He doesn't seem to care about style too much. The geek stuff is just what he wants. I get that. It's fun. I could understand if you were saying this on the FHM website or the Gentlemen's Quarterly, but this is slashdot.

I guess you didn't notice his user name? As to his "Why would you be looking for a gadget with so small screen and that is always attached to your hand?" I use to have the attitude of "a wristwatch? How quaint!" but there are times I'd wished I had a wristwatch. Boring meeting with no clock on the wall, you can't show your boredom by pulling out your phone, but you could sneak a look at your wristwatch easily.

As to the submitter, if I ever buy a watch it'll be a Dick Tracy two way wrist radio watch.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[monkeyhybrid]

I normally hate wearing watches but that is awesome!

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[cayenne8]

I dunno.

I keep seeing everyone talking about $9 and $14 watches....what's the deal, is everyone cheap, or broke?!?

A watch is a piece of jewelry you wear every day...functional jewelry, but jewelry just the same. Guys don't generally get to wear as much 'bling' as women, so you need to make what you do wear, count.

If you're not a broke college student...the grow up a bit, and spend a little cash and get something that is NICE, and makes you look more like an adult.

If not just for women (and yes, the DO notice things like watches and shoes)...do it to look a little professional in your work....that matters too.

Try to dress somewhat sharp, and develop those communication skills...it will often take you further than just sheer tech genius alone.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[CaptSlaq]

Right down the path of management, which, lets be honest, isn't where some of us are interested in going.

I'm completely happy to be working for someone*. They can take care of the political and sales thing while I get down to interesting things

* Provided that someone's goals and ideas are aligned with my own

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[danomac]

That watch has a fatal flaw, what good is a watch that only goes to 15:00 hours? Other than losing 9 hours... that might be good for some. Maybe it's supposed to be used as an offset when you wake up? Yep, been awake for 14h 59m, time to go to bed and get 9 hours sleep...

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Anonymous Coward]

I hate to braeak it to you, but you are in the minority. In the real world, women actually appreciate a man with style. Not sure about 1K man-earings ... odd comparison, but whatever ... but stylish clothing, nice watch, nice car, yup women do dig them. Show up in your cheeto-stained armpit-holed thinkgeek tshirt and android held like a lightsaber in your meaty paw ... all their questions are pretty much answered before you even utter your first 'whatsup?'

Some of us are unwilling to trash our genuine identities, contravene our values and castrate ourselves in order to win the approval of vapid and shallow women.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[mauriceh]

5 hour battery life? Yikes!

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[EvilBudMan]

http://www.sigmawatch.ch/catalog/frame_cat_en.html

There is the answer. Go Swiss if you have to have a watch.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[cayenne8]

Right down the path of management, which, lets be honest, isn't where some of us are interested in going.

Well, maybe...maybe not. But, whatever it takes to keep making more money, right?

I mean, that *is* the name of the game here....you work for money, otherwise...what's the point?

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Jamu]

Can't say I'd prefer a binary-duodecimal-sexagesimal-binary watch over a quadrovigesimal-sexagesimal-decimal or binary-duodecimal-sexagesimal-decimal one. A purely binary watch would be more interesting, although less practical.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[strength_of_10_men]

Yeah, I know. But I'm guessing that's with GPS fully active and recording your workout. Otherwise, if you're just using it as a watch and maybe an MP3 player, i can't see why it won't last a week (if you believe that 2-week standby figure).

I guess all those options and features take their toll on the battery. I'd expect the next generation will improve on the batter use quite a bit

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Speaking of which, the iPod nano would make a nice smart watch; it looks decent with the right strap.

I have one and I love it. *BUT* I don't think many around here would. Here's the pro's and cons:

Pros:
- Very lightweight and very comfy to wear. (YMMV.)
- I love the display and the various watch faces. (Dear Apple, we want an app store for iPod Nano!)
- People notice when it lights up and wonder what it is I have. It is definitely a conversation piece.
- I put a bunch of comedy albums on it so once in a while it's a great anti-boredom device.
- It has a built-in FM radio that you can even pause, but I'll admit I never really use that.
- I've never tried it but I can use it as a flash drive.
- The stopwatch and timer app are VERY intuitive and work well.

Cons:
- I've only had it go two days on a charge. For me it's not a biggie, but I *know* a lot of people would hate that.
- This thing has NO ability to make sound. If you need alarms this watch is not for you.
- You have to hit the button to get the display to come on, and sometimes it goes to the music player instead of the clock. I live with this annoyance but wish I didn't have to.
- Once in a while the music player runs without my knowledge and kills the battery.
- Not even CLOSE to waterproof. It has a headphone jack so watch it in the rain.

I love it, but it's not a watch, it's an iPod Nano stuck to my wrist. I really do hope Apple develops an iPod watch one day but for now this'll suffice. For now I wouldn't recommend it unless my list of Cons was fully understood and accepted.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Some of us are unwilling to trash our genuine identities, contravene our values and castrate ourselves in order to win the approval of vapid and shallow women.

So you refuse to move out of your parents' basement on principle?

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[EvilBudMan]

Well if all he wants a toy for his wrist, I do believe they make those that fit up a little higher on your arm that will hold a smartphone. I'm sure Amazon sells them.

If he wants a watch, the get a real one made by the Swiss. Get the "Jamse Bond" model. I'm sure it does plenty of geeky things, but hey spy tech costs money.

http://www.omegawatches.com/

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Barbara, not Barbie]

I keep seeing everyone talking about $9 and $14 watches....what's the deal, is everyone cheap, or broke?!?

A watch is a piece of jewelry you wear every day...functional jewelry, but jewelry just the same. Guys don't generally get to wear as much 'bling' as women, so you need to make what you do wear, count.

Nowadays you can't tell a cheap watch from an expensive one at a glance. Look at how many $20-$100 "Roll-ex" Rolex knock-offs there are.

As for a watch being jewelry, I'd rather spend it on earrings, a ring, bracelet or necklace. A watch is just a watch. Something that will inevitably break.

If you're not a broke college student...the grow up a bit, and spend a little cash and get something that is NICE, and makes you look more like an adult.

A watch doesn't make you look "more like an adult" any more than an expensive cell phone or laptop or tablet does. Adults are (mostly) a bit more discerning.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Cederic]

I'm guessing that's with GPS fully active and recording your workout.

Even my phone lasts more than 5 hours with the GPS fully active and recording my workout. And sending text messages. And checking email.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[Cederic]

I bought a Casio. The face is nice, the movement is excellent (solar powered, radio time signal, elegant analogue display with digital capabilities) but the case and strap are cheap, nasty, tacky and uncomfortable.

This is why I prefer Citizen.

However, my main watch is mechanical. It's hard to get geekier than the raw cutting edge of material science, hand built to deliver precision mechanics to tolerances unimaginable only a short while ago.

Terrible time keeping in comparison, but thems the trade-offs.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[orion205]

I loved my Casio scientific calculator watch! Here's a page about it.

Full scientific calculator plus 27 metric conversions! It's not much for style, but I had great times with that watch!

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[strength_of_10_men]

No doubt, but your phone has the luxury of a comparatively large battery. The GPS (I'm guessing) will use the same amount of energy on both devices, but the battery capacity in the Motoactv is much smaller. Throw in WiFi, Bluetooth and ANT wireless and frankly, I'm surprised it's even 5 hours.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[BattleApple]

I've wanted one of those for a while, but I wish they didn't always print the numbers below the LEDs. It kind of takes the mystery out of it when non-techie people realize you're just adding the numbers

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[julesh]

There are a couple of chinese companies that make wrist phones, e.g. this one. No idea how well they work, but I've always thought they looked like a cool idea.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[fbjon]

I'd take it further and say that people appreciate a person with style. It may be that women appreciate it more, but that's just a matter of degree.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[fikx]

I'll second that. I had a later model without the light sensor for data, but has a snap-on USB cable. The thing that was great is you could add as many timers as you wanted, as long as you had the memory...I think I had 1 each of about half the standard apps, plus 10 count-down timers and about 20 of the (very flexible: daily, day of week, weekend, etc.) alarms. worked great.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[archont]

How can a watch represent my outfit and the way I act?

Sure, you can make an awful lot of assumptions about a person based on all sorts of random tidbits - favourite colour, handwriting, choice of sock material or watch model. However all that information is only relevant when the choice is uninfluenced by the "what will people think" - at that point I could alter what could be my default choice to create a false image of myself. Normally I'd go with a Casio Protrek - if I was aiming to scam someone I'd choose a Patek knock-off.

With that in mind men are very conscious about which watch they use and what it says about them. The "what will people think" factor plays a significant part in the decision process. Ergo by judging a man in any way based on the watch he wears you're most likely than not buying into the fantasy he's trying to sell you. Instead you should be completely oblivious as to what watch a guy is wearing and instead try to gather intel based on less obvious things.

And what odd world do you come from where respect comes from overpaying 10000 times for a device to tell time?

The luxury watch business is a giant ponzi scheme and a bubble that's getting bigger and bigger. There's no substance to it, just smoke and mirrors, tasteful marketing.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[crAckZ]

I dunno.

I keep seeing everyone talking about $9 and $14 watches....what's the deal, is everyone cheap, or broke?!?

A watch is a piece of jewelry you wear every day...functional jewelry, but jewelry just the same. Guys don't generally get to wear as much 'bling' as women, so you need to make what you do wear, count.

If you're not a broke college student...the grow up a bit, and spend a little cash and get something that is NICE, and makes you look more like an adult.

If not just for women (and yes, the DO notice things like watches and shoes)...do it to look a little professional in your work....that matters too.

Try to dress somewhat sharp, and develop those communication skills...it will often take you further than just sheer tech genius alone.

i agree 100%. even though i have my cell there is something to a great watch. i bought my wife a movado SE that always gets complements http://www.wonderwatches.com/item/Movado_Sports_Edition_Ladies_Stainless_Steel_Watch_0604844-1301.html i think i bought hers for $1200 at the time. i usually wear a fossil although i am now looking at a nice bulova.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[ZarelTgr]

Hmm... I've seen at least one worn at a convention with no numbers printed. Also, rather sadly amusing was one I saw with a standard LCD time display below. Geek points forfeited!

As for the comment about not going past 15:mm, I have always wondered (as another did above) why they went with the AM/PM method when just about everyone I know in the field almost invariably uses 24hr time. Just one more LED... ah well, someone will no doubt make one eventually.

Other arrangements of the LEDs rather than straight lines would also be potentially amusing... the six bits of each of the minutes/seconds arranged in the standard 1-12 positions around the face, and the hours in the center? Would add to the "It looks like a normal watch.. but WTF?" impact.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[pgregg]

Just so you know. The Pebble is *not* e-ink. It is LCD with a polariser and they are calling it e-paper.

http://forums.getpebble.com/topics/227

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[pcgc1xn]

Sorry, but you can tell a knockoff from a real one at a glance. At least I can (for cheap knockoffs at least, expensive OTOH...). It is the same thing as knockoff anything. If you know what real looks and feels like, you just know, even if you cannot explain exactly why. I bet plenty of people here could spot a knockoff iphone across the room, even without looking at the 'ipone' label.
And I agree with your 'adult' comment, except I think you mean mature. I have met a *LOT* of adults who would prove your point wrong.
I understand your jewellery comment, but I don't have the ears for earrings, so I enjoy my watch more. Plus it has moving bits as well as simple shiny! YMMV

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[selven]

Silly is subjective.

Re:Wrist watch is for style, not gadget

[mcmonkey]

If you developed your communication skills and talked to some of these "women" you'd know they wear a lot inexpensive costume jewelry while the nice stuff is at home. Why?

For the same reason guys buy cheap watches--they don't want worry all day about it getting lost, scratched, or broken.

BTW, nice and professional != expensive. Perhaps that's the difference between being an adult and playing dress-up to look like one.

Luminox

[joe_frisch]

The light is from a radioactive Tritium source - automatic cool points, and its actually useful, the hands are bright enough to see in any light without needing a second hand to push a button.

Re:Luminox

[Joce640k]

The problem with Tritium is that it doesn't glow forever. If I splash out on a fancy watch I'd like it to last a few years. Tritium will be noticeably dimmer after four or five years (half brightness is about 12 years from time of manufacture).

PS: If you want one-handed use get a G-Force with "auto-light". You can light them up via an arm gesture (they have an accelerometer inside).

Re:Luminox

[arth1]

The problem with Tritium is that it doesn't glow forever. If I splash out on a fancy watch I'd like it to last a few years. Tritium will be noticeably dimmer after four or five years (half brightness is about 12 years from time of manufacture).

This is why I love my old Omega - radium has a half life of 1600 years.
With today's presumably safer and mostly robotic production processes, one would think that watch producers would be allowed to use radium again?

Re:Luminox

[joe_frisch]

I've actually checked (I work at a lab with sensitive radiation detection equipment). Nothing that I can measure makes it out of the watch - Tritium is a very low energy beta emitter so its easy to shield.

Re:Luminox

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

The light is from a radioactive Tritium source ...

Are you able to get that past the TSA?

Re:Luminox

[LiENUS]

With today's presumably safer and mostly robotic production processes, one would think that watch producers would be allowed to use radium again?

Last I checked repair wasn't robotized.

EZChronos

[anilg]

It's a programmable watch by TI. sells for 50$, but 50% deals are regular.. so you can snag one for 25. Has a bunch of things inclusing heart monitor reciever, altimeter and temperature sensor.

Re:EZChronos

[Anonymous Coward]

+1.

http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/EZ430-Chronos

Re:EZChronos

[drinkypoo]

While I do think that is pretty cool, and probably worth $25, it would be at least twice as cool (but not four times as cool) with a just slightly better display. I am really impressed with the [claimed] water resistance of 30m though.

Re:EZChronos

[Anonymous Coward]

Horrible as a watch. Leaks water as the rubber seal and metal cover have bad tolerances and the front plastic cover scratches too easily.
It's a toy. Not for everyday use.

It's good for hacking, just not for everyday use.

Re:EZChronos

[tantrum]

I'll put my vote for the TI Chronos as well. It is just something funny about having a watch that you can create your own custom software for. Programmable in C, well documented and got a community (fairly small) of hackers playing with it.

You should be able to make it open you garage door :)

on the plus side:
-Got a few sensors (pressure, temp, acceleration)
-It includes IDE's to make your own firmware
-Got a radio tranceiver to interface with "whatever" you want it to
-Doesn't look that bad

negative:
-Doesn't look _that_ good
-Segmented display
-Not waterproof.

Re:EZChronos

[necro81]

Unfortunately, though, the free version of Code Composer studio that comes with it is terribly crippled by only permitting programs up to some ridiculously small size, like 5 kB. TI's crappy simpliciTI wireless protocol will barely compile in that size.

Re:EZChronos

[anilg]

Actually, there exists a complete gcc based open toolchain to compile and flash programs. Google for "Openchronos gitorous".

Re:EZChronos

[BrokenHalo]

...terribly crippled by only permitting programs up to some ridiculously small size, like 5 kB...

Isn't that meant as a challenge? Like, for instance, tossing out that API and using Assembly? You should be able to get anything worth doing in less than 1kB.

Damn, kids these days have no sense of adventure...

Re:EZChronos

[Charliemopps]

I want one. Tell me where to get this 50% deal... or send me to where-ever their biggest forum is.

Re:EZChronos

[drinkypoo]

actually I read further and they don't even actually mean 30m of static water resistance, but I had already posted my comment. I'm no longer even slightly impressed. I sent an email to liquipel asking about the ipod nano 6th ed. :p

Re:EZChronos

[pcgc1xn]

If you can explain how "30m water resistance" means anything but "if I wear this watch 30m down it will be ok" you are a better man than any watch salesman I have ever met. I mean really, how much difference in pressure does waving your hand *actually* make -1m? 2m? Personally I think one of the biggest lines of BS is the watch manufacturers guides to what you can do with a watch. Want to dive to 30m (the 'safe recreational limit'), oh no, you need the 200m+ water proof version, the 50m version will not be good enough for unspecified reasons.
Most impressive watch I ever owned was a crappy timex I didn't really like, but when it said 50m water resistant, it MEANT it.
Unfortunately it didn't say "Denver Beerfest Resistant" so the screen got smashed in mysterious (or at least mysterious to me) circumstances.:(

pebble?

[SirSlud]

Bluetooth e-paper watch with apps, talks to both Apple and Android. Made a splash on kickstarter earlier this month:

www.getpebble.com

You can't buy it now, but I have a hard time believing this isn't the future of watches, in terms of not needing to pull the phone out of your pocket, it can send just about anything to the watch, and you can use the watch to control your phone.

Re:pebble?

[SirSlud]

Oh, and it will have an open SDK so you can develop your own apps for it :)

Re:pebble?

[SirSlud]

It's a good point, but the platform itself is just getting started. I can't believe how many people have responded to, "I want a gadget that works as a traditional watch" with "Just get a watch." The Pebble is an open platform, so you can make it whatever you like, and while it's current form is a far cry from something you'd wear as a formal timepiece, it's not half bad looking.

Re:pebble?

[steveargonman]

Yeah, I think I want one of these, too. Very simple to just get the time yet, useful if you want to use it's more advanced features and it still costs less than a fancy, shmancy watch.

Re:pebble?

[BluBrick]

And by a curious coincidence, not only does the pebble meet each of the askslashdotter's criteria, funding for this particular project on kickstarter closes less than 24 hours after the article was posted here. Is that the foul stench of astroturf assaulting my olfactory system?

Cool idea, but really, does it need a slashvertisement?

Re:pebble?

[Namarrgon]

Doubt it. The kickstarter project is already oversubscribed and sold out; they really don't need more backers.

Re:pebble?

[b1scuit]

Considering that the project is funded something like 10.1 MILLION dollars over goal, I don't think they really needed to make a slashvertisement.

Re:pebble?

[Joce640k]

I dunno. It looks cool but I'm not I want a 'watch' that only lasts a few days without recharging.

"What time is it? Oh, darn, I forgot to charge my watch...again."

Re:pebble?

[djkitsch]

They reckon it'll be 7 days - I can live with that!

Re:pebble?

[Inda]

I followed this on Kickstarter. I can't wait for it to retail. People have asked me why...

I'm a keen gardener but I don't take my expensive phone outside while gardening; the dirt doesn't agree with it and the screen wouldn't handle the abuse. I leave the phone in the kitchen, where I can hear it ringing. So it rings, I run up the garden to answer it, and it's no one I want to talk to. My watch could have told me and saved me the hassle.

I suppose the same is true for driving. I could ignore it mostly.

Calendar sync, notifications, SMS, caller ID - I could probably leave the phone docked all the time. Ah time, it should probably tell the time too.

Red please.

Re:pebble?

[gl4ss]

I just thought this was guerilla marketing for pebble to be honest. so obvious.

Re:pebble?

[optimism]

sig:- (wit >= sarcasm)

More precisely,

sarcasm = min(range(wit))

Re:pebble?

[jbeaupre]

I was intrigued until it mentioned the 7-day battery life. Maybe that could be offset by a quick charge cycle (fast enough to charge while I'm in the shower).

By comparison, I've had regular watches go a couple years on a single battery.

Re:pebble?

[CubicleView]

The cynic is me actually assumes that this "AskSlashdot" is just blatant fishing to drum up yet more interest in the pebble. I quite like the idea of the pebble though, so hopefully the cynic in me is wrong.

Re:pebble?

[CubicleView]

That only makes sense if they don't ever plan to make more.

Casio GB-6900

[Anonymous Coward]

Casio G-Shock GB-6900 Bluetooth watch. Uses Bluetooth Low Energy with compatible devices (iPhone 4s, few newer Android phones) so it doesn't drain power like other past Bluetooth enabled watches. Sync to the time on your phone, lets you set phone alerts/alarms/ringtones/etc, read text messaging and email, etc. Good companion piece if you don't like take your phone out of your pocket.

Re:Casio GB-6900

[fatman22]

Get the Casio G-SHOCK MTG900DA-8V - It's easy to read, the battery is charged by built-in solar cells, it automatically syncs to WWVB, it's resistant to water and most other drinkable liquids to a depth most geeks will never encounter, and it's damn near indestructible.

Tokyoflash watches

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.tokyoflash.com

They have an array of really cool designs that are pretty damn geeky. Its pretty easy to tell the time on most of them, but for some telling the time is the equivalent of a binary clock.

Re:Tokyoflash watches

[davaloha]

Thank you, I'm glad someone mentioned them. I got their jlr7 and their changing lanes watches. Its great fun confusing people with them :-D

Sony SmartWatch

[dr00p]

As everybody before me said, go for Pebble :)
I can't wait to try mine :D

Another option would be the watch that runs Android: Sony SmartWatch. See for yourself.
http://www.sonymobile.com/us/products/accessories/smartwatch/

Re:Sony SmartWatch

[EdIII]

Sony Smartwatch?

Yeah... but unlike so many other advertisements every one of your dollars that goes to Sony really does support terrorism :)

Casio calculator watch

[uvajed_ekil]

All you need is a Casio calculator watch. ytcracker, the nerd rap king, said something like:
"When I was younger I flossed a Casio, calculator watch, yeah it was nasty yo. I used that, shot to head of the class, and then I went the speed of light and shot to infinite mass."

Personally, a simple Movado is enough watch for me. For everything else we have smartphones, tablets, netbooks, laptops, desktops, lending libraries, wise talking dogs, wikipedia, and oracles. Ahhh... the simple life...

Re:Casio calculator watch

[Joce640k]

...or the Casio F91W, the only watch that you can be arrested indefinitely for wearing

Watches are not about telling time

[Anonymous Coward]

I once had a concierge at a 5 star hotel tell me he could always figure out a customer by observing two things: his shoes and his watch.

The watch is to men what the handbag and shoes are to women. It is the ultimate fashion accessory. It can be a sign of status like a Rolex. It can be a sign of one's interests like a Bell & Ross. It can be a sign of ones appreciation for artisan watch craft like a Breguet. The question when buying a watch is not what features does it have. Do you really think anyone spends 100K on a Breguet because it tells accurate time? It is a very traditional status symbol of style so find the one that says what you want to say and enhances you personal brand.

Re:Watches are not about telling time

[Isaac-1]

Yes, but it is nice to know they have the right time too

That is part of why I like my JDM Casio Oceanus (this is Casio's domestic upper line model, not sold in the US)

model OCW-P600TD It is made out of titanium, has world atomic time reception in 5 regions from China to Europe, is solar powered and at a little under $1,000 street price shipped to the U.S. is not so cheap that you will see them everywhere, and not so expensive that you worry about someone cutting off your hand to get it.

http://www.tokyo-toyz.com/proddetail.php?prod=CasioOceanusCachalotOCW-P600TD-1AJF

Re:Watches are not about telling time

[clickclickdrone]

I wonder what he's make of people like me that haven't worn a watch in 20+ years?

Re:Watches are not about telling time

[khr]

It can be a sign of status like a Rolex

Or in my case, a sign of wealthy in-laws... But I haven't been wearing it much in New York City, too flashy to feel safe walking about during short-sleeve weather (especially since I work in Crown Heights...)

Re:Watches are not about telling time

[LanMan04]

Do you really think anyone spends 100K on a Breguet because it tells accurate time?

No, they spend $100K on it because they're a pretentious douchebag with more money than sense/penis size.

Re:Watches are not about telling time

[Caratted]

My favorite bit about the Oceanus watches (excepting that they're Casio, which you know, in their more engineered designs, is going to outlive you) is that you get the sapphire crystal for generally under the 4 digit mark. This is an awesome value, and the same reason one of the 5-dial Oceanus watches will be my next. I'll probably skip the Ti this time around - my current Citizen clasp is Ti and scratches on wood... nice metal, not easy to maintain a polish though. The Citizen can be my beater.

Re:Watches are not about telling time

[optimism]

Or they spend $100K on it because they have to spend the money somewhere, and isn't it better to give that money to a group of precision craftsmen, who probably exercise their skills in other areas, than to spend it on several thousand gallons of diesel for the pleasure yacht?

Luxury goods are a rare example of trickle-down economics that works.

Re:Watches are not about telling time

[joe_frisch]

How does he know he's right? Certainly there is a subset of wealthy people who will wear fancy watches, but there are others who don't bother. If you are worth millions, a watch worth tens of thousands is a way to show off. If you are worth billions, the watch really isn't saying anything. Of course if you are worth billions YOU are not talking to the concierge, if you for some reason are even staying in a hotel, you have staff to deal with things.

Re:Watches are not about telling time

[Thumper_SVX]

I wonder what he's make of people like me that haven't worn a watch in 20+ years?

He would probably figure you're either homeless or a photographer.

Of course, it's bloody hard to tell the difference between the two until they open their bags...

Re:Watches are not about telling time

[neurovish]

I once had a concierge at a 5 star hotel tell me he could always figure out a customer by observing two things: his shoes and his watch.

The watch is to men what the handbag and shoes are to women. It is the ultimate fashion accessory. It can be a sign of status like a Rolex. It can be a sign of one's interests like a Bell & Ross. It can be a sign of ones appreciation for artisan watch craft like a Breguet. The question when buying a watch is not what features does it have. Do you really think anyone spends 100K on a Breguet because it tells accurate time? It is a very traditional status symbol of style so find the one that says what you want to say and enhances you personal brand.

That is why I bought a Grand Seiko and a pair of Koronya shoes. I figure with these two nailed, I can go just about anywhere in bermuda shorts and a white t-shirt.

Re:Watches are not about telling time

[rpopescu]

<quote>That is why I bought a Grand Seiko and a pair of Koronya shoes. </quote>

I think  people who know about Grand Seiko tend to actually own them, or would like to. Which one's correct in your case, if you don't mind?

Watches are for wage slaves

[Coward Anonymous]

True men of leisure don't require watches as they have all the time in the world.

Re:Watches are for wage slaves

[akeeneye]

Crap and I just wasted all my mod points earlier today. Well, +1 Insightful for you.

Re:Watches are for wage slaves

[artor3]

Quite right. Instead, they buy fifty thousand dollar Rolex Yachtmaster platinum cosmographs so that they can track the phase of the moon while complaining about having to pay taxes.

Mechanical.

[Anonymous Coward]

How about respect for mechanical watches? They are true marvels of engineering and work very well. Just because it's electronic doesn't make it any better.

Re:Mechanical.

[akeeneye]

++Agree. Antique, or antique-ish mechanical watches can be really beautiful, and it's not often, other than your 20-year-old nerd trade-show T-shirts (I have drawers full) that you get to wear a piece of history. It'll take a while to find something nice though - you'll have to go to a lot of antique/junk shops, comb a lot of craigslist ads. At one point I'd scoured fleaBay but prices are crazy and half the stuff is probably fake. I realize this is not what the OP is after at this point though. I wonder if there's vintage nerdware watches to be had. Red LEDs!

Re:Mechanical.

[SirSlud]

How about some respect for a false dichotomy? Who says you can't own more than one watch? I'd wager that many folks who do own watches own more than one.

Re:Mechanical.

[Fzz]

As a nerd, I like to be able to see how my watch works:

http://www.thewatchhut.co.uk/Rotary-Gents-Mechanical-Skeleton-Strap-Watch-GS02521+06.html

Re:Mechanical.

[optimism]

How about respect for mechanical watches? They are true marvels of engineering and work very well. Just because it's electronic doesn't make it any better.

Actually, yes, it does make it better.

Well, at least, if more accurate, more durable, and radically cheaper add up to "better".

That said, mechanical watches can be very beautiful pieces of precision art. The downside is, you typically have to disassemble the watch to appreciate that hidden art.

Most "analog" watches actually use an electronic (aka quartz) movement, not a mechanical movement. Purely mechanical watches are extremely rare now.

Re:Mechanical.

[Rob the Bold]

How about respect for mechanical watches? They are true marvels of engineering and work very well. Just because it's electronic doesn't make it any better.

Actually, yes, it does make it better.

Well, at least, if more accurate, more durable, and radically cheaper add up to "better".

That said, mechanical watches can be very beautiful pieces of precision art. The downside is, you typically have to disassemble the watch to appreciate that hidden art.

Most "analog" watches actually use an electronic (aka quartz) movement, not a mechanical movement. Purely mechanical watches are extremely rare now.

There are some mechanical watches with see-through backs -- and some with see through fronts -- so you can mesmerize your friends with the whirly, clicky stuff going on inside without disassembly.

Re:Mechanical.

[Rob the Bold]

How about respect for mechanical watches? They are true marvels of engineering and work very well. Just because it's electronic doesn't make it any better.

True. A vintage Tri-Compax with a bazillion dials and windows on the front definitely has some nerd cred.

Re:Mechanical.

[optimism]

There are some mechanical watches with see-through backs -- and some with see through fronts -- so you can mesmerize your friends with the whirly, clicky stuff going on inside without disassembly.

Absolutely, those watches do exist. Pretty hard to find a precision, purely mechanical one though. The vast majority use electronic movements, or low-quality mechanical movements.

In any case, the same issues apply. A $10 digital LCD watch is more accurate and durable than most $1000 purely mechanical art watches.

Re:Mechanical.

[MiniMike]

Seconded. I get compliments on this watch from geeks and non-geeks. Bonus- it will never be obsolete, unlike any electronic watch which will be in a year or two. The flipside is the claim that all mechanical watches are already obsolete, but at least it won't get significantly more so.

Re:Mechanical.

[CompMD]

I'm a pilot and engineer and work with embedded systems and software mostly, but I wear an old mechanical watch. Not many people pay any attention to it, but it has major geek cred. That is because the watch is an Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch. On the rare occasion that someone comments on it, I will show them the inscription on the back: "Flight qualified by NASA for all manned space missions...the first watch worn on the moon".

Sure, it wasn't cheap. But I don't plan on buying another watch. And when I have kids, and I'm gone, one of them can have it.

Re:Mechanical.

[DrEnter]

Any watch that is sold as an "automatic" (not "quartz") is generally assumed to be a self-winding mechanical watch. There are a LOT more of them out there than you might think. They tend to be a bit more expensive (an inexpensive quartz watch will be $500), but there are a lot of choices out there. I'm partial to Breitling, myself.

Re:Mechanical.

[DrEnter]

*sigh* Correcting my previous post. I used less and greater than signs, which resulted in "an inexpensive quartz watch will be $500" being displayed when what I wrote was: An inexpensive quartz watch will be < $50 and an inexpensive automatic watch will be > $500.

Re:Mechanical.

[Coz]

I wear a mechanical autowinder with a window on the front showing the grasshopper gear working, and a clear back, showing all the autowinder and all the other mechanical beauty. Muy steampunk.

For a more high-tech device, I'd just go with an iPod nano watch, with the clock screensaver. Touch it and it lights up with the time, and run headphones up your sleeve to listen to the music unobtrusively :-)

Re:Mechanical.

[Cederic]

Pretty hard to find a precision, purely mechanical one though

Nah, very easy to find.

Somewhat harder to afford though.

. A $10 digital LCD watch is more accurate and durable than most $1000 purely mechanical art watches.

I'd add a few zeros. A $10 digital LCD watch these days is going to hold its time better than most mechanical watches, even the ones costing $800,000. Wont be as nice though.

I wear a mechanical watch. As a timekeeping device, it's the worse watch I own. It's my favourite anyway.

Re:Mechanical.

[Cederic]

Incidentally, possibly the geekiest watch ever created _is_ a digital watch:

http://www.degrisogono.com/#/en/timepieces/limited-edition/meccanico-dg/products/meccanico-dg-n01

Good luck acquiring one :)

Re:Mechanical.

[shutdown -p now]

There are plenty of inexpensive automatic mechanical watches to be had for less than $500, as well.

Re:Mechanical.

[Plumber, Programmer,]

I have a similar Stuhrling automatic watch. As a person whose work is done entirely with a computer, I like having a reminder that sometimes, there are valid solutions that require no electronics. I used to use a Canon AE-1 SLR camera (mostly mechanical), but now that digital photography has taken over, it has become impractical. However, a mechanical watch is still a valid timepiece. A mechanical watch tells the time with enough accuracy for my needs Bonus: It'll still be ticking after an EMP, either man-made or from a CME.

Re:Mechanical.

[pcgc1xn]

If anyone claims that your watch is obsolete, you can always point out that it is space age technology.
It is just a pity that space age technology is not what it used to be.
That is a nice looking watch - but I have a question. Is it accurate? I bought a cheap mechanical citizen with a crystal back so I can get my fix, but it is inaccurate enough to annoy me - after a month or so it is off enough to be a problem (10+ minutes). My expensive mechanicals are better.

Re:Mechanical.

[pcgc1xn]

The example you were looking for was the Chronoswiss Opus. Accuracy on a par with any good mechanical - seconds per day rather than per month per year with a $2 quartz. Dark hands on a busy background making it hard to read the time - something that you need to look at to tell the time rather than just glance. Winding - impractical. Cost, don't ask.
But it is engineering, and you can see it. A bad day gets better just peering at the amazing craftsmanship and engineering in the watch.
Even the sound is better. Honestly, a quartz 'analog' watch makes a tinny tick every second. A mechanical watch beats with the speed of the mechanism - 5 or 6 times a second, an almost musical chime which will sound different depending on the angle of the watch to your ear. My wife (I know fantasy on /.) does not like me wearing my quartz in bed, it sounds bad while she is sleeping.
If you really want geek, mechanical is the way to go. What the watch isn't is not as important as what it is. What could be more geek than an Omega Speedmaster - the first watch on the moon. Buy a 60s one, it is just being run in, then you can give it to your grandchildren. Accurate, no, practical, not really, efficient not really. Cool, hell yes.

Calculator watches?

[antdude]

I still wear them. I currently wear a CASIO Databank 150. I I only use basic stuff. Nothing fancy. I'd like to get a PDA watch but they are too heavy and big for my thin wrists. :(

Re:Calculator watches?

[freeze128]

I used to wear those all the time, and I can tell you this:

The Databanks have lots of great features, but are cheaply made. Often times the rubber buttons just wear down like a used eraser, which makes them hard to press.

More often than not, the total failure of the watch is due to the case being made out of plastic, and the spring rods tear away from the case, and can never stay put again. Even the watches with the shiny chrome case are just chrome painted plastic. I would be happier if they were made with metal.

Instead, I got an affordable INVICTA automatic watch on Amazon for about $100. It has a second hand, and Day-of-Month indicator. It's solid, made of real metal, and just works.

Re:Calculator watches?

[antdude]

Yeah, the pads and plastic suck. I miss the old materisl, but they were big and heavy for my tiny wrists. :( I wished there were alternatives.

Watchismo

[Anonymous Coward]

Lots of interesting watches at www.watchismo.com. I especially like the MuteWatch, which has all sorts of new materials, accelerometers and an interesting HDI.

Not cheap, but you said you'd invest in something interesting and stylish.

Nixie watch

[NixieBunny]

Easy to read, lots of interest.

Re:Nixie watch

[Prune]

The best part is you can build one yourself. The worst part is that nixie tubes haven't been manufactured in quite a few decades and spare ones for your watch will run out.

Re:Nixie watch

[NixieBunny]

The best part is that I have built about 600 of them myself. The bad part is that I just spent 4 months of Nixie watch profits on more Nixie tubes.

Re:Nixie watch

[Lord Lode]

How long does the battery last, how much do nixie tubes consume?

Casio SGW-100B

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a basic digital watch, but also has a compass and thermometer, both of which I use far more than I'd care to admit. When I got a cell phone, I tried going without a watch for a while, but I would always glance at my wrist and get this horrible empty feeling when I didn't instantly know the time. The phone in my pocket was simply too far away :) This new watch was reasonably cheap, and had cool features. If I'm hiking/camping/boating (when I'd use the compass most, btw) it's important that it's also waterproof, which I can't say for my phone.

Re:Casio SGW-100B

[Hognoxious]

When my nice Rodania titanium was stolen by the bastard security guards at Milan airport I bought the same one as you.

The compass isn't wildly accurate and I wouldn't rely on it out in the boonies, but it's great if you have an abysmal urban sense of direction like me. Sure, I'm at Foo & Bar, but do I go this way or that?

I can never work out whether the thermometer is measuring the ambient temperature or mine. Seems like it's somewhere inbetween. It's accurate off-wrist though, I tested it against a cooking thermometer.

Plastic doesn't feel cold against your skin in winter. It's cheap and cheerful, lightweight and pretty kidproof (they crayoned on it last week - two minutes in the shower and it was back to its original colour) thanks to the deep waterproofing.

Build it.

[mpoulton]

Build a watch. From parts. I am currently wearing my general-purpose utility watch, a waterproof automatic I made with an ETA 2824-2 movement and a one-of-a-kind nickel and brass dial I made that evokes a mid-century modern aesthetic. I've built several others, but they're more decorative than utilitarian. This is a watch I can wear no matter what I'm doing without worrying about it. Mechanical watches are AMAZING instances of applied science, and even though the technology hasn't changed substantially in decades, they still represent the pinnacle of micro-mechanical manufacturing. Understanding and working on watches is a decidedly geeky pursuit, but it isn't that big an undertaking to obtain the necessary knowledge to assemble and maintain one if you're already a well qualified geek. And chances are that you'll start to appreciate the aesthetic design aspects more once you get into it. Let me tell you, ladies do love interesting, classy watches - and telling them you made it yourself and there's only one in the world is catnip.

Re:Build it.

[Kiyyik]

Actually, some ladies wouldn't mind havin' a crack at it themselves. Got any leads for good getting-started websites, books, etc?

Re:Build it.

[pcgc1xn]

Seconded.

Casio

[PPH]

F-91W.

If you want a watch that just works and keeps on

[mark_reh]

working, the Casio GS1300B is ultimately cool. 5 motors, analog display, atomic time sync, solar powered, count down timer that makes it run backwards, water and shock resist, and it looks nice too. You can read the time at a glance and know that it is absolutely correct. Since I got mine I stopped looking for any other watch. I picked mine up at a Saks 5th Ave outlet store for $240.

Mechanical watch

[timpaton]

A watch is just for telling the time - your other gadgets are for everything else.

That being the case, there are few things as geekishly awesome as an automatic (ie self-winding) mechanical wristwatch.

A little tiny machine, small enough to wear on your arm, that uses nothing but springs and harmonic motion to keep time, accurate to within a couple of seconds per day.

If you have the means, you can spend $_absurd on a status-symbol automatic watch.
If you don't have those means (or that inclination), you can get some serious bargains.

My everyday watch is a Vostok. http://www.vostok-inc.com/ . Delivered from Moscow for under $100. Seemingly indestructible, and more than accurate enough - I only ever need to adjust it if it stops, after not being worn for a couple of days.

I've seen some Seiko 5 automatics recently on Amazon for similar prices. More elegant (and delicate) looking than my Vostok (which is more like a watch movement set in an anvil), but very good little units.

Second-hand mechanical watches can be found for even less.

Get some cheap watchmaking tools off Ebay and pull a cheap mechanical watch to pieces, just for fun. Because you can.

Re:Mechanical watch

[dgatwood]

That being the case, there are few things as geekishly awesome as an automatic (ie self-winding) mechanical wristwatch.

Personally, I'm partial to the Citizen Eco-Drive watches. They look like traditional mechanical analog watches, but under they hood, they use atomic clock signals to keep exacting time, and use solar panels to stay charged. They're not cheap, but you get to walk around all day, smug in the knowledge that everybody thinks you have to wind your watch every day.

Re:Mechanical watch

[mirix]

I have a few Vostoks too. They're built like a tank but also heavy like tenk. Typical Russian construction I suppose.

Get the self winder though, Never having to wind the thing is worth the ten dollar differential.

I prefer the models with soviet stuff on them, but they have plain ones too. amfibija series is my favourite.

Re:Mechanical watch

[timpaton]

They look like traditional mechanical analog watches, but under they hood...

Yes, sure, and you can get battery-powered analog quartz watches that look like a mechanical analog watch, and you don't have to wind them either.

There's something special about a wearable machine. An atomic-syncing solar-powered watch is cool and all, but I'll keep my automatic thanks.

Re:Mechanical watch

[Nidi62]

I have a few Vostoks too. They're built like a tank but also heavy like tenk. Typical Russian construction I suppose.

I actually have a watch my mom picked up in Poland during the early 80s. It's a Soviet paratrooper watch(the face has graphics of a few transport planes flying with 2 open parachutes beneath them). Thing is, that thing is so light that I often forget I have it on when I'm wearing it. I always figured it was because they used much lighter, cheaper metals to produce most things in the Soviet Union that weren't strict military grade. But I know in any case that I will most likely never run into another one like it in the US.

Re:Mechanical watch

[clodney]

For at least 10 years now I have worn a Seiko Kinetic Auto Relay (http://www.seikowatches.com/technology/kinetic/kinetic_ar.html) Mechanical self winding mechanism actually charges a battery. Take it off for a few days and the hands stop moving but the electronics inside are still keeping correct time. Pick it up, shake it a few times, and it will wake up and advance the hands to the correct time. Supposedly that power saving mode is good for up to 2 years.

Not as tech heavy as the modern geek watch, but still a stylish watch, and I haven't had to set it outside of daylight time/time zone changes since I got it, and I have never had to replace a battery.

Re:Mechanical watch

[the eric conspiracy]

I have been wearing one of these for about 7 years now.

The solar power feature is brilliant. It charges a supercapacitor and holds enough energy keep time several months without exposure to sunlight. It goes into an energy saving mode if kept in the dark.

Super accurate too. Never have to adjust the time.

Re:Mechanical watch

[swillden]

They look like traditional mechanical analog watches, but under they hood...

Yes, sure, and you can get battery-powered analog quartz watches that look like a mechanical analog watch, and you don't have to wind them either.

But you do have to change the batteries every few years, unlike an eco-drive.

Re:Mechanical watch

[Whorhay]

I bought my Seiko Kinetic in 2005 I think. It's a quartz movement that is powered via a capacitor. The capacitor is charged by a pendulum of some sort. So in 7 years I've never needed to wind it up or replace a battery. That said I believe the capacitor does wear down eventually and the mechanical bits might need cleaning in the near future.

My only complaint with it stems from me picking the titanium case and band. Titanium is a neat metal and very useful but not suited for every purpose, in this case the clasp on the band. Part of the clasp flexed too much and too often and so eventually broke a little more than a year after I purchased it. Every watch place I talked to said I would have to purchase a new band or send it away to be fixed, maybe both. So I found a little shop where for $20 the guy replaced the clasp with a stainless one that has held up great for the last 5+ years.

The Seiko is easily the best watch I've ever purchased and I hope to keep it for decades to come. That said my Father is holding a train watch for me, which has been passed through several generations of my family. It is engraved with the initials of the original owner who's name I share. I look forward to some day passing it on myself.

Re:Mechanical watch

[random coward]

ECO drive batteries will wear out too. The Vostok will outlast them both.

Re:Mechanical watch

[Cederic]

..or it's a more complicated mechanical watch. But not many people can afford them :)

Huh?

[SuperKendall]

there are plenty of times you don't carry a phone, but would wear a watch. ....

Really? Like what. I cannot think of one. That even includes swimming!

Re:Huh?

[Dr Max]

Maybe not those of us addicted to a mobile phone but some of us like the idea of being able to leave home with only your keys in your pocket, even if you do miss an old school friend you havn't seen in years change his facebook status. If you do want to carry a phone aswell but just want to check the time or see if an sms is important, you can skip the rifeling though your pockets with a smart watch like the pebble or somthing.

Re:Huh?

[houstonbofh]

there are plenty of times you don't carry a phone, but would wear a watch. ....

Really? Like what. I cannot think of one. That even includes swimming!

Then, please... DON'T FUCKING DRIVE!!!!!!!!

Re:Huh?

[thorgil]

I sometimes do quite sensitive elctrical time-series measurements (in a faraday cage).... phone location-updates, messages and calls shows up on these measurements -> can't carry phone... /T

Re:Huh?

[1u3hr]

there are plenty of times you don't carry a phone, but would wear a watch. ....

Really? Like what. I cannot think of one. That even includes swimming!

Swimming? That's when I really appreciate my watch. A cheap 100 m waterproof stainless steel analog with a bezel to time my laps. What else would I do? Keep a phone in a plastic bag in my briefs? Leave it on the beach to be stolen? Other times, like riding my bike, I need to make a connection, and keep track of time.

I really hate the idea of having to have a phone in one hand at all times. Too easy to lose, get damaged or distract me.

Re:Huh?

[Captain Hook]

there are plenty of times you don't carry a phone, but would wear a watch. ....

Really? Like what. I cannot think of one. That even includes swimming!

I use a watch when I go camping because I found lighting up the display just to see what the time was ate into the battery life of the phone (an issue when charging availability is unpredictable). I also prefer to keep the phone in the rucksack or in the tent rather than carrying it in my trouser pockets like I do when not camping to save it getting wet or dropped in mud.

The watch I choose was a Casio Protrek PRG-240, it's solar powered, got a digital compass, barometer with history graph etc.

So although I am carrying a phone, the watch just makes a significantly better form factor compared to the phone in those situations and the functions of the watch are actually more useful than what I have on the phone.

Re:Huh?

[YrWrstNtmr]

Really? Like what. I cannot think of one.

If you happen to work in a secure facility, often you can't even bring the phone into the building.

Re:Huh?

[arth1]

Really? Like what. I cannot think of one. That even includes swimming!

You must be single, or have a very understanding partner who lets you bring a cell phone while making love or cuddling.

Other scenarios include when you use both hands. When I solder or read a book, I can still look at my wrist watch.
Same when walking dogs on both sides.

How about when riding a bike?
Or when talking on the phone[*], or playing a game on it[**]?
When taking pictures with an actual camera?
Or when you wear gloves or mittens (winter, yard work, other).

[*] Unless you're one of those who always use bluetooth, in which case, sincerely, screw you. I don't mind that you appear to talk to a pineapple at the grocery store, but the next time you walk and say "Hi! How are you!" and three passing people stop thinking you talked to them, one of them might be me, with a crowbar.

[**] At least a PSP has a single button to hit that will freeze your game no matter what it is, and tell the time. No phone I've seen is that easy.

Re:Huh?

[broseidon]

You must be single, or have a very understanding partner who lets you bring a cell phone while making love or cuddling.

You must be single too, because if a woman ever caught you looking at your WATCH while love-making/cuddling, you probably would have been a chalk outline at a crime scene by now.

Re:Huh?

[arth1]

You must be single too, because if a woman ever caught you looking at your WATCH while love-making/cuddling, you probably would have been a chalk outline at a crime scene by now.

Try harder. Done well, you lose track of time, and either one of you might want to check it - if nothing else to see whether you have to get up or can have fourths. If your partner has never whispered "what time is it?", I feel sorry for you.

Re:Huh?

[fermat1313]

You must be single, or have a very understanding partner who lets you bring a cell phone while making love or cuddling.

How understanding is your partner if you pause mid-thrust to check your watch?

Re:Huh?

[Cederic]

If it helps any, we can confirm that you're definitely doing it wrong.

(even when it feels soooo right)

Re:Huh?

[scubamage]

Going on a military base.

Re:Huh?

[j2.718ff]

there are plenty of times you don't carry a phone, but would wear a watch. ....

Really? Like what. I cannot think of one. That even includes swimming!

What kind of phone do you own that you can wear it while swimming?!

A watch is valuable while swimming to calculate how fast I swim laps. I similarly use my watch while running, but have no desire to keep a phone in my pocket.

Re:Huh?

[CSMoran]

there are plenty of times you don't carry a phone, but would wear a watch. ....

Really? Like what. I cannot think of one. That even includes swimming!

1) In an airplane during take-off.
2) In the US embassy.
3) During a game of badminton.

Something Old-school Geeky

[Dr. Mu]

The Torgoen T01 sports a slide rule bezel. These aviator-style watches are like a poor man's Breitling, with battery-powered Swiss movements assembled into their housings in China. I've had mine for over six years, and I love it. The hands and numerals are large with phosphorescence that remains strong throughout the night. There's also a separate hand that reads in 24-hour time and which can be set to another time zone -- handy if you conduct overseas business.

Re:Something Old-school Geeky

[Dr. Mu]

Actually, I screwed up with the model number. The one I have is the T6, which Torgoen no longer lists, but which appears still to be available from dealers.

Re:Something Old-school Geeky

[tchuladdiass]

I've been looking at the Torgoens, among them the T2 series (also no longer on their web site). Here's what I'm basically looking for in a slide rule watch:
1) Preferably a rotating outer bezel, instead of rotating the slide rule with one of the crowns. It seems that it would take too long to set the slide rule for a quick calculation using the crown. Also, most watch of that design put the slide rule crown on the left side, where you'd have to take the watch off to use it.
2) No parallax errors -- so the ones with one set of scales on the outside bezel, and the other scales under the crystal are out.
3) Something where the numbers on the bezel won't wear off, i.e. not painted on but actually etched / engraved.
4) Enough of the gauge marks so it doesn't look too plain. Most of the E6B ones fill this category nicely.
5) C, D, and time scales. Some watches are missing the time scale (see the third one in on the T2 for example).

I think either the Citizen Skyhawk comes close to what I want, but I'm skeptical on the digital face (which can get covered up by the hands periodically). Also some of the no-longer made Seiko's look close to what I want.

The natural one.

[Anonymous Coward]

Internal clock.
When I have enough sleep, I can tell the time +-5mins.
You just need a bit of training.

Re:The natural one.

[khr]

My father used to be super-accurate like that, all the time. But then after he had a heart attack and bypass surgery a few years ago, he's always half an hour to 45 minutes off...

Tissot T-touch

[puthan]

I have a Tissot T-touch. Looks like an ordinary watch. It uses a touch screen to bring the underlying gadgets to life. Altimeter, compass, barometer, thermometer, etc. Goes well with a suit too!

Re:Tissot T-touch

[Shrike82]

I have one of these too; it's on my wrist right now. Sadly I can't recommend that anyone buy this awful hunk of crap, as it's currently broken despite being less than 2 months old. Google around for reviews and you'll find that the instrumentation in the watch frequently dies and needs repairs, which can cost £200 ($300) out of warranty.

Dick Tracy

[akeeneye]

Are you looking for Dick Tracy-wear, or would you consider uber-retro geek? You can find stand-out vintage watches, even mechanical ones, with lots of dials and gimmickry. I haven't looked recently, but I imagine that you can still find yourself a fancy, vintage, atomic-age chronograph with a radium dial that will eventually give you superhero powers (think Hulk) and in the meantime will set off every radiation-detector in your city.

Commodore

[sir1real]

This watch does not have any features and it's a bit expensive but it's got geek cred and it looks awesome. I get comments about mine all the time.

These are originals manufactured in 1975:
http://www.ledwatchstop.com/store/commodore-watch-time-mint-p-210.html

Suunto Core

[Jane Q. Public]

Mine is a Suunto Core. I'm not real happy with how big it is, but large seems to be the style these days.

But other than that, it is very functional. Barometer and altimeter work very well, and it even has a storm alarm when the pressure drops faster than a certain rate. I have found that works well, too.

Very functional, and nice looking (for a men's-style watch). I could hope for a smaller version, but I haven't seen any.

Re:Suunto Core

[Jane Q. Public]

To elaborate a little, when I say "very functional", it includes these features:

Most "typical" digital watch functions: 12 / 24 hr. time, date, dual time, stopwatch, countdown timer. Also calculates sunrise/sunset times for your location, the date, and ST or DT.

Altimeter / barometer / depth gauge: tells you your altitude, atm. pressure, or depth underwater (down to 30 feet, not for scuba). Keeps a chart of pressure or altitude, depending on which mode has priority. Charts show directly on the watch. Logbook stores a number of these records. Also has a little 2-part arrow showing whether the pressure is increasing or decreasing (or altitude decreasing or increasing) right now, and half an hour ago.

Almost forgot: the storm alarm. If the pressure drops a certain amount or past a certain rate, it sets off the storm alarm. It works and it has come in very handy, warning me of coming bad weather in time to get out of or prepare for rain for example.

Ambient temperature: in F or C. Like almost all such watches (the ones that claim otherwise are lying), if you want an accurate temp. reading you have to take it off for a few minutes. But over time you learn the relative offset for different temperature ranges and you can tell the temperature pretty closely without taking it off.

Accurate compass: (Not just one of those 8-point jobs. It is accurate to at least 2 degrees, but if I remember correctly it's actually 1 degree.) Has numeric heading but also a "needle point" on the edge of the dial that you can sight across. Adjustable for the magnetic declination in your area. Also rotating bezel in 1-degree increments for marking a heading, and a glow-in-the-dark sight point on the bezel, so you can use the compass at night along with the backlight.

I've probably forgotten a couple of things. It's available in light dial with black display or black dial with light display. Also military model that is all black, with the black dial.

The 1970s called...

[93 Escort Wagon]

I haven't worn a watch since I started carrying a cell phone around. Even long before smartphones existed... cell phones have pretty much always had the time right on them - so who needs duplicate functionality attached to their wrist?

Re:The 1970s called...

[Isaac-1]

How about people that want to know what time it is, I have seen my phone synced to the cell provider be off by 5 minutes or more, and also that don't want to worry about their phone randomly changing time zones on them while traveling.

Re:The 1970s called...

[Hognoxious]

Can check the time without letting go of the steering wheel/shopping cart/pushchair.

Don't have to hitch your overcoat[1] up to get it out of your pocket.

[1] It's what you wear when it's cold outside and you don't drive everywhere.

Re:The 1970s called...

[dunkelfalke]

I am pretty sure that the time sync function is not mandatory.

Re:The 1970s called...

[shutdown -p now]

Modern wristwatch is a piece of male jewelry first and foremost; that it also displays time is accidental to the way it has evolved.

Casio PRX-7000T

[faust2097]

The Casio ProTrek PRX-7000T is a good candidate, it's solar, sets itself from an atomic clock signal automatically and has altimeter/barometer, compass and thermometer. It's also their first all-analog version. It's a bit expensive at $1500 but it should come down a bit if it gets release outside of Japan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPaj5BW-Zg

Alternately you could get one with a slide rule like a Citizen Skyhawk A-T which could be had for under $500. It's atomic solar as well and has a bunch of other features.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDoBAT57hII

Pulsar Y911

[thisisauniqueid]

I have a Pulsar Y911 watch. This is my favorite watch ever despite its simplicity. It has four killer features: (1) it is 100% titanium, so it's very light. (2) It's cheap (got mine for $57 new or something). (3) it has a "white-on" display, which is a cool LCD technology that appears over the analog watch face in *white*, but only when you push a button. The watch doesn't have a backlight (the only real downside IMO), but white-on is just cool. (4) with two pushes of the top-right button, it enters "1-AL" ("Single-time alarm") mode. Every subsequent push of the same button sets a one-off alarm one minute further in the future from the current time. This makes it really easy to set a reminder alarm for something, at any small number of minutes into the future, without even looking, by pushing the button (2 + the number of minutes) times. I use this feature *all* the time, and in fact it is the best feature I have ever found in a watch. I have looked all over for other watches that have this feature, and failed to find one. Does anybody know of other watches with 1-AL mode?

Re:Pulsar Y911

[FatLittleMonkey]

"I have looked all over for other watches that have this feature, and failed to find one. Does anybody know of other watches with 1-AL mode?"

In many watches it's called a count-down timer, or something similar, part of the stop-watch function rather than the alarm function. Still uses the alarm when it hits zero.

This guy

[ma1wrbu5tr]

has one of these.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2143689/Tattoo-artist-implants-MAGNETS-arm-hold-iPod-place-permanently.html

Life choice? Publicity Stun? Who am I to judge?

Casio AWG101-1A Atomic Solar G-Shock watch

[yoctology]

Self-time setting in Europe, USA, Japan. Solar so never needs batteries. G-shock so it can stand submersion and getting beaten up. And doesn't cost too much. It also is very light. A man's watch.

"Casio's Multi-Band Atomic watch for men is a high-tech timepiece designed for superior performance under a variety of conditions. Featuring a gray, brushed stainless steel case with gray dial, sporty, black plastic resin band, and a combination of analog timekeeping and digital stopwatch functions, this solar and battery-powered watch also offers accurate timekeeping for 28 time zones, water resistance to 660 feet, an LED backlight, a daily alarm function, a calendar function, and a power-saving option with battery power indicator."

Severla models available.

I got the pure digital 1980's retro rectangular lcd model. Just put it on and do your shit. It's set for the rest of your life, basically.

Actually ..

[n5vb]

I actually want a watch that I can pair with my phone via Bluetooth, that will let me do things like dial and answer calls. I don't know if the protocols for that even exist, but it's what I want. Touch screen for a multi-modal display that's a watch when it's not being used for something else, but switches to a dial with send/end buttons when I need it, Maybe make it switchable between various analog and/or digital dial skins. Open source/open architecture if that can be done without introducing malware vectors.

If I had the time and resources to develop it myself, that'd be the watch I want.

Re:Actually ..

[FatLittleMonkey]

I assume by now you've followed the links to Pebble? Sounds like the closest to what you want. (You didn't say e-paper, but it seems logical.)

Future Retro: Citizen Black Eagle

[RemiT]

Serious heavy metal jewelry: Solar powered quartz anatog-digital, multizone, with E6B flight computer (i.e. slide rule) bezel. No need to leave the smartphone behind, but wtf: this is a different kind of tech statement. Program something else. - ['DB]

ThinkGeek

[tiniebras]

ThinkGeek has a nice array of watches :
http://www.thinkgeek.com/brain/whereisit.cgi?t=watch

Their dipswitch watch is especially fun :)

Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[infonography]

The original Pulsar digital watch was marketed through upmarket jeweller, Tiffany and Co. A solid gold version sold for $2,000 and a stainless steel model for $275.

Digital watches initially caught on only in the US and very few were exported. There was a strong market for them in 1973 and prices dropped quickly. Other firms entered the market, including Bowmar, which also pioneered the early pocket calculators in the US.

These are only sold at the gift shop in the Restaurant at the end of the Universe and at the Big Bang Burger Bar.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[Pikoro]

Geek watch? Check. Good Looking? Check. Conversation Piece? Check.
http://www.firebox.com/product/3525/Devon-Tread-1-Watch

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[oldhack]

They've got good burger there, 100% beef from cows that want to be eaten.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[Tsingi]

Interesting, but a little pricey.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[necro81]

per Douglas Adams:

Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight 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.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[neovoxx]

A great and most likely the last watch I'll ever need is my Citizen Skyhawk A/T Blue Angels edition.  Part analog, part digital.  Syncs with the atomic clock, displays time in UTC 24 hour time, local 24 hour time, and Any extra timezone of your choosing.  Can display a calendar, has 2 alarms, and a timer as well.  Solar powered rechargeable battery, and the atomic clock radio works in the US, Japan, and Europe.

http://citizenwatch.com/COA/English/detail.asp?Country=COA&Language=English&ModelNumber=JY0040-59L&page=1

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[WillDraven]

Cost more than a car? Check.

$17,455 ... Ouch!

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[nescafe]

I have almost the same watch -- a Skyhawk AT Titanium (JY0010-50E). It is a solid, nearly indestructible geeky timepiece.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[Faw]

You want geeky and pricey??

Check the Urwerk watches. They look weird/awesome...

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[Tsingi]

Didn't see any prices.
Pretty fucking cool watches though.
<pedantic>
If you have anything to do with that site, tell them to put "anniversary" above "15 years". "anniversary, 15 years" sounds better than "15 years anniversary"
</pedantic>

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[plover]

If you can afford that watch, I can pretty much guarantee that your car already costs a lot more than it does.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[click2005]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[Faw]

Prices for Urwerk watches: between 59K-115K, yes i know, insane.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[EvilBudMan]

http://www.omegawatches.com/

I actually have a better answer than Sigma. Wear the watch that James Bond wears.....

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[Cederic]

That rocks! They're getting cheaper.

One day I'll be able to afford one.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[DSW-128]

Wow, that's, uhm, unique. I'd say it was cool, but I couldn't even afford to read through the whole web page... (I did find it amusing - it gave the price in dollars, but mentioned free UK shipping.)

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[Cederic]

The new skyhawks are sadly bloody ugly. My old skyhawk fortunately still works, although it's now my third choice watch:
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/jomashop_2207_625378425

I did have to get the glass replaced after around 10 years, as it was a tad scratched, but otherwise it's been great.

(it doesn't pick up radio time signals, which is one reason it's down to 3rd choice, behind a watch that does - although also ahead of another watch that does. I own too many watches)

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[scubamage]

Dang, I almost hit the buy button until I saw the price. I'd gladly shell out 2-300 for it, but screw that 17000$ price tag, that's just rediculous.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[spazdor]

I find it amusing that anyone who would pay that for a watch could be bothered spending mental energy on anything as piddling as a shipping fee.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[Capt. Skinny]

You haven't visited a car dealership lately, have you?

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[WillDraven]

Hey, I said a car, not a good car.

Re:Douglas Adams Edition Pulsar

[Capt. Skinny]

And a slide-rule built into the bezel. Nice.

Re: watch is for function, not style or gadget

[Anonymous Coward]

Timex Ironman

Get it. Use it.

Omega Speedmaster is NASA's watch

[Anonymous Coward]

Now there's an Omega Spacemaster Z-33 designed as an aerospace watch, frankly as a geek, if NASA think its good, I think its good, end of story!

http://omegaforums.net/threads/omega-z-33-spacemaster.532/

Don't post while idiot

[SuperKendall]

Then, please... DON'T FUCKING DRIVE!!!!!!!!

How does having a smart phone in your pocket hamper you when driving? Just about any car has some kind of clock somewhere so you can tell time.

You really didn't think that post through did you? That was a really stupid response, and this is Slashdot we are talking about so you had quite a bar to get below.

Re:Don't post while idiot

[Hognoxious]

How does having a smart phone in your pocket hamper you when driving?

How does a phone in your pocket tell you the time?

There's a reason wristwatches supplanted pocket ones.

Re:Don't post while idiot

[niteshifter]

How does having a smart phone in your pocket hamper you when driving? Just about any car has some kind of clock somewhere so you can tell time.

What if the car's clock doesn't work? Or it's a rental and it's clearly wrong but you haven't a clue or the time to figure out how to set it? That's how the smart phone in the pocket "hampers you". Kinda obvious now that we think about it a bit, hmm?

How about you're a properly careful driver who keeps the road clearly in view at all times which on many vehicles you won't be doing if you are looking at the console clock and with all vehicles the cellphone laying on the seat / center console. With a wristwatch you can always keep the road view near center of your vision.

So to recap: Please, Please, Please .... DON'T FUCKING DRIVE.

Re:Don't post while idiot

[TubeSteak]

There's a reason wristwatches supplanted pocket ones.

Fashion trends are cyclical.
After enough years, everything old is new again.

Re:Don't post while idiot

[JWSmythe]

What if the car's clock doesn't work? Or it's a rental and it's clearly wrong but you haven't a clue or the time to figure out how to set it?

Ummm... If you can't figure out how to set the clock in a rental car, you're clearly under-equipped to be on here. I'm pretty sure the Slashdot user test included "can you set the time on your ... VCR? ... microwave? ... alarm clock? ... car? ... computer?" I signed up here a long time ago, obviously. Are they still testing, or is any idiot allowed in?

If you can't figure out how to set the clock, you have options.

1) Check the glove compartment for the owners manual, which explains how to do it for your average consumer (read: any idiot)

2) Walk back into the rental office and say "Can someone set the clock in the car for me? I can't figure it out."

3) Go online with your phone, and search for the answer.

Most cars are pretty standard these days. Hold down "H" or "Hour" to set the hour. Hold down "M" or "Minute" to set the minutes. I haven't seen a rental car with an aftermarket radio, so I doubt you'll have to explore all the more complicated options like "hold the clock button, and use the seek buttons"

Or, since you're in a rental car, we'll assume you are out of town. I bring my GPS with me, which displays not only the time, but time and miles to my destination. It's amazingly useful, since I don't know every street in every town that I may travel to. Since it's *my* GPS, I'm already familiar with how it works, and idiosyncrasies of the way it gives turn instructions. That, and I have most of the addresses I expect to travel to already saved in it.

I mount it on the windshield, just about at the ceiling, so I barely glance up for this rather useful statistical information. Taking one hand off the wheel, looking down away from the road, adjusting your focus from many feet ahead to maybe one foot leaves a lovely gap when you will go running someone over. Please, keep your eyes on the road, or at least somewhere resembling forward instead of down.

Alternatively, like I also do, my phone goes in the cup holder or passenger seat. When I stop for a red light, I can review the call log to see if anyone important called, and notice the time. The time is displayed in a larger font on the cell, than the whole screen is on a watch. Assuming the light doesn't change 10 seconds after I reach it, I can do all of that, and still be bored watching the taillights ahead of me for 4 minutes and 50 seconds.

Re:Don't post while idiot

[Suferick]

I wouldn't want you driving me if you kept on fishing a phone out of your pocket to tell you the time.

Re:Don't post while idiot

[Hognoxious]

It did occur to me that phones were kind of the new pocket watch when I saw people at a bus-stop using them hen looking at the timetable (a futile exercise with de Lijn, but I digress).

Not too bad in summer but a PITA when you're wrapped up for snow. Plus they're not hands-free.

I suggest it's a little more than fashion. And I do own a pocket watch, only worn for "Sunday best".

Re:Don't post while idiot

[Anonymous Coward]

How does having a smart phone in your pocket hamper you when driving?

How does a phone in your pocket tell you the time?

When you're driving, the clock on the dash tells you the time.

Re:Don't post while idiot

[TobinLathrop]

There's a reason wristwatches supplanted pocket ones.

Fashion trends are cyclical.
After enough years, everything old is new again.

Fashion has more to do with men wearing wrist watches in general, they were considered too feminine till WWI when the watches worn by the pilots caught on. I honesty have been considering a pocket watch to replace my 10+ year old Fossil. We don't think too much about it as we grew up with it being normal.

Re:Don't post while idiot

[Mr. Slippery]

How does a phone in your pocket tell you the time?

There's a reason wristwatches supplanted pocket ones.

On the other hand, a watch in your pocket or clipped to a belt loop doesn't irritate your wrist. Once I started typing on computers regularly, in my teens, I started to find wristwatches really annoying. (Yes, I'm old enough that computers were not found in people's homes when I was a kid. Get off my lawn.)

I use a clip watch on a belt loop. It's about as convenient to access a clip watch as a wristwatch. Also a handy place to keep a mini LED flashlight, or anything else small. When I want to bring the fancy,I have a nice pocket watch, which does take an additional moment to access, but won't get banged into things.

Re:Don't post while idiot

[Mr. Slippery]

I wouldn't want you driving me if you kept on fishing a phone out of your pocket to tell you the time.

I wouldn't want you driving me if you kept looking at your wrist, rather than the road, to tell you the time.

This is a very stupid argument.

A few observations:

1) We don't need constant updates on the time.

2) Clocks are everywhere, including cars. That wasn't always the case, some of us are old enough to remember when a clock in a car was a luxury item. But now they're built in to pretty much everything electronic, so watches are less necessary than they were a few decades ago.

3) Some people have an social/emotional attachment to wristwatches, apparently using them as some sort of status broadcast. I don't understand that bit of primate behavior, but the use of wristwatch as ornamentation by some subcultures should be noted and may account for some of the bizarre vehemence in discussions of this topic.

4) A clip watch is the best solution, anyone not using one is wrong -- I have spoken. :-)

Re:Don't post while idiot

[scubamage]

Jagged metal from inside a server chassis can very easily scratch watches, even watches made to be scratch resistant (I had numerous diving watches get scratched up in the process of work). That's my sole reason, though I have been looking for another wrist watch since I've moved up the engineering food chain.

Re:Don't post while idiot

[rrohbeck]

Hmm, can I have a silver chain for my phone?

Still not answering question

[SuperKendall]

Maybe not those of us addicted to a mobile phone but some of us like the idea of being able to leave home with only your keys in your pocket,

Why? Keys are sharp. I usually try not to carry any if I can.

A mobile phone is no bother. And you seem to have forgotten it but YOU ARE IN CONTROL of when it gives you information. I don't care about Facebook statuses either - guess what, I don't have it alert me when they change!

When all you have with you is a smart phone there is no "fumbling" to look at the time (and hey, I thought all you had were keys, so why would you be fumbling anyway??)

I'm not knocking those that want a pebble or real watch. Remember my ONLY question was, when would have a watch but could/would not have a smartphone. You still have not given me a good case why one would make sense where the other would not. It's all about where you prefer to keep your timekeeping device. The smartphone makes as much sense as a watch to many people, and there are no situations where you would be wearing a watch where you could NOT also have a smartphone with you. That is all I am saying.

Re:Still not answering question

[zmollusc]

Scuba diving? Watches are quite handy there, while phone cases might leak.
While working? You can angle your wrist around to see if it is nearly time for dinner without putting your tools/workpiece down, switching off the machine or crawling out from under something to unzip your overalls to reach your jeans' pocket.
In fact, it would be an idea to not take the phone to work at all if possible, I have broken 3 at various times as they get crushed in my pocket ( a colleague managed to break one of those Land Rover tough phones at work, but that was by trying to clean the swarf out of it with an air line ).
Cheap waterproof digital watches just keep on going, and you can use abrasive compound to clear enough of the scratches away to read the display. Or smear grease on it if you are lazy.

Re:Still not answering question

[niteshifter]

Add to that: Rock climbing / Caving. Non-Sports: Engineering / Maint in heavy industry (like mining / steel / rubber). Cellphones are fragile critters: They won't survive drops of more than a couple of meters. I've a Casio G-Shock that I still use - after dropping it 35m on to rock. Show me a smartphone that will survive even a 10m drop consistently.

Also, some of us just like to know - or need to - the time accurate to 1-2 seconds with no drift to manage. No cellphone does. Certain radio-clock timepieces do well at this, the Casio MTG900 mentioned elsewhere does this (syncs to WWVB signal). Some wireless providers set their clocks evidently by guess or sundial (looking right at AT&T on this one). Mine (ATT, HTC Inspire) frequently is more than a minute off.

Re:Still not answering question

[Dr Max]

I do have plans for finger print or wifi authentication electronic locks on my house and car, but I'm not there yet, and till then I'll have to take my keys when I leave the house. If I'm only going out for an hour or two on a bike ride, or out for lunch I don't care if I get a call, however i would like to know the time. The watch is undeniably a lot more convenient than a phone, you just twist the wrist verse reach into a pocket flip it the right side up and turn on the screen followed by the reverse procedure, the phone is hard to secure in some pants, the bulk and weight is annoying, and the phone is possibly broken if i say come of my bike (far too often lately), or get caught in the rain/fall in the river (i've got a waterproof case but it's a terrible pain).

Personally I'd like to see the samsung flexible oled screens in watch phone with good speech recognition; then (and when i perfect the key-less house hold) i can go out all day with nothing in my pockets (never have to wonder if i have forgotten something and no more locking myself out of the house) and still have the joys of the internet on hand.

Re:Still not answering question

[couchslug]

"While working? You can angle your wrist around to see if it is nearly time for dinner without putting your tools/workpiece down, switching off the machine or crawling out from under something to unzip your overalls to reach your jeans' pocket."

Watches (on your wrist) are a safety hazard around machinery and an impediment to working in very close quarters such as on cars.

I don't wear one as I use expendable phones instead, but in pre-cell phone days I just tethered a cheap watch to a loop of 50/50 cord on my belt and it stayed in my pocket. My keyring is still kept that way.

Apple Nano + Watch Band

[Anonymous Coward]

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/ipod_accessories/cases

LEGO + StarWars to the rescue

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=star+wars+lego+watch

Re:Prometheus Baiji Tritium

[Isaac-1]

It is more than I would want to spend on a watch that will stop glowing in the dark in a dozen years

The only real atomic watch

[rrohbeck]

http://leapsecond.com/pages/atomic-bill/

That said, I bought a new watch recently. I had four criteria:
- Maintenance free - electronic but no need for battery replacement (mechanical watches need an oil change every few years)
- Radio controlled, receiving all three standards (OK that kind of includes the one above)
- Titanium case
- at least moderately waterproof.
That whittled it down to a manageable set and when I saw a Citizen Nighthawk on sale I hit it.

Atomic wrist watch

[zmughal]

For the discerning measurement enthusiast, the first ever atomic wristwatch!

I am thinking of getting

[Chrisq]

a 24 hour analogue watch, which gives you an interesting perspective on the full day - and defies others to tell the time quickly as all the "angles" are different.

Re:The 1980s called. They want their tech back!

[Hognoxious]

Spoken like someone who never goes outside.

It's bloody inconvenient fumbling in your pocket every time you want to know what time it is, especially when you're wearing an overcoat because it's ten below freezing.

Functional spec.

[GerryHattrick]

Must be right (radio-synch) Time at a glance *plus* proportional 'time before' (so analog face, numerals if you need them) Must work at night (luminous) Must have legible date Must be swim/shower proof (sub. escapes are rare) Must have conformant strap (metal bracelets are for Girlz) - hard to find an *expensive* watch that meets this spec!

Casio WV-58DU-1AVEF - best cheap geek watch

[rklrkl]

I love my Casio WV-58DU-1AVEF - see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Casio-WV-58DU-1AVEF-Ceptor-Bracelet-Digital/dp/B000MMCPKO/ - a huge amount. It's a cheap (30 pounds in the UK) Casio watch with the following major features:

* A steel wriststrap. If you're buying a Casio, do *not* get the black resin strap versions of their watches because they always break within 6 months of use. They may be up to 10 pounds cheaper, but the straps aren't replaceable and I learned this to my cost with two broken-strap resin versions of the watch before I switched to the steel strap.

* A huge amount of info on the default display:
- Day of the week
- Time (including seconds) - switchable between 12 and 24 hour display
- Full date and, critically, switchable between "wrong" American format (MMDDYYYY) and the far more correct "everyone else" format (DDMMYYYY) - most Casios don't allow you to switch and leave the watch in American format, which is frankly incorrect.
- An indicator to tell you that you've turned off all the annoying beeps when you press buttons (yes, I turn them off)
- A "DST" indicator to tell you that you're in daytime savings time or not
- A "satellite icon" to tell you if the watch correctly radio-synced overnight or not

* Usual countdown timer (I set mine to 25 mins for oven chips :-) ) and stopwatch as you'd expect (useful functions missing from most analogue watches)

* Daily alarm and optional hourly chime (I've never seen the point of the latter, but Casio always seem to include it)

* Press a button to find out the time and date when the watch last successfully radio synced.

* Hold the same button for about 5 secs to initiate an immediate radio sync (best to take the watch off or at least hold it very still when syncing).

* Luminescent backlight button - nice light blue background hue when you press it.

* Dual time zone option - can select the city and it will time sync to the "local" radio time service on 5 continents.

I've had a lot of cheap Casio digital watches in my time and this is the best one I've ever had.

Re:Casio WV-58DU-1AVEF - best cheap geek watch

[pnot]

If you're buying a Casio, do *not* get the black resin strap versions of their watches because they always break within 6 months of use. They may be up to 10 pounds cheaper, but the straps aren't replaceable and I learned this to my cost with two broken-strap resin versions of the watch before I switched to the steel strap.

I've actually managed to get the strap replaced on a 12 quid Casio (this one or very similar). Strap + labour cost slightly more than the watch, but at the time I was far from anywhere that could have sold me another one at a sane price.

Re:Casio WV-58DU-1AVEF - best cheap geek watch

[littlewink]

* A steel wriststrap. If you're buying a Casio, do *not* get the black resin strap versions of their watches because they always break within 6 months of use.

Good wrist straps are designed to break to protect you. .

A very strong or unbreakable wrist strap can become a death trap if it gets caught in a door or broken antenna on a taxi, a machine tool part, or even a staircase banister. Machinists and manufacturing workers avoid wearing bracelets, rings and watches in the workplace because of this.

It's surprising how many ways a small band of metal can get caught in the objects we surround ourselves with in daily life. Usually it's an annoyance but occasionally it is life-threatening. Ask anyone who has mistakenly rested his wrist-watched hand on the wrong part of a dumpster as it was lifted over the front of garbage truck.

Ditto for bracelets, rings, necklaces, lanyards, ankle bracelets, belts, ties and clothing in general.

Re:Casio WV-58DU-1AVEF - best cheap geek watch

[pnot]

* A steel wriststrap. If you're buying a Casio, do *not* get the black resin strap versions of their watches because they always break within 6 months of use.

Good wrist straps are designed to break to protect you. .

Maybe so, but that does not mean that a wrist strap is good just because it breaks.

Cimier

[AdeBaumann]

Lots of options - I'm missing the Cimier Watch Academy (http://www.cimier.com/watch-academy-200.html). Nice, stylish mechanical Swiss wristwatch... but you get to build it yourself.

No disclaimer necessary - I don't work for them.

Re:geek it old school

[Hognoxious]

a thing called a "tachymeter". I haven't shopped one in years, but it used to be that the bottom price for these was like $400. I have no idea why, because it's a very simple gadget. The face has a rotating dial with a pair of logarithmic scales. It can be used exactly like a slide-rule, to perform calculations.

That isn't like a slide rule, it is a slide rule.

A tachymeter is something else. Usually it's a just scale of 720/n (where n is the number on the dial) that can be used with the second hand to convert a time over a measured distance into a speed in whatever per hour.

Not exactly what you are looking for...

[golden age villain]

I found it by chance yesterday, at least it looks good http://www.shapeways.com/model/432614/nanolet-ipod-nano-bracelet.html

TI EZ430-Chronos

[TheRiddler]

Technically its a "Prototyping platform" but it serves the watch function just as well for me.

Why not show your Geek credentials properly

[Big Hairy Ian]

and get a digital watch like mine that tells the time in binary :) http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/watches/6a17/?cpg=cj&ref=&CJURL=&CJID=2531453

I would not wear one of those again

[kikito]

Unless it had a LASER to cut through metals or something, I don't see the point.

Seconded

[djkitsch]

The Pebble was my first thought too - I've ordered one myself for the same reasons as the OP. Hackable, supports push notifications, customs apps, looks good etc. Plus it gives me a push to properly get back into C programming :-)

My watch -

[Sooner Boomer]

Accutron 214 "Asymetric" in gold. Made in about 1964. Inherited from my step-father. I like the solid face beter than the clear "Space View" watches.

Combine style and Geek

[boef]

But it does not always come cheap. Take a look at the Cabestan Winch Tourbillion watch...

Sony Ericson LiveView

[david.given]

I've heard of a thing called a LiveView, which is a watch-form-factor dumb terminal which speaks Bluetooth to your phone. But I've never seen anyone who had one, and the reviews reckon it doesn't really fly: http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/01/sony-ericsson-liveview-review/

Oh, and here's a more recent one by Sony: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403098,00.asp

But you're just starting to get genuine smartwatches which run Android. Here's Motorola's: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397538,00.asp You can also get any number of unbranded Chinese smartphone watches from Alibaba, but I have no idea what they run.

The Unix Philosophy watch

[Anonymous Coward]

My Casio Wave Ceptor is a "Unix Philosophy" watch: it does one thing (tell the time) and does it very well.

It is solar powered: so I never need to wind it or change the battery: the rechargeable battery will last for months in total darkness.

It picks up the time calibration signals which are controlled by atomic clocks: so it never needs setting and is accurate to something like one second in four million years.

What more could you want in a watch? More importantly: why would anyone ever settle for a watch where you have to tell it what time it is!

TokyoFlash

[dissy]

I haven't seen it posted yet, so wanted to throw in my bit. TokyoFlash has some of the most beautiful watches I've ever seen.

http://www.tokyoflash.com/en/watches/1/

All sorts of styles, displays, and interpretations. Some are more pricey than others, but I'd say every last one is a piece of art more than a plain watch.

They are all limited edition, so if you wait a few months they will have in new models, but at the same time some current models will be discontinued. So if you find something you really like, don't put it off.

Re:TokyoFlash

[ourlovecanlastforeve]

They're only beautiful for a few seconds after you push a button. The rest of the time they're hideous lumps of plastic or metal.

Choices, choices, choices....

[InspectorGadget1964]

As a techie of the kind that has liked to disassemble all sort of things since I can remember (And drove my parents crazy) I take more pleasure in a well designed piece of machinery with tiny precision shaped parts that show the time in an extremely accurate fashion rather than in bells and whistles. But don't take that too seriously, I'm a command line kind of guy. However, knowing the precise GMT time, allows you to determine your longitude and the sun angle (Or moon position) can be used for latitude, so it is just as good as a GPS, but does not require batteries. As for the characteristics I recommend, make it an automatic so you will not need to change batteries, with a strong metal band and waterproof. Also if you want a quality item, go Swiss. Will cost you a bit more, but will last forever.

Re:If you want a watch that just works and keeps o

[clickclickdrone]

a Saks 5th Ave outlet store for $240

You got me all interested until I found it was over GBP300 in the UK ($450) Now that's a markup :-(

Sparkfun Big TIme

[dns_server]

Why not make your own watch with the Sparkfun Big TIme Watch kit.
http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10870

It is an arduino compatible kit that you can program yourself.

Re:Only one answer...

[FatLittleMonkey]

As endorsed by Seal Team 6.

Cadence 4-bit

[killmenow]

I wear one of these. The strap is wearing out after a couple years so I should get a new one. But otherwise it works as a watch should. I find it clean and clear. And unobtrusively geeky. They run specials all the time and I got mine for $45 a couple years ago.

Metawatch

[foniksonik]

http://www.metawatch.org/

Know these guys. Pretty cool tech. Not sure about shipping product but they have a DEV kit and an open SDK you can ask about.

Mute Watch

[CNTOAGN]

http://www.watchismo.com/mutewatch.aspx

Fun little watch I saw the other day.

"The Mutewatch is designed to be simple and intuitive. Just tap the flat surface and the touch screen lights up, then swipe through the functions clock, alarm and timer. "

Get a real watch

[cvtan]

I wear a Rado Diastar. Sapphire crystal, tungsten carbide case, stainless band. Self-winding so no battery (it's a miracle of body-harvested energy!). Dunked in the ocean, dropped on a tile floor, crashed into glass doorknobs and still works. Looks great and I can wear it while fixing the car. Being a EE, I would have some electronic gadget, but they always fail in some way - switches don't work, finish wears off, etc. Unless there is a Panasonic ToughWatch, electronic stuff is too fragile.

Re:Get a real watch

[beh]

I'd wish they'd update the Rado Cerix with a self-winding mechanism. Unfortunately, Rado has stopped manufacturing them.

The only thing you need to watch out with some Rado watches is that some of their watches are using a ceramic wristband - which is great in that it still retains its shine after 10 odd years that I've had the watch by now - but the ceramic while scratch-proof is not 100% shockproof - I broke a couple of chain links when I fell off my bike onto the street (accident involving a car driver that didn't quite watch where he was going). But I could get them replaced, and I can't even distinguish the old and new links (again - the ceramics don't "age")...

Re:The 1980s called. They want their tech back!

[Nidi62]

It’s like saying: "Which horse carriage does the transportation minded of today prefer?"

Ever been to Pennsylvania? Horse carriages are still quite popular in certain parts of the country.

cell phone??

[Joe_Dragon]

even more so for tech people the cell phone has replaced the wrist watch.

Seiko 5

[KillaBeave]

Agreed. I love my Seiko 5 ... only paid about $100 for it. Looks good, 100% mechanical and keeps decent time. It dies over the weekend if I don't wear it, but Monday morning I just set it again at work and it stays accurate all week.

Timex Expedition

[JStyle]

My favorite watch is the Timex Expedition series. For a number of reasons. These are the analog watches that have a digital piece as well.

Here's my review (I wrote a week or so ago):
Waterproof. Indiglo is bright enough to be a makeshift flashlight. Mine is 5 years old, changed the battery 3 times. Dead accurate, never have to change time to match real life. Digital portion is great for 1) count down timer, 2) stop watch, 3) date (month and day), this is default display. Controlling the digital portion takes a little getting used to (particularly setting the count down timer), but you can memorize it quick. My original leather band ended up going nasty after about a year. I replaced it with a "canvas" band that cleans easy, is not organic (so it can't rot). Watch cost $40 and looks kinda stylish. Amazon Link

And now my rant about digital watches:
Digital is great, for stop watches and dead accurate timing. But when do you ever need to know that it is 10:52:18? 10:50 does fine. But if anyone asks you the time you are required to do additional thinking to give them that estimate, or you blurt out the exact time (reading directly from your watch, making you look like a nerd, and most of the time your watch is off by at least a minute, making you look like a dumb "know it all" nerd, who's wrong all the time). With an analog watch you also get relative time. When it's 10am, I can physically SEE noon. I can see 20, 25, or 30 minutes from current time very quickly with out having to do subtraction or addition. It's easier for a glance at the time (when you don't care), but when you do care, it's accurate to the second (with some extra thinking). That's why the timex is the perfect watch. It gives you the benefits of the digital (stopwatch, etc), but the ease of use of an analog.

Battery life trade-off

[coldsalmon]

Battery life drops off precipitously once you start adding features. If you don't mind having another device to charge every night, go ahead and get a watch with touchscreen/gps/music/etc. I've seen some of these list battery life as low as 8 hours, making them obviously pointless to wear as an everyday watch. I recently found an old Casio calculator watch that I got in grade school, and it's still showing the correct time. I have never changed the battery.

Skeleton Watch

[Thomasovich]

While not really a gadget, a skeleton watch is the ultimate choice in my opinion. Sometimes when checking the time, i just zone out and stare at the cogwheels for a while....

Re:If you want a watch that just works and keeps o

[b0bby]

There are lots of other cool G-Shock models, check them out. Mine has been going strong for over 10 years; I had to replace the band a couple of years ago, but otherwise it runs like new. I'm sure mine was under $100.

Pebble E-Paper Watch

[Levocmk1]

The Pebble E-Paper watch looks pretty cool. Just have to wait till the end of the year most likely to actually get one. http://www.getpebble.com/

A useful wrist watch (IMHO)...

[jbwolfe]

...should be a timepiece only, as opposed to a flight computer/heart rate monitor/altimeter/gps/etc. It should also be analog, but might benefit from a dual digital display for multiple functions like times zones, day/dates and chronometer/stop watch. I see Travolta in magazine ads for expensive Breitlings that have builtin CR3 flight computers and think WTF? Real airplanes have all that shit built in already or you bring along a proper purpose built GPS unit to serve that purpose.

As for why analog, its for the same reason any proper metering unit is analog- the human mind is designed to read analog easier. Think flight instrumentation: airspeed, altitude and attitude could not be interpreted through a numerical digital display the way analog is interpreted without great mental effort. The mind is far better suited to analog display. So it should be with a watch.

Re:why not be an adult

[BrokenHalo]

Fair enough. I have an old (1930s) gold Omega that belonged to my maternal grandfather, which Granny wore for some 50+ years after he was shot down over the Mediterranean during WWII. I never met the original owner, but the freight of both family history and quality of workmanship make this thing so much more than a toy.

Geek Cred Watch

[the eric conspiracy]

Omega Speedmaster Professional.

http://www.omegawatches.com/fileadmin/templates/images/img_product_presentation/gents_apollo15/03_rover.jpg

Look closely at the left arm. Now that's product placement.

Purely mechanical manual wind.

Lovell used his to time the Apollo 13 burns when command module was powered down.

Re:Geek Cred Watch

[pcgc1xn]

Bah, it was faked by the marketing department for Omega. Everyone knows they didn't really land there.
Your comment about Apollo 13 is interesting. In the book The Best of Time, Rolex an Unauthorised Biography, by Dowling and Hess, there is an interesting story about why the Apollo astronauts were wearing Omegas - NASA called the US Rolex dealer & said they want 50 GMT Masters & were told no, so went elsewhere (doh!). The book has a photo of the GMT Swigert was wearing and said "enabled me to always be on time".
Damned interesting book, tells a lot about the history of the wrist watch, and explains why Rolex became a status symbol : people swimming the english channel, climbing everest, going to the moon wore them because they were best, their life depended on it. Since the 80s or so, nothing. It is sad to see such a giant trading solely on a fading past,

How about the WIMM1?

[johnwfran]

I've seen one in person and they're pretty nifty. They run Android, have an SDK, and a rudimentary app store: http://www.wimm.com/.

Inaccurate

[wonkavader]

The problem with watches, really, is that they are so inaccurate. Virtually all watches are simply wrong all the time.

The problem is the technology. We over-engineer chronometers and this gets us ever-closer to the right time, but never really gives us a completely accurate timepiece.

This watch uses completely different technology to improve its accuracy to better than any other watch (really, it's phenomenal), and at the same time makes it able to withstand magnetic fields and shock:

Indestructable Watch

InPulse watch

[yellowdragon]

Why not an iNpulse watch? http://getinpulse.com/ Got mine a couple of weeks ago and simply love it. You can change the time font and color, the day of the week font and color. There are a few watch faces available. One even shows the time in roman numerals! Heck, you can PROGRAM it to display the time any which way you like.

Also I pre-ordered a Pebble (scored one of the first 200... Woohoo!). Seems to be the same thing but in e-paper monochrome.

"Give a man the answer, and he's good for a day. Give a man Google and he'll be good for a week"

Re:InPulse watch

[bacon.frankfurter]

This watch looks pretty cool, and for $150.00, I'm thinking about getting one. I actually thought that's what this article was going to be about.

This watch is getting also getting a lot of talk on Hacker News.

What's amazing to me though, is that they make such a big sell of being able to hack and reprogram it, but the actual connectivity that gets the code and configuration to the watch isn't described in great detail, and it actually takes some digging to figure out that the technology used is BlueTooth only, and there's no MicroUSB jack or anything else available.

Also, they seem to be rebranding?

For whatever reason, (in particular, when you click on "BUY") http://www.getinpulse.com/ seems to redirect to: http://getpebble.com/

Skeleton watch

[clarkw]

I love my Skeleton watch. It has windows on the front and back so you can see all the flywheels spinning, and watch the spring tighten as you wind it.

Re:Casio G-Shock DW6900CS-7

[shreedhar.adhikari]

Casio G-Shock DW6900CS-7
It's Sexy and you know it.

It is inversely proportional

[ourlovecanlastforeve]

I have noticed that the smarter someone is the simpler their watch is. The most brilliant minds I know in Silicon Valley have cheap Cassio or Timex watches. When I ask them why they say "it's a watch, it tells time."

Pebble

[tom229]

Donate to this and you'll get a free one when they are developed. It's only got 9 hours left at the time of writing so I'd hurry. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android

Re:Pebble

[pkinetics]

They developers have maxed out the items available at 85k, which the project exceeded a couple of weeks ago. There are people moving in and out. It will be awhile before they hit mass market, but it would fit the bill.

But it sounds like what OP is looking for.

Re:Pebble

[pkinetics]

Here's their main site: Get Pebble

Tokyo flash

[SuperTechnoNerd]

Real geeky cool! http://www.tokyoflash.com/en/watches/1/

Back to Analog...

[H0p313ss]

After a lifetime of a variety of digital watches, I took a retro step and got the most simple, lightweight and elegant thing I could find and I've never been happier with a watch.

"Flight computer"

[kimvette]

I'm partial to flight computer watches and usually avoid "dressy" watches because they're boring, or far too small to be usable if they do include additional functions. I also dislike Casio offerings; they look horrible, are made cheaply, and even their better digital watches are ugly as hell, with more focus on flashing LED segments than actual functionality (much like the "light show" head units in all too many modern aftermarket car stereos)

My favorite watch is my Citizen Skyhawk Eco-Drive (now discontinued, a victim of the economy I guess); it is a flight computer but is a nice subdued titanium finish, not the hugely bulky polished stainless steel, blue, and yellow finish on the "Blue Angels" edition. Solar powered, slide rule, stopwatch, countdown timer, as many time zones as I wish to configure, three alarms, and of course excellent luminescent markers. The only things I don't like about this edition are: 1) lack of backlight for the LCD screens and 2) it comes with a mineral crystal, not sapphire (but Citizen does offer a crystal upgrade program)

My second favorite watch is the Pulsar Hyperflight Tech Gear: another great flight watch killed off by the economy. Two alarms, IIRC, stopwatchm, slide rule, countdown timer, EL backlight, pretty good luminescent markers, dual negative LCD screens (so they are grey-on-black), and the really neat thing is that you can turn off one or both of the LCDs so it looks like a purely analog watch. I like it a lot, but it is bulkier than the Citizen, and is a polished stainless steel feel, and I had to remove all of the wristband inserts to get it to fight right. I scratched it up so I took some buffing wheels to it and made it look like new again, except for the crystal, which like the Citizen is "hardlex" (mineral glass) not sapphire. What I do not like about it: 1) the crystal is not sapphire 2) finding a "new old stock" replacement is near impossible and 3) the manual describes an LCD contrast adjustment/setting, but the feature never made it into the watch. The crystal and slide rule bezel are both scratched up so I need to eventually send it to an authorized dealer to have it restored,, and hopefully find a sapphire crystal that will fit it.

Other than that, for formal occasions if the Citizen is inappropriate, I have a couple of slim watches from TJ Max that look nice, but they are dreadfully boring. In fact I don't even know where those watches are.

Interesting thing: I've been asked if the Pulsar is solar powered because the displays look like solar cells on old solar watches when they're turned off, but no one EVER asks me if the Citizen is solar powered even though the solar cell covers the entire face.

Re:geek it old school

[kimvette]

Citizen (and very few others) make a pilot's watch with a thing called a "tachymeter". I haven't shopped one in years, but it used to be that the bottom price for these was like $400. I have no idea why, because it's a very simple gadget.

I have owned three of those from Seiko, Citizen, and Pulsar (a Seiko subsidiary). I gave the Seiko away because it was huge and bulky. I like both the Pulsar and the Citizen. The bands are in no way cheap: stainless steel on both the Seiko and Pulsar, and titanium on the Citizen.

The thing that is "exactly like a slide rule" is a slide rule, and is intended to be used as a slide rule to figure out glide distance, remaining flight time based on remaining fuel (and often include a "lbs" label on one dial as well as some conversion ratios such as lbs:gallon and other helpful values), and so on, and can also be used as a tachymeter, which is a scale calibrated for measuring average speed over a measured mile. The movements are accurate enough to be marketed as "Chronometers" or "Chronographs" and they generally support multiple time zones, multiple alarms, countdown timers, and the manual usually includes info on how to use the analog dial as a compass (any analog watch can be used as a compass!) in the manual.

Fully mechanical watch

[gujo-odori]

My choice for exactly that same thing was - after years of not wearing any watch and just looking at my phone - a fully mechanical, automatic (AKA self-winding) watch. There's nothing greener - its all metal except for the crystal, and is thus fully recyclable should it ever come to that. It tracks the time and the date, that's it. It uses no batteries. There's nothing greener this side of a sun dial for telling time.

Meterorite watch

[InvaderSevlow]

While I'm partial to the intricacies of a fully exposed mechanical skeleton watch, my favorite daily-wear is a meteorite face Invicta (0472). Subdued, yet has some nice geek-flare.

how about lunatik+nano

[fikx]

I've had similar thoughts and the one that caught my attention was actually the Apple Nano. See this link for some nice looking watch bands for the Nano and you have a real programmable watch , as long as you are OK going apple....and there are cheaper versions of the same thing, at least the band itself, not the Nano... http://lunatik.com/lynk

Re:The king of the geek watches: HP 01!

[tantrum]

Oh, how i want one of those..

Love your work with the HP48 btw :)

Invicta

[antdude]

But it doesn't seem to have a calendar, calculator, stopwatch, etc. :P

"What do you have?"

[Legion303]

I have a watch. It displays the time.

Re:"What do you have?"

[ancientt]

Succinctly put.

A watch, a computer and a phone are tools. There are no watches, phones or computers that are ideal for all circumstances. The best advice is to decide what you really need for the circumstances you're in and get the right tools for those circumstances. With the right choices and multiple tools, you will be happy with your tools.

For me, the right choices are a reasonably modern desktop, an older computer, a laptop, a decent Android smart phone, a nearly dumb small cheap phone, a rugged mixed digital and analog watch with lots of functions and a classy watch that just tells time.

My desktop has large dual monitors and I use an older computer as a router, they do my real geek work. When I'm designing sites, writing software or manipulating images, I need the screen real estate and full keyboard and mouse. If I'm working on router stuff, I want a variety of programming languages available and I want a variety of software that isn't easy to shove on a small single purpose device, but I work on it from my regular desktop so screen space isn't an issue.

I have an inexpensive laptop for any significant work somewhere besides home. It doesn't have the same screenspace, but I have the resources of my other computers when I need them and enough screen space to do most things, if perhaps not so comfortably. It does sling over my sholder and isn't terrible to set up in a coffee shop as the important upsides. There are few things I can do with it that I couldn't on my Android brick, but the physical keyboard, touchpad and larger screen make it a lot more comfortable for serious tasks.

I have an HTC Inspire. (It's an Android phone with a large touchscreen, decent processor, "4G" and metal case that feels like holding a thin slice of brick.) It does all my geek stuff that isn't labor intensive, with a mix of fun and work for my normal daily routines. It has apps for games, a compass, a star map, email, web browsing, navigation, music and light reading. With Google Voice, I am not tied to that device alone and can pick up calls on my desk phone or recreation phone or house phones of family when I prefer those.

When I'm doing something recreational, I have a cheap tiny non-android phone that is rugged and comfortable to carry even in light shorts. It does basic stuff and I can check email, weather and texts and it has good call quality. Google Voice means callers don't need to care whether I am using it or the Android brick or the desk phone and if I break it, drop it in a lake or lose it, I won't cry about replacing it.

I have a Casio ASW90 with a stainless steal band and the blue solar analog dial, plus the digital readouts for the stopwatch, alarm and calendar. It looks good enough that I was satisfied to wear it to job interviews but it is rugged and inexpensive enough that I don't worry about wearing it recreationally. When I was deciding to replace my previous watch, I wanted something with an alarm, a stopwatch and a calendar that I didn't need to reset every couple months. (That calendar requirement eliminated a lot of classy watches that show the day of the month.) The downsides are that it isn't really elegant, it gains a couple seconds each month and it is heavy.

I found myself wanting a classy watch that was light, durable and didn't require regular maintenance. Most of the time when I might care how attractive my style is, I have my Android brick for my geek needs and thus don't really need the stopwatch, calendar, alarm and light. I admired the Citizen AR3015-53E (a very black, very thin and light solar powered analog watch with a steal band best described as sleek) but couldn't quite bring myself to part with the cash. I received it as a gift last Christmas and I simply love it. Now I wear it most days when I work around people because it looks good and meets my real watch requirements. When I'm going out on the bike or a hike, I switch back to the Casio.

If the technology ever catches up, I'll have a watch and a couple optional physical input

Sorry for answering late.

[Sique]

But I think, I found a watch with a huge geek appeal, while still being just a time piece:

The QLOCKTWO W.

It combines elegant tech chic with a certain usefullness.

Take a leaf out my Special Forces manual

[NSN A392-99-964-5927]

The only watch to wear is a Suunto with a Black Storm Professional and my friends at RV near 42 commando do these http://www.rvops.co.uk/electronics-80/suunto-watches-26. If however you are in another country you can find an official supplier.

Besides having a Rolex Sub-Mariner with a beautiful Blue Dial etc that cost me over £12,000.00, it is only worn for "special occasions".

My advice is get a Black Storm Professional from GWS or Traser H3 internationally just google it.

It shall serve you well along with a Suunto!

Gotta get a Garmin

[HArchH]

Their GPS golf watch, I mean.

Binary Watch

[peetm]

I must admit that I sort of fell in love with the binary watches from ThinkGeek.

So much so that I truly believe that my action shot (and the effort involved in producing it) should have yielded a prize

Here's the training program for that watch.

Re:Citizen Eco-Drive

[Trailer Trash]

It is a Skyhawk. They discontinued it at some point, but you can find lots of info on the web:

http://www.princetonwatches.com/shop/jr3000-51f.asp

Something Ado About Watches

[Xyanthiae]

I try not to wear watches anymore since my obsessions with time leads me to look at my watch and my phone frequently. However, I hear that Tag Huer makes some fine watches but I'm not sure what sort of gadgets they could offer that would be "tech" trendy. Other than what everyone has mentioned for divers. Also the binary watch at Think Geek looks cool but if you are really into binary you don't need the numbers printed around the lights to tell the time. So that watch would make you look like a pseudo tech geek anyways. Happy Watch/ Toy Hunting!

Pebble++

[wwphx]

Pebble is definitely impressive, I just missed out on the Kickstarter. The fact that it has its own API that you can code for makes it double-plus good.

Re:why not be an adult

[pcgc1xn]

That is exactly why a mechanical watch has appeal to me.
Even the best quartz watch, when/if they stop making that size battery it is dead. If the crystal dies, it is gone. We recently had my father in laws watch in for a service - the spring had broken. The watchmaker replaced it and the screen - all scratched up, now like new. The look on my father in laws face when we returned his broken watch running again to him was priceless. The watch was circa 1930s, a family watch, a brand which no longer exists, the plating is worn through as he has worn it most of his life. It has seen more history than I ever hope to. For a few hundred we restored it to functioning like it did when new. Is the watch valuable? On ebay, no. But I hope that at some point he considers I am worthy to wear the watch, but I think that it will be my wife that makes that decision, and hope it is not soon.
I cannot see that with a quartz watch.