Digital watches, anyone?

Digital watches, anyone?

  • Yes! I have one of the early ones with red LEDs.

    Votes: 8 2.8%

  • Yes. It's cheaper and more accurate than a mechanical watch.

    Votes: 40 13.8%

  • Yes. And I placed my order for the M8, before it came out.

    Votes: 2 0.7%

  • No. But I did buy an M8.

    Votes: 27 9.3%

  • No. I listen to it ticking quietly as I fall into an analogue sleep.

    Votes: 130 44.8%

  • No. And I'm using a typewriter to browse the web.

    Votes: 18 6.2%

  • I don't wear watches. I just ask other people.

    Votes: 53 18.3%

  • Don't know.

    Votes: 12 4.1%
  • Total voters
    290
I have the RED LED kind. High School Graduation present from Dad. Does not work anymore, I should rebuild it.

I usually wear a Seiko Chronograph, bought over 25 years ago.
 
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Joe---what model Elgin is that?
I like the Canadian dial..
I think Elgins are very underrated--Hamilton, Illinois and Ball got most of the "press" back then..but the Elgins are almost indestructible.
Keep good time, too!
Thanks!
Paul
 
This past weekend I was driving through Missouri and came upon a highway rest area that I remembered quite well.

Years ago, I had a Casio digital wristwatch that had a calculator keyboard. It also had a stop watch, and other functions. I was wearing it on one trip I made from Indiana down through Missouri, headed home to Texas. I'd left Indiana late in the day, and by the time I got to that rest stop at about 2:00 AM, I'd already fallen asleep at the wheel several times. When I started dreaming with my eyes open, and the road turned into a silver band that went into the sky, I knew I had better stop. So, I pulled into the rest stop and, before I went to sleep in the driver's seat, I told myself to wake up by 6:00 AM so I could get home in time.

When I did finally wake up, the sun was in the sky and there were people making noise at the rest stop. Very groggily, I looked at my watch to check the time. It said 9:48! Damn!

Sat there a second trying to come to my senses, and looked at my watch again. 9:50, 9:51, 9:52! Time was flying. I thought, "What have I done to myself?"

Then it dawned on me that in my sleep I had activated the stopwatch. When I switched back to check the real time, it was 6:30 AM. By then, I can assure you, I was quite awake.

These days, I wear a watch that has hands. No digital tom-foolery for me.
 
I have two Citizen Eco-drives (one's a dress watch) with analog dials. Both are going on 6 years with original batteries. I have an old Tissot chronometer buried in somewhere in one of my dresser drawers.
 
Used to wear a digital Seiko chronograph... set to display 12-hour time. I was working a police job 6pm to 2am, so I'd usually hit the hay about 3am and be up around 11am. Once I awoke to see it looking dusk/foggy outside with the street lights on... the watch said about 11:30 so I was puzzled; did I sleep 20 hours, am I late for work, what's up? That was 18 May 1980 -- a volcano had blown its top about 100mi to the SW, and we were being covered in volcanic ash. After that, I always had the watch set to 24-hour time... I don't wear a watch any more, but I still have my cell phone and computers displaying 24-hour time.
 
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fdigital said:
I have a casio digital similar to this one:

http://www.balconyshirts.co.uk/ekmps/shops/balconygroup/resources/Image/black1.jpg

And it's incredibly reliable and accurate for something that cost me $60aud.. Plus I really like the retro digital look. I also have a calculator one.
For a dress watch I have an old tissot with a classic style which is beautiful. My other watch is a seiko divers which is great too.
Click to expand...

Wow this is from nearly 4 years ago..

An update: I now wear a casio GWM-5600 as a daily watch. It's a solar and atomic 5 band g-shock in the original square style, and it's a seriously good bit of kit. Even without the time syncing (don't get it in Australia), it's only sped up 4 seconds in a full years un-adjusted use. To me, that's insane for a $150 watch. To add to that, the solar power has worked flawlessly so far - battery has never once gone below full.

My nice occasion watch is a citizen nighthawk which I adore - eco drive and a slide rule. Big and bold without while still looking simple and smooth.

And of course that lovely tissot dress watch that was my grandfathers.
 
Gavin,

That's my choice of G-Shock as well. GW-5600J from Amazon was $60, and it's been working flawlessly. No time adjustment, no battery change needed. It just works.

Band was quite long for my boney wrist, but you can easily cut it. I cut about an inch, smoothed up with nail filing thing from my GF, then polished up with a pair of jeans surface. You wouldn't know the band has been cut with a pair of scissors. ;)

My slightly dressier watch is this simple Nomos. Any "down-to-earth" small-house German watch like Nomos and MeisterSinger fans here?? I'm talking VW price range, not Mercedes or Audi. ;)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/guruguru/3794163650/
 
Paulbe said:
Joe---what model Elgin is that?
I like the Canadian dial..
I think Elgins are very underrated--Hamilton, Illinois and Ball got most of the "press" back then..but the Elgins are almost indestructible.
Keep good time, too!
Thanks!
Paul
Click to expand...

i don't know the model, sorry. i bought it in a bar in the 70's.
i had it professionally cla'd by a professional who worked on old railroad watches and he showed me the marks that each tech left on the back inside cover. he explained how the watches were required to have service every 18 months and guesstimated it's age at the time.
i actually don't use it much these days but i take it out every now and then and wind it some.
it's a great old watch.

nowadays i use a seiko kinetic.
 
coelacanth, I have a few german low budget automatics. They are made by a company Archimede, might even be cheaper than Nomos..
 
coelacanth said:
Gavin,

That's my choice of G-Shock as well. GW-5600J from Amazon was $60, and it's been working flawlessly. No time adjustment, no battery change needed. It just works.

Band was quite long for my boney wrist, but you can easily cut it. I cut about an inch, smoothed up with nail filing thing from my GF, then polished up with a pair of jeans surface. You wouldn't know the band has been cut with a pair of scissors. ;)

My slightly dressier watch is this simple Nomos. Any "down-to-earth" small-house German watch like Nomos and MeisterSinger fans here?? I'm talking VW price range, not Mercedes or Audi. ;)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/guruguru/3794163650/
Click to expand...

That Nomos is seriously gorgeous - I must look into it!
 
I recently bought an all mechanical watch. It's a Meistersinger No 2: the ultimate simplicity of a watch... it only has one hand! You can therefor tell time with about 2 or 3 minutes accuracy. The realization that in real life split-second-accuracy is seldom of vital importance is really quite liberating. Sometimes less is just more. As is the case with rangefinders...:)
 
Well,
i prefer analogue watches but lately i keep wearing my
Suunto Aqua daily and not just for diving...

My other mechanical watch is a Sektor Ocean Master it compliments my M7 ...
 
No watch for me. I have a phone now and so have the time with me. Before that I didn't. Maybe this is why I always feel behind now.
 
I was big into digital watches as a kid in the '70s because they were some of the 1st examples of fun/cool consumer electronics, along w/early video games (raise your hand if you remember playing Atari Pong & Super Pong!).

In a fit of nostalgia, I recently got a '73 Pulsar P2 (or PII), the 2nd digital watch sold commercially (& the same model worn by Roger Moore's James Bond in "Live & Let Die"). My normal watches are mechanical: a '66 Rolex GMT Master or a Omega Seamaster (not sure what specific model), hand-me-downs from my uncle & father, respectively.
 
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Are there really still any digital watch users? According to me the question is more "Quartz watches, anyone?" and my answer would be: just a Longines Dolce Vita, the other ones are either mechanical (Breightling Navitimer and Yema Sous-Marine) or automatic (Seiko Military).

Other possible question: fountain pen, someone?
 
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