Yesterday, it was 'out with the old' and today for the new year it is 'in with the new'. In reality it is not so new, being from the 90s, but it's never been worn so it is technically new...

This watch is the third of the watches I have by 326, but is probably the most normal looking. 326 is the alias of Japanese artist and singer Mitsuru Nakamura. He released a Wonderswan game in 1999 with Megahouse, and it seems that these watches were released to mark that occasion.

This model is a 3 hand dial with the 326 logo on the face, along with some Japanese writing which I've not yet translated. The back states that this has a 2035 movement using an SR626 battery. This is probably referring to a Citizen Miyota 2035 movement, which is strange as one of the other 326 watches seemed to have a Seiko movement. The usual part of the design is how thick the glass is sticking out almost 1/2 cm from the front of the watch.

Today I'm blogging a watch I can't find much about again, but it has an unusual look so I thought I'd share it anyway.

The watch is by a brand called Time Age. As with many other of the mystery watch brands, Time Age watches can be found for sale at online auctions, but there is no obvious brand website. The back of the watch doesn't help as it only says Time Age and has no other markings.

The Time Age watches I've seen have been unusual designs, and actually, today's is one of the more normal. It is a 3 hand dial design with a wavy seconds hand. Across the face are 3 curved metal bars sticking out over the front. The strap matches the case being made of curved metal bars with a few metal links where it fastens.

I don't know much else apart from it having a quartz movement with an AG4 battery.

Today's watch is one I found at a discount store rather than my usual online sources.

It is marketed under the brand Konrad which is a Danish company established in 2005. They were started by Allan Feder to offer affordable fashion to the 18-25 age range.

This watch is the W-48 by Konrad and is a simple and elegant watch with a simple unadorned dial. It is a one hand and one dot design with maroon hands on a black face. The hand covers the minutes while the dot is for the hours. The strap is a matching Maroon strap from leather. The back shows the Konrad logo and shows this is 3 bar water resistant and all stainless steel.

The watch was originally released for around $80, but it might not be for sale any longer.

I've covered the Kamen Rider series (AKA Masked Rider) in watches before, but they've been based on his clothing (belts or helmet), but this one has the whole Kamen Rider on.

This watch is the SD Dechonpa Masked Rider watch. The Dechonpa watches were released by Bandai from the mid 80s to the early 90s, and this is from the SD range which featured Super Deformed versions of different characters.

This model is from 1989 and is a version of Kamen Rider. Based on the date, I think this will be from around the 9th or 10th series called Kamen Rider Black or Kamen Rider Black DX from the Shōwa Era of the show, and were the last series before a 10 year gap. Kamen Rider is a series started in 1971 about the motorcycle riding superhero who had been the victim of mutation from a terrorist organization called Shocker, but had escaped before he was brainwashed.

To get into the watch, Kamen Rider's legs act as a switch releasing the catch and letting his head rise up to show the LCD display. The display is a simple 4 digit LCD panel showing time, date, or seconds, switched by the button on the back of the watch.

I've blogged a few watches from the anime series Inazuma 11 before, and this watch is linked to them, but is not part of the same series.

This watch is from the anime/manga series Inazuma 11 Go which is a spiritual sequel to the Inazuma 11 anime/manga. The series is set 10 years after Inazuma 11 at a time when football is being controlled by a shadowy organization called Fifth Sector. When Matsukaze Tenma comes along to join the team, he just wants to play soccer/football and ends up pulling the Ramon team into a rebellion against the Fifth Sector and defend the honour of soccer. The series started in 2011 and ran into 2012 with a total of 47 episodes.

The watch is a promotional item for McDonald's (saying made for McD's on the back) and is from 2012. It has a copyright on the back to LFGT, and it was made in China.

The watch is large and oval shaped, but doesn't seem to do much (although there are two suspicious metal looking blobs in the back which may Trigger something when the watch is inserted). It has a basic 4 digit LCD and can show time, date, and seconds.

The front of the watch features Tenma and [spoiler alert] his Avatar Demon God Pegasus [spoiler end]. The strap is a single piece designed for very small wrists and features a football and lightning bolt (or Inazuma).

Casio has made watches for all different purposes, some with just simple settings for hobby users, and some that seem to be for the more serious.

This watch is one that has been designed for serious runners and has a 500 lap memory (where most have 10-50 lap memories and occasionally 100). It is the Casio STR-800 and is part of the Casio Sports Phys line of products. It was released in Jan 2005 and came in 4 different colours, with this grey and black model being the STR-800-1V.

It has an off-centre design with the left side protruding with buttons on the top and bottom (for easy access while running). The shape is actually like a rounded version of the Timex Skiathlom watches I've blogged before. On the back are 4 orange bumps which hold the back plate of the watch a little away from your arm to stop you getting too hot under the watch, and this feature seems to be called the 'floating back'.

It uses a 2877 module which is powered by a CR2016 battery which gives about a 3 year life.

The display is a 3 line LCD with a large 6 digit time across the centre, a dot matrix array on the top, and a small line of digits at the bottom. Modes are stopwatch, timer, alarms, and world time.

Today's watch is another cheap model watch but with an interesting enough look that I kept it for my collection. I'd bought it as part of a pile of non-working watches, but I thought I'd use it rather than keep for parts.

The watch it by a brand called Concepts. Unfortunately, their name means it's nearly impossible to search for anything meaningful online, so I don't have any information on them. It seems quite well made with a nice crisp design, stainless steel case, and 3 bar water resistance.

Time is shown on a large inverse LCD display, but the layout is unusual. The main part of the display is the seconds, with the time being in much smaller text and stacked (the hours digits being above the minutes) on the left side of the display. Along the top of the face are circles with a letter for the day of the week. The watch is an alarm chronograph, so has an alarm and a chronograph /stopwatch mode which measures to 1/100 sec until an hour and then switches to hours, minutes and whole seconds.

The strap is a quite thin leather design, but has a separate panel which covers the back of the watch. The back of the watch doesn't give away any new information apart from the use of a CR2025 battery.

I have many watches with many unusual names, but today I've got a with a normal name for a person (which makes it quite strange for a watch).

The watch is called George and is one of the Swatch models. It is one of the Originals range, and came in two versions - with and without date. This is the one with the date, which is the lower value variation, and it is a 3 hand dial design with the date at the 3 o'clock position. This model is now over 20 years old, being part of the 1992 Fall Winter collection (having been designed in 1991).

The design is quite a simple one with pale blue numbers on a white background with a pale blue circle in the centre of the dial. It comes with a (very) dark green leather strap, and had hardly been used before I got it.

It uses an AG10 battery which is behind the usual coin opened battery cover which is pretty standard for the Swatch watches.

Back to the Casios again today with this ana-digi model.

This watch is the AW-80 by Casio and is a watch designed for either the sporty or travelling user. It has both an analogue and digital display on a black face in a silver case. The design is completed with a black resin strap (with a part number of 626 FU2 18). This combination of colours is the AW80-1V and the AW-80 has been released in various combinations of dial, case, and strap colours/styles.

The analogue display is a 2 hand dial which is electronically controlled and adjusted through the watch hand setting mode. The numbers for the hands are around the outside of the dial and appear to be on the glass rather than the face.

The LCD is a 2 line display taking up the bottom 1/3 of the face. It has a combination of normal digits and a dot matrix array which normally show time and seconds respectively. It is powered by the 2747 module, and is a relatively feature packed watch. It is an illuminator model with telememo 30 (data bank). It can show dual times and has a world time feature. There are also 3 alarms, a timer, and a stopwatch mode.

I'm not sure how long this design has been out for, but it is still show on the Casio website.

Today's watch is designed for an anniversary, so I thought it would be easy to research. Unfortunately, that isn't the case, so I need to make some educated guesses about it...

The watch is a special edition to commemorate the 45th Anniversary of  Trad Brothers. When I look for Trad Brothers, i mostly get information about a Swedish trad jazz band. These could have been around for 45 years, but it would be unusual to have a Japanese watch to commemorate that. The other option is that there seems to have been a clothing line in Japan called Trad Brothers from a company called Varezzo. There isn't much about this brand except a few items for sale online, and a special edition of a telephone card. This would seem to be the logical background for the watch, but the internet profile is too low for something that has been around for 45 years. The inside of the watch doesn't help as it has a standard Japanese Myota movement.

The watch itself is a relatively normal 3 hand dial, but with some interesting design features, including a wavy seconds hand. The numbers around the dial are done in two rings, one with the numbers pointing out, and the other pointing in. It means you never need to read a number upside down, but it is a little confusing at a glance. The other unusual part is the highly domed glass. This leads to an optical illusion where it looks like the face is tilting as you angle the watch (see the 3rd photo). Around the glass is a rough bezel but not rotating, and the design is topped off by a thick black leather strap.

I'm working at the opening of a library today so thought that a comic strip watch might be appropriate. The comic also mentions the movies, and as the library shares the same building as a cinema, it makes it especially right.

The watch is a Disney Mickey Mouse comic strip watch which works from one end of the strap, across the face, and down to the other end. The story tells of Mickey going to meet Minnie for a trip to the movies. She is running late, so Mickey let's on that he new that would be true and so told her that he'd said an hour early as he knew that was likely (which is told on the watch face). This backfires, as when Minnie finds she has more time, she uses it to get changes again!

The watch part is a 3 hand dial design by Lorus. Lorus is an company under the Seiko Corporation, and this was one of multiple watches that Lorus made for Disney. It uses a V515 module and has a full model number of V515-6610. On the back it also says Shiojiri Ltd (probably named after the city of Shiojiri in Nagano). Shiojiri Seiko make a range of watch movements and would have been the supplier of the V515. I don't know when the watch is from as there is no serial number, but I'd guess it is from the 80s.

One of the main problems with 90s watches is that the straps don't last as long as the watch. Today's watch is one that has that problem and so I can't wear it.

This watch is by the Seiko brand Alba and is part of the Thrasher range. It is a rugged looking LCD model with a slammed LCD panel in a large case. The watch uses a W339 module and is an alarm chronograph. The display has a 6 digit main display with a small 2 digit display above the seconds. There are also 2 other display segments; a semicircular LCD with segments and a small digit display in the top right. The module has dual time, 3 alarms, timer, and chronograph. It has a 10 bar water resistance which is shows printed on the strap.

The watch has a full model number of W339-4A90, and the catalogue number is ADPX017. It's original sale price was ¥7000, and I guess it was released in 1993 (but could be 2003).

Today is the third in my series of Casio Wrist Camera watches, and was the follow-up to the WQV-1 and WQV-2 that I previously blogged.

The WQV-3 was an improved version  of the first two models and was released in September 2001 (US). It kept the same monochrome LCD display with its 120x120 resolution, but upgraded the sensor to provide colour images instead of the earlier models monochrome photos. Images taken are 0.03 megapixels (176x144) on a cmos sensor through the f2.8 lens. When taking pictures, the contrast can be edited, and there are multiple presets for outdoor, indoor, etc.

Power comes from a CR2032 battery and there is memory protection to ensure you don't loose the photos when the power runs out. Overall, the watch can hold up to 80 pictures in it's internal memory, and the pictures can be transferred to your computer through an infrared connection from the transmitter next to the lens.

The watch contains a 2411 module which gives it 5 alarms, a timer, and a stopwatch. There is also a calendar display mode accessed by the forward and reverse buttons.

From a design perspective, this model is more rounded than the first two designs which used a rectangular shape, and so this looks more like a regular watch. The WQV3 came in two designs, a black resin model with resin strap, and this version which has a silver case and stainless steel strap.

I've posted a few different sports models from Timex before, but this is my first from one of their more well known ranges.

This is the Ironman Triathlon from the Timex Triathlon range. The Triathlon watch originally came out in 1984, and from that, Timex developed the Ironman Triathlon as part of a collaboration with the organisers of the Ironman Triathlon events. The Timex Ironman Triathlon first came out in 1986 and differed from the normal model with 100 m water resistance (rather than 50 m), and a new shaped body and strap. The strap is a very open web-like design so that it remains comfortable to use during sports, and it has the Ironman Triathlon M logo embedded in the strap's resin. In 1992, the watches gained the Timex indiglo el-backlight system and some cosmetic updates, and by 2005 they had also lost the reflective all-day-glow screen (which makes mine a pose 2005 model).

The Ironman Triathlon which this watch is linked with is a hardcore endurance race which is held around the world. The race comprises of a 2.4 mile (3.9 km) swim, a 112 mile (180 km) cycle, and a marathon (26.2 mile /42.2 km run). This watch has become a favourite of the competitors and so the design and marketing has definitely worked!

The watch has a large and easy to read LCD display with a large 6 digit time display. Above that is a smaller 6 digit display for day and date. The digits in the time and date lines are designed with additional segments so they can also be used for letters which are used to describe the modes being selected. For modes, this model has a chronograph, timer, interval timer, and 3 alarms, and the watch has a 50 lap memory.

There doesn't seem to be specific model numbers, but on the back this has two numbers 657 and R7. It uses a CR2016 battery, and is designed to survive the rigours of an Ironman Triathlon event.

Today's watch must be one of the most normal looking watches in my collection, but I've kept it because it is a watch commemorating the most unusual event I've got a commemorative watch for.

The watch face states the name Shinnyo, and the back of the watch says that this was issued for "The centennial of the Shinnyo founder's birth, March 28, 2006". This refers to the birth of Shinjō Itō (Fumiaki Itō) in 1906. He was the founder of the Shinnyo-en Buddhist sangha (community) which incorporates teachings from 3 traditional schools of Buddhism. Shinnyo-en as founded in 1936 (recognised in 1948) and currently has over 1 million practitioners, and has training centres across Asia, Europe, and America. So this means that this watch is my only Buddhist community commemorative item!

The watch itself is pretty normal, with a round face in a more squared case. It is a 3 hand dial model with a Japanese quartz movement. The movement is more plastic based that a lot I've seen and has no makers name displayed, but the model number suggests the module is a PC21. The PC21 is a Hattori module, which I recently learned is under the Seiko Corporation and may mean that the watch is made by Seiko, Lorus, or Pulsar. The full model number is PC21-D085.

As you'll probably have noticed, I'm a fan of the Citizen Ana-Digi Temp watches. Citizen first released these in 1982, and have been releasing models in many of their different ranges.

Today's model is from a range I've blogged much about before as well. This is the Trans Continents version, and uses the 8989 module which has been used in most of the more modern models. Full details on the Ana-Digi Temp range can be found in my summary page.

The Trans Continents range are a set of watches by Citizen that were released for the Japanese clothing brand Trans Continents and don't appear in the regular Citizen catalogues.

The layout of the face is the standard arrangement for an 8989 module watch, but this has the Trans Continents name below the A1 dial, and the details of the button functions are all along the right side of the face. The case shape is different for this model, being more square than most others, and without the normal panel in the bottom left where the temperature sensor lies. It is a light watch with the case being made from Aluminium.

It has 2 dials and several LCD display windows, and the details about what shows where is all in my summary page.

For the modes, it has dual time, alarm, chronograph, and of course temperature readings.

The full model number is 8989-S010781, and it comes from 1993 or 2003 (and i would guess 2003 is more likely).

My first blog post was on the 17th January 2012, so that makes today the 2nd birthday of my blog.

Thanks to all of my followers and occasional passers by who've checked out the blog, posted comments, used me as answers to forum questions, or just enjoyed the material.

I still have plenty of things to blog, so I plan to go for a while still, and feel free to ask questions or comment on the posts.

So, here's to more years of Which Watch Today!
Cheers :-)

As this is the 2nd birthday of my blog, I thought I should blog something special. This watch is one that seems to be very sought after, and so it took a while for me to get my hands on it.

The watch is the Final Fantasy watch by Seiko. It was released in 2001 in connection with the movie Final Fantasy - Spirits Within. The movie is completely computer generated but with graphics as lifelike as possible with the technology of the time. It was designed to be the start of 'digital actors' where the computer generated character models would be used for other movies in the same way real actors perform different roles, allowing more effort to be put into the model than for a standalone film. The main character, Aki Ross, was made up of around 400,000 polygons with every one of the 60,000 hairs was separately animated using a bank of 960 workstations, and it took 1.5 hrs to render every frame. Although the movie didn't perform well, the character models were popular, and Aki made number 87 on the Maxim Top 100 Hottest Women of 2001.

The movie follows the story of scientists Dr Aki Ross and Dr Sid as they work on a post-apocalyptic Earth in 2065 plagued with deadly aliens called Phantoms with the remaining humans living in 'barrier cities'. The two scientists aim to try to solve the problem before the army intervenes using deadly force.

In 2065, Seiko release a prototype of the Wrist Holo watch which is worn on the Wrist and can project information onto a holographic screen displayed down your arm. The Wrist Holo includes a distance scanner mode, and can scan for spiritual energy, although this model only has a 25 min operating time. As a piece of product placement, the Wrist Holo features in the movie where it is worn by Aki. Today's watch is the forerunner of the Wrist Holo and shares some design elements.

This Final Fantasy model was released in America and Japan, with the Japanese model being a limited edition of 1000. The limited edition model has no serial number, but has the edition number on the back, whereas the American model just has a serial number (and i don't know if that was a limited edition or not). My watch is the limited edition version, but the only difference between the models seems to be the number on the back.

The watch uses a dot matrix style LCD display, with the numbers showing over 3 rows, with a small additional row at the top. The digits are made up of blocks, but only numbers show, so it's not used as a dot matrix would often be. The digits are also inverse with a yellowy green reflective background, fitting in with the theme by giving a slightly holographic look. It uses a W444 module, and has alarm, chronograph, and timer modes.

The full model number is W444-4000, and had a catalogue number of SBJR001. It originally cost ¥21,000/ $200 on release, but can be seen for as high as $400-600 nowadays.

I'm out to a club night again tonight, so wanted something flashy. Although, it's going to be rather difficult to tell the time at a glance.

This is another of the SeaHope 12-5-9 or Twelve 5-9. The SeaHope brand are specialists in LED watches which are often limited release. The 12-5-9 refers to the LEDs which are arranged in 12x hours, 5x ten minutes, and 9x minutes.

This is the Q Version, which is one of the newer design models. It has a more organic design with curved metal surfaces, and looks like some sort of alien technology. The hardest part with this design is working out which line is which, and which direction the bar fills. Starting from the 12 o'clock position and going clockwise it fits with the order of the name, and as there are a maximum of 6 LEDs per line, the first two are hours, next is the 10 minutes, and the last two are the minutes. Showing the time is done by pressing the button (at the 2 o'clock position), and there is a short flashing pattern before the the time is displayed.

This model is not available anymore, but was originally sold for around $190 through the Tokyoflash website. It originally came out around December 2007.

Today is another boxed robot watch, but one that was part of a robot series rather than a watch series.

This is the Roboroid 0002 and was one of a series of 5 robots released in 1984 by Bandai. Only 0002 was a robot watch, with the others being a radio (AM only), a calculator, and two robots. The watch, radio and calculators were all transformers, changing from this function into a robot.

As a transforming robot watch, it is quite a simple one with small arms, legs, and a head popping out from the large yellow body. All of the fittings are rotated out of the body, more like the Kronoform watches than the Bandai Tokimas.

The watch part is a 4 digit LCD display, which is openly shown ln the front of the watch. As far as I can tell, the watch is a simple one with the basic time, date, and seconds. As the watch is still packaged, I can't test anything, but I don't want to break the seal...