For a while now, I've been blogging a brand of watches called Eccentric Classic. These watches were made (or commissioned) by a company called Medistore, and from the few web hits I got, it appeared that this company was linked with body piercing.

The watch I'm wearing today is also by Medistore, but this time, instead of a brand name, the Medistore website is quoted directly www.e-medistore.com (which is a little unusual). This website is the same one as I had found when searching for the Eccentric Classic watches, so I guess they are by the same company. Looking more at the web link, it seems that the company specialises in piercing accessories, but there are other items too. Following the links reveals that they also sell fashion items, including watches and clothes, and they have, or are linked with, various shops around Japan. I still haven't found this watch, or the Eccentric Classic models, but there are other similar looking brands on sale there.

This particular model is a quartz analogue design based on rotating discs. It has a square case with silver face, and 3 concentric windows where the time is shown. Most rotating disc watches just show a portion of the discs, but this design shows the whole of all 3 discs, with a red line at the 12 o'clock position to mark where the time is read (hours on the outside and seconds in the middle). The back of the watch tells me the watch is water resistant with a stainless steel back and Japanese (quartz) movement. The brand name is also there, but as 'medi store' in two words.

There are no distinguishing features on the watch to tell the date, but it looks like a modern low cost design, so I'd guess late 2000s, or early 2010s.

Sometimes, it is easier to guess the date on a watch based on its looks, and today's watch definitely has the look of a vintage watch.

The watch is by the Seiko brand Alba, and is based around the Y504 module. It has a 3 hand dial design with a day and date window at the 3 o'clock position. The face is round woth no numbers on, just the hour markers, and has Alba and Quartz written in silver.

The look of the watch is very reminiscent of the early electronic watches and first quartz watches by Citizen and Seiko (for example the Cosmotron), which suggests a 60s or 70s design. As the Alba brand only started in 1979, this pegs the earliest date for the watch. The serial number on the back suggests it was actually made in 1979, so this is probably one of the earliest Alba watches.

Inside, the quartz movement has the look of an old quartz design, taking up most of the space within the case (-a picture can be seen at the website here). It also uses an AG10 battery, and these larger sized batteries were mainly used in older watches (with most modern basic dial watches using the much smaller AG1 or AG4).

The full model number is Y504-8000. There isn't much information about the watch online, but there seems to be a reasonable number appearing on Japanese auction sites (but very little at non-Japanese sites).

Today's watch is the 5th in my collection of Metro watches, and I'm finally beginning to find more information. I seem to be going through a Metro phase too, as I've found quite a few for sale recently.

The Metro brand is a bit of a mystery, especially as their brand name is such a common word, and their watch names aren't so unique either, but they seem to be quite popular whenever they are sold. However, with today's watch I had a breakthrough. I managed to get a case and manual with today's watch, and on there was a company name, Delight, and a phone number. Searching using this has lead me to a company called Delight Corporation Co Ltd in the Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. The company is quoted as being a furniture company, which explains why I've seen Metro branded clocks, and I guess they must have expanded into other areas too. The company may no longer be in operation though, as their web address currently has no owner.

This model is the Metro Manhattan, and is an analogue watch with a quartz module powered 3 hand dial design. It has a large rectangular case with rounded corners and a black and silver face. The face has numbers for the hour markers, and the words Metro, Manhattan, and Deluxe printed in the centre, along with the Metro 5 pointed star logo. The back has the same text, and nothing more. The strap is a wide plastic design, tapering down from the width of the case. The model number for this design is WW010.

For the date of this model, I'm still having to guess. As the company doesn't seem to be around anymore, but isn't mentioned in the late 90s watch magazines I have, I'm guessing this is from the 2000s.

Today's watch is another in the ever popular rotating disc style.

This model is by the J-Axis brand is one of their iXa marked watches. The J-Axis brand begin in 1987 by the parent company Sun Flame Co Ltd, and it seems that iXa is one of the lines/styles that produce. This is also one of the watches they call the Multiple Disc Indication design, which I first blogged about last year. This model also has the text Modern Space Age which I assume refers to the watch design, however the style looks more like a retro take on what a futuristic watch would look like.

This design has two windows for the time rather than the usual one. The left side window covers the hours and minutes, but the second window is on the right side of the watch. Overall, the watch has a round design, but the glass is moulded so that there is a flat square in the centre, with the other faces on the glass tapering down to the bezel.

The back just has the regular J-Axis information: logo, Japan movement, assembled in China, water resistant, stainless steel back, and "Modern Timepieces". The strap is not the original (and is a universal strap I have made to cover all of the watches whose straps are too destroyed to use).

The brand generally has low cost models, so I'd guess this was less than ¥5000. For the date, I think it is likely to be a 2000s model, as it isn't a new design, but I don't think it predates the late 90s fashion watches.

I've blogged a bit about the Metro brand before, but today's model is not a watch.

The Metro brand seems to be lined to a furniture store in Japan, and they make a variety of clocks and watches. The logo for the brand is the name Metro in a script style font, which is normally found somewhere on the product.

One of the designs the Metro brand seems to be known for in Japan are their LED clocks which come in all manner of shapes and displays. This model is a bar shaped LED with 10 digits in 1 line. The display covers month and day first, with a small gap before the hour, minute, and seconds. The buttons are on the back with there being 3 buttons for modify, add, and reset. The clock is electric powered, using a adaptor to lower the voltage to 12V DC.

I guess the clocks are reasonably recent, but may be from the 2000s. I've not seen this particular model online, so don't have any idea of price or origin.

The Musk brand that I found recently are a little unusual, as they seem to have become very popular (from nowhere), and they have watches from the cheap to the luxurious feeling. The watches can be spotted by the logo of an intertwined male and female symbol, but with the male symbol arrow pointing straight upwards.

This model is one of the more luxurious feeling ones, with a good quality construction. The watch is the MM-2068 and it is a mechanical model with an automatic movement. The movement has 21 jewels and is a high beat design, with 4 beats per second (14,400 bph). There is a small window in the dial (at the 7 o'clock position) where one of the jewels can be seen as well as a glimpse of the balance wheel. As with many automatics, the back of the watch is clear and the weight can be seen. The weight in this model is gold coloured, and heavily engraved with the Musk name, many versions of the logo, and a geometric pattern. The watch is lightweight, with an aluminium shell, and is 10 bar water resistant (with a screw down crown to help with the watertight seal).

The watch is a 3 hand dial design with a date window at the 3 o'clock position. The face has white markings on a black background, with numbers only at the 12 and 6. There is also a black bezel with the Musk name and logo pressed into it. The watch should have a urethane strap with a screw connection to the case, but my one has my universal strap as the original is missing.

I do not know the original price for this model, but the Amazon Japan site showed this was first listed there in 2010.

Today's watch is another of my many watches which commemorates an event, and this one is associated with Formula 1 Motor Racing.

This watch was made for BMW (with a copyright to BMW AG), and commemorates the start of their partnership with the Williams F1 team in 2000. BMW had been major players up to the 1980s, but pulled out in 1989 at the end of the turbocharger era. In 2000, they came back to partner the Williams team who are probably most known for their Williams Renault era in the early 90s when they won the World Championship. The partnership were on the podium in their first race, but the partnership wasn't as successful as hoped and finished in 2005.

The watch is an LCD model with a red display which is slightly angled (up to the right). The LCD is a two line design which normally shows day and date at the top and the time (in 6 digits) below. It is a typical sports watch in terms of modes, with the watch having chronograph, timer, alarm, and dual time options. When the modes are changed, the top line shows text describing the mode before the mode itself is shown.

The case on the watch is an unusual design, but I can't decide whether it is meant to look like a helmet or the nose of an F1 car (or a combination of the two). The strap is thick and rubbery with a wavy pattern along the front. There is the usual information on the back, showing it is all stainless steel, and has a 5 atm water resistance (suggesting it is a European model). There is also an F1 logo and the name BMW.WilliamsF1 Team (with that spacing), along with the phrase "it's a fast world".

I've had a little break from the blog over the last couple of weeks, but I should be back to some more regular posts again now.

I'm back to work today after a short holiday (which maybe should have been longer ;-) ), so I thought I'd wear a watch with a good positive phrase as it's motto.

This watch is a basic quartz watch, with two hands for telling the time, and a rotating disc which turns with the seconds. The disc isn't really for telling the time, and has a large smiley face in the centre over the dial. The disc also has the phrase "Don't worry. Be happy" around the edge (which always makes me think of the Bobby McFerrin song). The watch also has a black plastic strap which is also printed with the Don't Worry Be Happy phrase on one part, and the smiley face on the other.

There are no markers on the watch to tell me a manufacturer or age of the watch (I'll guess late 2000s), but this isn't going to worry me, I'm just going to be happy!

I'm at a film premier today, so needed something a little more classy looking, and so chose this watch by J. Harrison.

I've only come across the J. Harrison brand pretty recently, but the brand seems to be producing a large range of watches with both mechanical and quartz movements. The brand name comes from the British carpenter and clockmaker John Harrison, who lived in the early 1700s and was the inventor of the Marine Chronometer which allowed ships to accurately calculate longitude on their journey. When it comes to the brand, I've not found too much yet, except that it filed for US trademark in 2011, but that request was abandoned in 2012. In the request, the owner was quoted as Kabushiki Kaisha Mishma Shioji who are based in Taito-ku in Japan, and registered as making watches and leather goods.

This model is one of their quartz watches and has the model number CMM-001. It is classed as a J.Harrison diamond model as it contains natural diamonds at the 3,6,9, and 12 o'clock positions (and there is a certificate of authenticity for the gems in the original packaging). The watch is a 3 hand dial design in a round stainless steel case. It has an 8-face cut glass front and ceramic bezel which makes it catch the light well, and the crown is solid 18ct gold. The face has the brand name and logo, as well as the statement "18k. Pure Riz", while the back as the construction material, brand name and logo, and the model number. It comes with a matching steel strap with black and gold links.

This particular model/ colour variant has the number CMM-001C and had an rrp of ¥98,000. As the trademark is from 2011, I guess this watch is from the 2010s.

I'm back with the Swatch watches again today, with a special model.

This watch is called Feel My Love, and was released for Valentine's Day in 2007. It is part of a subset of the Swatch Originals line which is called Jelly In Jelly which ran from 2006 to 2009. The case design looks almost  the same as the normal Originals watches, but are slightly larger and have a more hidden crown.

This Feel My Love watch has a relatively plain face to its 3 hand dial design, with a white background and black and red numbers. The strap has lots of images printed on it with a voodoo theme. The bottom half of the strap features a voodoo doll with heart shaped pins stuck in it, along with the watch's Feel My Love name and symbols of a stick person and male and female icons. The top half of the strap has the writing Swatch Voodoo Love in red and black with two of the o's in Voodoo being the male and female icons and the o in love being the head of the same stick person design shown on the bottom part of the strap.

The watch also came with a voodoo doll (which unfortunately I don't have) and a selection of pins with hearts on the end so that you could stick in the pins and try the voodoo for yourself.

The full model number is SUJK121 and it is classed as part of the Spring Summer 2007 collection.

It seems like it's been a while since I last wore a Casio G-Shock or Baby-G, so I've decided to sort that out today.

The watch I chose is one of the Baby-G line which a set of smaller G-Shock models and are primarily aimed at women, but are suitable for anyone (especially if you have a smaller size wrist).

This model is the BG-2000 and is one of the square case designs that has been a theme across many different models. This model has a green inverse mirrored LCD display which mainly uses a dot matrix for showing the different information. The display is split into 3 parts by two printed lines running across the screen. The middle part shows the time, with has a small animation as the numbers change, and has the strange feature in that for the middle part of the minute, the time display grows and then shrinks (by 2 pixels in height). The bottom line of the display has the most information by default, with a long thin dot matrix array showing day, date, and seconds. The top section mainly has icons to show items such as am/pm, alarm settings, etc. along with 4 dots which pulse with the seconds.

Inside is a 3077 module which powers the watch. This gives the watch many modes, which are world time (29 zones with 44 cities), alarm (x5), stopwatch, timer, and a silent mode where the display is blank.

The watch features a chunky white plastic case with a square silver bezel. The strap is designed to look seamless with the case, but is replaceable (although you would need the specific strap which matches this model). Overall, the case gives a 10 bar water resistance, and this model is made in China.

This design is still shown on the Casio website, but not in this colour. For one a black model, I also saw that it was first listed on Amazon in 2007, so I assume that this white version is from the same time.

For my Friday watch, I decided on a commemorative promotional watch with a little bit of patriotism (as I'm British).

This watch was produced for the 2012 Olympic Games in London for Coca-Cola. The watch features a design made for the Olympics which has concentric rings (rather than the normal linked rings Olympics logo) in the normal ring colours. There is also a circular Union Jack flag in the logo to represent Britain, and as this is a Coke watch, there is also a Coca-Cola bottle in the design too. Coca-Cola are the world's largest soft drinks brand, and are the longest continuous Olympic sponsor. They first sponsored the Olympics back in 1928, and are currently under contract to sponsor through to 2020.

Time is shown in a round window on the left side of the watch with an LCD display. The LCD panel only has a 4 digit display with the hours on the top line and minutes below. The LCD module is capable of dare and seconds too, but there are no buttons on the outside of the watch to change the display.

The watch module is encased in a one piece silicone rubber case wich has a snap style strap (where you stretch it out straight, and when you slap it against your wrist, it wraps around). The strap also has the Coca-Cola name logo moulded in the silicone, and is printed with Coca-Cola in a red, white, and blue roundel, as well as the British Queen's crown logo. To get to the battery or set the time, the module can be squeezed out of the front of the watch.

When I've been blogging the Boy London watches recently, they've all been of different styles, but today it's back to the more common models.

I've blogged about the Boy London brand many times now, so I won't repeat too much of the brand story today (as it can all be found on earlier posts).

This model is one of the many different watches with the model number BOY-31-W. This version has a round case with the Boy London name moulded into the bezel at the bottom left and their Eagle logo at the top (as was seen in the watch I blogged in August last year). The face design is pretty busy, with the main feature being a large red 5 pointed star in the middle, covering what seems to be a large '1'. Inbetween all of the points of the star are smaller versions of different logos seen on other designs - stick man, upside-down dancing stick man, wheel with spokes, Eagle, and face with 'Boy' cap. The strap follows the standard design with a black leather strap with gold section fastened on with rivets and imprinted with 'Boy London' and the Eagle logo.

As with the others in these designs, I think they were started in the mid/late 90s by a company which had rights to the Boy London brand name which was on a break.

Last time I blogged a watch from the Citizen Vagary line, it was different than the normal metal watch with colourful dials. Today's watch is another which fits with that style.

The watch is an entirely plastic design, with a colour matched plastic case and strap, and even a plastic back panel (but that is held on with metal screws). The front screen is also a raised plastic design with a ribbed pattern around the edges. The back doesn't hold all of the information, which is unusual, only having the Vagary name and logo, statements that it is 5 bar water resistant and has a Japanese movement, and that it is made of plastic.

In order to find out the information about the watch, you have to read the extremely small print at the bottom of the dial. This writing reveals that the watch contains a 1A36 module, and has a full model number of 1A36-S086677. The watch is a 3 hand dial design with a simple face of only white hour and minute markers on the brown face (except for the Vagary name and logo at the 3 o'clock position).

I've not spotted this shiny brown version online so far, but have found this design in blue (also with a 1A36-S0866xx model number). I think it is a modern model, so I'm guessing early 2010s (as there is no serial number for identification), but it could be late 2000s too.

It was really sunny when I got up this morning, so I decided  it's time for another solar watch. Today's model also follows on from yesterday's watch as it is from another brand made by Citizen.

The watch is a model from the Citizen Trans Continents line which is a collaboration between Citizen and the Japanese Trans Continents fashion brand. More details of the Trans Continents brand can be found in my post from the 10th November 2014. As this model is a solar watch, it is also part of the Trans Solar line.

This model is a 3 hand dial design with a date window at the 3 o'clock position. The solar panel is hidden in the face which has no numbers, just round hour markers (except for 12 which has a T shape) with minute markers around the edge. The case is round and made of stainless steel (with 20 bar water resistance) with a rotating bezel, and there is a thick textured rubbery strap. The back is screw-on and shows the brand name and logo, as well as the usual Citizen details.

This particular variation has a full model number of E110-H26949. The serial number suggests a 1997 or 2007 date. I've found this exact model in a Japanese blog from 2007, but the translation suggests they wrote it was am early model (which maybe implies 97...)

Today's watch wasn't the one I was originally planning to wear today, but it matched my t-shirt choice too well to skip.

This watch is by the brand Ice Watch, and is a model called Sweety (although it may be a Forever Trendy as I can't quite tell from the photos). The Sweety watch comes in two models, and this one is the model without the date window.

The Ice Watch brand has come from nowhere to be one of the largest fashion brands in the world. It was registered in 2007, but started distributing a couple of years later, and by 2012 it had more Facebook fans than Rolex and was selling an average of 7 watches per minute. The brand originated in Belgium, with the Ice name coming from the idea of purity. They also have an agreement with Swatch to make sure the name is written as two words, as I guess otherwise when spoken it would sound like a Swatch/Apple collaboration.

The watch is quite international, as information on the back details, with the design in Belgium, movements from Japan (Miyota), and assembly in China.

The watch itself is a 3 hand dial design in a round chunky plastic (polyamide) case with rotating bezel, and a 5 atm water resistance. It has a matching strap made from silicone with the Ice Watch name on the buckle and strap holder loop. The Ice Watches are generally very colourful with 10 main colour choices, and this model is almost entirely yellow.

This particular model is still available on the Ice Watch website, and has a cost of around €89.

As I find more and more watches, it has become apparent that the Casio brand has produced so many different lines/ranges of watches, and that many of them were so obscure that their history is a mystery.

Today's watch is a Casio model from a range called Shadow. I've not been able to find anything about the range itself though, as the only other models I find online are purely watches for sale. What i know is that there were several (at least 3) different models in the Shadow range, and all of them had a dial as the primary time display.

This model is a 3 hand dial design with a Casio 1307 quartz module. The styling is very industrial with lots of exposed bolts (for cosmetic effect) and protruding plastic 'grills'. It is an Illuminator model, which suggests a market outside of Japan as those are normally called Foxfire. When pressing the light, the word Shadow appears right across the dial, written in a very stylized font. The dial also has the Shadow name written normally near the bottom along with the Illuminator name and that it is 10 bar water resistant (with the use of bar maybe suggesting an American market). The back has the same information, as well as saying it has a Korean module and was cased in Malaysia.

From what I've read, the Korean models began in the 80s, and the Malaysian Casio's more recently again, so the only thing I can find about the date is that it is likely from the 90s at the earliest, but is not a current range.

It's sunny again today, so I thought I'd choose a colourful model for today's watch. The watch I chose is by the Seiko brand Alba, and is one I've nicknamed the Alba Pokéball watch due to the colour scheme of the face.

The watch is based on the W800 module and it seems has been marketed under the 3 main Seiko brands, Alba, Pulsar, and Lorus.
It is an LCD watch with a very busy display to show lots of information at the same time. The bottom third of the screen is the time and date display over two lines. The remaining 2/3 is dominated by a circular area where the compass mode is displayed, but acts as a crude seconds marker when the time is on. Around the top half of this circle is an area which fills with the seconds (10 segments), while at the sides of the bottom half of the circle are boxes which show the selected mode.

The W800 module is a compass model, but doesn't seem to give a live compass display. From what I've read, you select the direction you are wanting to find, point the watch at the sun, and it will then point to the direction you are wanting. The watch has the other normal digital watch features of chronograph (with recall function) and alarm. Setting the watch is simple, and is done by holding the top left button until the display flashes, and then using the right side buttons to change the time (bottom to change the number, and top to move to the next option/number).

The case is a plastic design with metal back, and this variation is a light purple with yellow and light green buttons. The face is red and white with a light green circle, and this is what gives it the Pokéball appearance. Overall, the watch is 10 bar water resistant, and it was assembled in China.

The full model number is W800-0010, and both the serial number and the start date for the module date function show it is from 1992.

At the weekend I was chatting to someone who was really interested in the 90s calculator watches. That conversation inspired me to choose a calculator watch today (especially as the colour fits well with today's clothing choice).

This calculator watch may look like an 80s/90s Casio model, but it is actually a Super Lovers watch. The Super Lovers brand is a fashion/clothing brand based in Harajuku, Tokyo who produce many club/cute/goth lines of clothing. When it comes to watches, they never cease to amaze with the breadth of different designs they have made, seemingly in small numbers.

The Super Lovers calcuator watch is a full calculator model with a 4x4 rubber keypad and LCD display. The LCD display is set up for the calculator mode and can show 9 digits and also has a day marker below the numbers. Getting around the modes can be difficult as the mode button (C) only switches between time and calculator. To show the date, you need to press and hold the bottom right buttons marked 'select' (3,6,9,0,.,+), and for the alarm mode you use the bottom left buttons marked 'advance' (1,2,4,5,7,8). Setting the time is done by holding the mode button until the time starts flashing, with mode switching screens, select cycling through what to set, and advance changing the numbers. There is also a light button to the right of the LCD display.

The watch has the Super Lovers name across the 2 halves of the strap, and the date 1996 and the Super Lovers logo at the top of the face. I think that the 1996 date fits with when I would expect the watch to be from, but it could be a newer design made to be retro. Inside, the module has a start date of 1984 in the date setting mode, so I have a suspicion that the module that have used is at leased based on the original 80s calculator watches.

The other day I mentioned that Casio had made so many unusual and unknown watch ranges over the years, but the same is true for the other major manufacturers too. Sometimes, like today's watch, it goes even further to be hidden with no mention of the brands name anywhere.

This watch is marketed under a brand called Free Way (or sometimes Freeway). As I was trying to research it (which is difficult as the phrase Free Way occurs a lot online), I found some Japanese sales sites were referring to CBM Free Way. The CBM name refers to a company called Japan CBM Corporation which is actually a corporate division of Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd (owners of Citizen Watch Co., Ltd). So this means that the Free Way brand is a "secret" or "lighthouse" brand from Citizen (the same as Q&Q who are also under Japan CBM Corporation).

The Citizen link also fits with the design, as the display design is very like 1481010 D295 models.

This watch uses a DN97 module and is a two line LCD design, with the lines split by a plastic part behind the glass. The top line covers time (6 digits) while the bottom is for the date and day (along with indicator marks for am/pm and chronograph). The modes are changed with the top left button and are two alarms, stopwatch, timer, and dual time, with a small indicator mark above the display divide pointing to the text of which mode is active. There is also an el-backlight activated with the bottom left button.

The watch is very lightweight, due to it being made from Titanium, and has a matching Titanium strap, with the watch being 10atm water resistant.

The full model number is DN97-K293, and it was made in 1998 or 2008. As the design is similar to the 1481010 which is from the late 90s, I guess that the 98 date is more likely.