And about the clock

Epigraph:
- How much watch?
- For whom how ...


After my carelessly expressed bewilderment in the comments on one of the articles “What, does anyone else still wear a watch?” And the public received a stormy response, I decided to investigate the topic of watches and find out whether the watches really die out, or but they are reborn, like a phoenix, into something new and fresh. I myself quite a long time ago discovered that my watch is gathering dust on a shelf, but do not judge by myself - there is always a chance to be unique. Under the cut you are waiting for: - historical information - geek porn in large numbers (traffic) - the long-awaited vote on the clock - and a lot of letters!

Historical reference

So, historically, a wristwatch appeared in the 17th century, and of course for quite some time remained a completely mechanical device. Interestingly, the very first personal watches were worn around the neck like a pendant, and were intended primarily for decoration - the mechanisms were not good, they had to be wound at least twice a day, and there was only one hand - an hour.

With the advent of vests, fashionistas switched from pendant watches to pocket watches, the chain of which was pathos flaunted.

By the 19th century, watchmakers got the hang of making fairly accurate mechanisms, took into account compensation for thermal expansion, and introduced other tricks to improve watch accuracy - the so-called chronometers, that is, a watch as an instrument for accurate time measurement.

By the end of the 19th century, with the advent of industrial production, watches also began to be produced on a large scale. At the same time, the well-known company Patek Philippe released the first wristwatch.

Interestingly, although most watches were analog, sometimes there were innovations in the form of digital mechanical watches - for example, Cortébert Jumphour as early as 1890. But such a watch was rather a curious trinket.


And for a long time the clock remained hours. They could measure the phases of the moon, calendar, and other cyclic processes, but they were all mechanical, and they all mainly served to measure time (and the thickness of the owner’s wallet, of course).

Electric clock.

In 1957, the first battery-powered watches appeared. Not yet quartz, just instead of the winding spring, the mechanism moved due to electricity. But it was also a prelude.

Quartz watch

And the revolution took place in the late 1960s, when the well-known company Seiko released the world's first quartz watch Seiko Quartz-Astron. It was already a completely new technology, this watch was much more accurate than the previous electric ones, or rather most mechanical ones, much simpler than them - and still they did not have to be wound up.



However, the second revolution was associated with a digital watch - in the era of the birth of computers, the first digital wrist watches appeared.

Digital clock

In the early 1970s, independent inventor Roger Rail made and launched a unique watch with a LED display that was charged by solar panels - a double innovation! They were called Synchronar.


The inventor set out to make an absolutely impenetrable watch without moving parts inside. Digital means without arrows. Electronic means without gears. Solar panels - no need to change the battery. Inside the case, all the parts were filled with plastic, and the adjustment and control were carried out using magnetic buttons.

The watch for its time looked like a fantastic gadget, in addition, the dial was on the side, which was also non-standard.

In hot pursuit, Pulsar also launched the Pulsar P-1 watch with LED display in the early 1970s


Like any new product, this one was expensive, and Pulsar decided to make a status accessory - an 18-carat gold case, and everything else. Therefore, such a watch cost their first lucky owners $ 2'100. No, do not rush to be surprised - at current prices, given the inflation of the dollar over 40 years, it will be approximately $ 12'000. Now, now be surprised.
It seems that today, when there are several dozen copies of these watches, they should cost even more.
The Pulsar P2s model came out a little later, costing a little less and appeared in the Live and Let Die series of bondi.


But the company, as it is clear today, made a fairly common mistake - made a bet on the exclusivity of the new technology, and did not take into account that the technology is rapidly improving and getting cheaper.

And, of course, the music didn’t play for long - in 1975, again, the well-known Texas Instruments company released massive inexpensive watches with LED displays and plastic cases for only $ 20 (and a year later they were already retailing for $ 10). Naturally, Pulsar went broke and the brand bought Seiko.

I think I already found such a watch in early childhood. LED consumed energy, so you had to press a button to find out the time, but at the same time these little red bulbs looked absolutely magical.

Around the same time, the first liquid crystal displays shook the market. Seiko launched its first Seiko 06 LC watch in 1973.


I remember these LCDs of the first generations, swamp color with disgusting contrast - but also a miracle of technology, nothing can be said. And they spent much less energy than LEDs, so they quickly drove those out of the market.

Gadgets

But in the mid-1980s, apparently, a third revolution took place - the watch began to gradually turn into gadgets. Championship took Casio.

1982 - Seiko T001 - the first watch with a built-in TV


Then - Casio - a watch with a thermometer and a Japanese-to-English translator

1985 - Casio CFX-400 with a calculator


1987 - Casio watch with a phone number (I could not find more information - I think they made sounds of tone dialing and they had to be brought to the handset)

Also this year - the first widely sold Casio AL-180 solar-powered watch.


Of course, everyone remembers Casio watches with musical alarms ...


... their Soviet counterparts "Electronics"


... and also You are 80, no-name Montana clock:


And blah Odar ve1m , found a link to a detailed description of the Montana melodies with listening.

In 1990, the German company Junghans Uhren GmbH released the world's first watch, which was tuned to radio signals specially encoded and broadcast - Junghans MEGA 1.


1991 - Casio watch with a notebook, calculator, and - papa ba bam ! - touch screen! I don’t know how you could get your finger into such a small screen.


2000 - the first wristwatch with Casio mp3 player.


By this time, technology had reached such a state that all sorts of unusual watches fell like frogs after a hurricane.

I'll try to distinguish categories from them.

Watches with different players.

MP4 Player Watches


Thanko with MP4 Player and Mini Camcorder

Watches with calculators and other devices

Cal-Q-Tek


Casio CMD40B-1Z
Built - in calculator and remote control for the TV.


Already almost antique watch with Palm OS - Abacus Wrist PDA

Fancy watch

Ora Watch Design by Alexandros Stasinopoulos

A watch whose readings cannot be read without preparation

BINARY-W1700


TokyoFlash Kisai Sensai LED

For divers and divers

Jaeger-LeCoultre -Master Compressor Diving watch

For tourists

Hours pyxis gps


watch with built-in walkie-talkie Walkie Talkie Watches

For athletes

The well-known and popular Casio G-Shock series


Music, heart rate monitor and GPS - all in one from Motorola MOTOACTV

For anglers

Hummingbird SmartCast Fish Finder Watch
Wirelessly receive data from an echo sounder mounted on a fishing line and show where the fish are.

Watch-headsets, auxiliary gadgets for mobile phones and toys for geeks

Apparently, there are now thousands of models of such watches; it is almost impossible to compile their complete classification alone.
Here are just a few of them.

The first watch with the Bluetooth - Virt Citizen


Citizen Watch the Bluetooth Proximity For the iPhone


I of'm Watch (on Android'e)


the Sony Ericsson the MBW-100


Fossil MetaWatch


Casio the G-Shock the Bluetooth


of Prada Link


of Deus Ex-Machine Watch Mobile - a mobile phone with built-in clock


More alone watch-mobile phone Touchscreen Mobile Phone Watch


Watch mobile phone with a flip-flop lid and round buttons (vintage) Cellphone Watch


Watch with a camera on a flexible wire for peeking around the corner Ultimate Spy Watch


Clock in the form of additional. Keyboards watch


Boombox Metal Wristwatch keyboards Pebble


controller, sensational on kickstarter (the project raised $ 100 thousand, and raised more than $ 10 million) By the way, we are waiting for the article on the Habr “How to make a pebble with your own hands in 20 minutes with your own hands”. Kickstarter hit number 2 - “The thinnest watch in the world” CST-01 (collected $ 200 thousand, and collected a million) And so on and so forth ... We can say that at the moment the evolution of the clock has closed the circle. Ordinary wristwatches are most often used as an accessory, and we know the time by taking mobile phones out of our pockets, like a pocket watch used to be. But is it? Let democratic votes decide everything.











The first is for a detailed report, the second is for a simple clarification of the situation.