Paleo LED watches from the pre-cheezy era

Watchismo's feature today covers the illustrious history of early LED watches, whose origins are stylish as only artifacts from a lost era can be.

With the recent release of the $350,000 Opus 8 and the de Grisogono Meccanico dG with their mechanically mimicked LED digits, I wanted to also share this video and photos from the collection of UK LED collector, Lloyd "Theledwatch". He was recently featured on Antiques Roadshow (see video above) where he shared some of the best examples of early 1970s digital light emitting diode watches like the Pulsar Hamilton P1, Girard Perregaux Casquette, Omega Time Computer and my one-of-a-kind favorites by the Royal designer Andrew Grima.

Link

[#1 posted by Jaan , April 28, 2008 9:36 PM]

I always thought these were theee coolest back in the 70's.

I bought a new one 2 years ago from Fossil for $30. Amazing.

[#2 posted by starcadia , April 28, 2008 9:58 PM]

Finally something uber-geeky that I can relate to here. One of my prized possessions is a Texas Instruments Model 101 from the mid-70s that I picked up at eBay some years ago, that still works and that I wear with pride. Everybody who sees it is amazed at how old it is because it looks like something that could have been made today (and definitely not like some of those huge, clunky ones that were made back then).

I've been fairly obsessed with LED watches since I was a little kid in the 70s. Like the guy interviewed in the link, it's definitely something that takes me back to my childhood. If I had the dough I'd have one with a calculator. :D

[#3 posted by Tenn , April 28, 2008 10:11 PM]

Jaan, I envy you. These are gorgeous!

[#4 posted by IWood , April 29, 2008 12:11 AM]

Looks a bit like my Tokyo Flash Retrofit

http://ledwatchstop.com/store/images/retrofit_gb1.jpg

I guess that's what they meant when they said "inspired by" watches of the past.

[#5 posted by Abelard Lindsay , April 29, 2008 6:09 AM]

I still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

[#6 posted by TedJohnson , April 29, 2008 7:15 AM]

I remember in the 70s on a TV game show "To Tell the Truth" (or maybe it was "What's My Line") an episode where they brought out a prototype of an LED watch--and all it did was show the time. They guy showing the watch was accompanied by an armed guard, on camera, because the watch was so valuable.

[#7 posted by Lord Peter , April 29, 2008 4:25 PM]

I had a cheaper TI LED watch when I was in school in the '70's; a few other of my classmates did, too. I remember how fascinating it was to know *exactly* what time it was. (Even though the design was somewhat impractical as you had to press the button on the side to see what time it was).

We would set our alarms to synchronize with the the class bell, and a few seconds before it rang, we would count down "5-4-3-2-1".

Ahh, those were the days.

[#8 posted by ridestowe , April 30, 2008 6:42 PM]

here's a retro-style watch for those longing for one:

http://www.nixonnow.com/watches/mens/the-dork-A400.html