Retro Thing

Monchron Clock Plays An Endless Game Of Pong

Limor Fried is the engineer/artist/mad inventor behind Adafruit Industries. Her latest DIY gadget is the $80 Monochron pong clock kit.

Based around a custom white-on-black 128x64 pixel LCD, this unique timepiece plays an endless game of Pong, advancing the time when one of the sides loses a point. It includes battery backup, switchable 12/24 hour display and even a snooze alarm. Best of all, the design is completely open source -- you're free to muck with the software and hardware as much as you wish.

Monochron Pong Clock

Seiko Frequency Wristwatch Drum Machine

At some point in the early 1980s, watch manufacturers ran out of sensible new features to incorporate into watches. They'd already tried calculators, radios, cigarette lighters and even TV sets to get the attention of an increasingly jaded public. Rather than give up, Seiko chose to think outside the box. Way outside.

One can only imagine the sake-fueled club hopping that led to the development of the Seiko Frequency. This odd little device incorporated a speaker and six drum patterns, "created solely for watch by popular music producer Tetsuya Komuro," along with two metronome modes (one audible, one visual), an alarm function that played one of the six drum patterns or just beeped, and an EL backlight for checking the time while basking onstage in front of your adoring fans. 

The Frequency wasn't marketed in North America or Europe, which is probably for the best. There are currently several on eBay, although they're anything but sensibly priced. [via Matrixsynth]

Building A Decatron Clock

E. Barbour writes, "Former Philips engineer Ronald Dekker is famous for his website full of unusual construction projects. He now has built a digital clock that uses Dekatron (or decatron) tubes as displays."

Decatrons feature a ring of cathodes driven by a control voltage. They were first introduced in 1950, and this is the first I've heard of them.

They're the forefather of Nixie tubes, which usually contain ten cathodes in the shape of the numbers 0 through 9, and a wire mesh anode. When electricity is passed between one of the cathodes and the anode, the corresponding number shines with an endearing orangey-red glow. In contrast, the decatron is only capable of producing an array of glowing dots.

Dekker decided to build a decatron clock controlled by a modern PIC microcontroller.

He explains, "Surfing the web, the most popular thing to make with a decatron seems to be a spinner. Looking at these spinners I thought it would be a nice idea to make a clock with six (or perhaps even seven) decatrons in a row, with the decatrons showing all kinds of display effects. Instead of simply incrementing the time every new second, it would be great to have a display of forward- and backward-spinning digits, slowly rolling-out to the new time, a little bit like the reels of a slot machine."

The circuit and software is now complete, and the only thing remaining is the case. Dekker has decided to use a mirror mounted at a 45 degree angle to allow reading the digits while the tubes are mounted in a vertical position. The final result should be a unique modern timepiece that brilliantly integrates forgotten technology from the 1950s.

Decatron Clock Project

Avalon Mechanical Skeleton Pocket Watch

I've been shopping for a pocket watch lately, and there's an amazing selection to choose from. It seems that people have abandoned their wristwatches in favor of cell phones and stylish pocket timepieces.

While I'll probably end up choosing an inexpensive quartz mechanism because they're accurate and don't require constant winding, this simple $59.95 Avalon Skeleton caught my eye. It measures 51 mm in diameter and incorporates a Chinese 17 jewel mechanical movement. It also includes an exhibition case back so you can watch it run and comes with a 14 inch chain to ensure it doesn't get left behind.

Avalon 17 Jewel Mechanical Skeleton Pocket Watch with Chain

The Atomic Pocket Watch

What could be cozier in the wintertime than a shiny new atomic watch?

Hammacher Schlemmer claims their $149.95 timepiece is the world's only pocket watch to synchronize with the WWVB Atomic Clock time signal broadcast from Fort Collins, Colorado.

That claim aside, the ad copywriter has obviously never owned a quartz watch because s/he also claims that "it will never gain or lose a second for 30 million years." I beg to differ - the watch battery hidden within the svelte 2-inch surgical-grade stainless steel case will probably need replacing after a mere two or three trips around the sun.

What else? Well, there's a 14-inch stainless steel chain with lobster clasp to keep it firmly attached to your carpenter's jeans at all times, and the LCD display toggles between day/date and second mode. Huh. Somehow I thought the Atomic Age would be far cooler.

The Only Atomic Pocket Watch [via The Red Ferret Journal]

Retro Watches Don't Have To Be Old Or Expensive

Watches are beautiful machines that can last a lifetime if well cared for. Many of the world’s best timepieces come from Switzerland, but remember that even a lowly $19 Casio calculator watch keeps almost perfect time and should last a decade or more.

My advice? Keep it cheap. It’s possible to find brand new mechanical watches with jeweled mechanisms for under $100 (like the brilliant Seiko 5 series). Several Russian companies also make decent mechanical timepieces based on vintage Swiss designs, although quality can vary considerably.

Digital watches are a dime a dozen these days. Drop by a low-end department store and you’ll find dozens of choices for less than $20. But don’t forget that 30 years ago digital displays were new and exciting. People marveled at tiny glowing LED digits. There has been a recent resurgence of affordable LED watches, probably driven by a realization that they can now be produced for next to nothing. I suspect this trend will soon flow into low-end department stores as well, so don’t bother spending lots. Just wait a few months and you might be able to pick up a new LED watch for next to nothing at a post-Christmas blowout sale.

BWC Liquid Crystal Quartz - The First LCD Wristwatch

Swiss watchmaker BWC announced their Liquid Crystal Quartz watch in 1971, intending it to be the first solid-state watch on the market. Technical setbacks prevented them from releasing it until 1973 1972,  and the LED-based Pulsar P1 beat them to the punch. The BWC Quartz was priced at a stratospheric 1100 Deutschmarks and used the Dynamic Scattering principle to drive the display, unlike modern TN Field Effect timepieces. Even though LCD watches went on to dominate the industry, this particular model cost BWC a fortune without making a dent in the marketplace.

I love the time changing mechanism, which involves a traditional-looking rotating crown. The huge case hides a transformer that was required to produce the 15 to 20 Volts required to drive the inefficient low contrast display. BWC predicted a display lifespan of ten years, but most still function today (unlike the Pulsar P1). Truth be told, I think these things look fantastic.

BWC Liquid Crystal Quartz

Prehistoric Calculator Watches

Oh, how soon we forget. LED watches seem to be all the rage recently, with a sudden flood available in the sub-$100 range. Let's take a quick look at another market segment that died a quick death in the mid 1970s. Pulsar was first out of the gate with an LED calculator watch in 1975, followed in 1976 by models from Compuchron (above), Uranus, and even HP.

The strangest of all was the 1977 Wrist Calculator from Sinclair (right) -- it didn't include a built-in watch. Apparently, you were supposed to lug it around on your wrist while searching for people in need of emergency arithmetic.

Like their watch-only brothers, these little counting machines chewed through batteries so quickly that the display could remain on for only a few seconds at a time. The Compuchron's boxy metal housing hides four largish button cell batteries that provide the electrons for its careful pondering.

Lets hope some enterprising Chinese firm isn't gearing up to churn out remakes of these - it was bad enought the first time. They're occasionally available on the second-hand market as "new old stock" -- the technology developed so quickly that many units were left unsold.

Vintage Calculators (Web Museum with zillions of pictures)

16-Piece Deluxe Watch Opener Tool Kit

I have a handful of watches sitting in a drawer with dead batteries. Even though I'm unlikely to start wearing a couple of Casios on each arm in the near future, it seemed like a good idea to pop them open and remove the dead batteries before they cause any damage.

That thought led me to Amazon, where I stumbled across this inexpensive 16-piece watch tool kit for under $10. It's just the thing you need for adjusting watchbands and popping the back off the occasional watch case. The only potential hitch is that there are no instructions, so a bit of experimentation is required to perfect your watch smashing technique.

16-Piece Deluxe Watch Opener Tool Kit [Amazon]

Single Tube Nixie Clock

Trax designed a rather appealing little Nixie clock around a single IN-8 tube. He writes: "This clock is more an ornament than a useful machine because it consists of just one digit (tube) so it displays current time every minute for three times. It is built inside of an old wooden box and it's powered from a 7V DC wall adapter. Under a nixie tube there is a very bright green LED which makes everything look more beautiful. When time is not displayed, this LED blinks with 1 second period (seconds counter). To power-up a nixie, some 170V DC is required, which means that there is a step-up converter on board with MC34063A IC."

There's even a 3V lithium backup battery inside the case to keep the clock running if it's unplugged from the mains. Source code is available if you'd like to build your own.

IN-8 Single Nixie Tube Clock [via Hacked Gadgets]

Blancier Crazy Planet Watch

The Blancier Limited Edition Crazy Planet watch incorporates a couple of visible planetary gears. Sadly, the name isn't the only nutty thing about this timepiece - it retails for an astonishing $15,000.

In exchange for enough cash to purchase a reasonably equipped subcompact car, you get to pick the color of the engraved dial and the finish of the 42mm case, which houses a Swiss Cortebert / Perseo movement.

If fifteen grand is a bit tough to swallow, check out Blancier's clever interactive workshop that lets you select from a variety of watch movements (including 18-jewel mechanical mechanisms made in Germany by parent company Lottermann & Soehne), hands, lunettes, faces and straps. The best part? They can manufacture and ship your creation in three to six weeks. Prices start under $600, leaving you with more than enough to buy a spiffy second-hand Honda.

If a $600 custom timepiece is still out of your price range, consider Seiko's surprisingly affordable mechanical watches for less than $100.

Blancier Limited Edition Crazy Planet Wristwatch

Fred Niell's Elegant Nixie Clocks

Fred Niell's Индикатор-6 (Indicator-6) digital clock mixes old fashioned woodwork with modern electronics. Each of these timepieces is housed in a beautiful mahogany and black walnut dovetailed case. The compact unit measures only 5.75” x 3.5” x 3.25” and consumes a mere 1.5W during operation.

The vintage display tubes were manufactured in 1971, at the height of the USSR's technological might. As Fred explains, "Russian-made vacuum tubes were specially selected for this clock. According to their original manufacturer, these tubes are rated for tens of thousands of hours of continuous use in extreme vibration and altitude environments. The exotic materials used in the tubes' construction, Molybdenum, Tungsten, Mercury, steatite ceramics, etc., stand testament to the immense work put into their development and manufacture. The manufacture date of 1971 points to a time when the tube industry had reached its pinnacle in both reliability and technological advancement. Truly, these tubes represent one facet of the peak of the USSR's intellectual and scientific output, fueled by the Cold War's escalations."

The limited edition run of one hundred Indicator-6 clocks is hand-assembled in the USA and sells for $275, including a wall-wart power supply. An international version is available for $10 more.

Link: Limited Edition Indicator-6 Nixie Clock

Luxury Watch Made With Coal From The Titanic

High-end Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome has crafted a range of stunningly pretentious Titanic-DNA watches that feature dials blackened with coal from the holds of the Titanic.

The 46mm case of the Titanic-DNA - rusted steel T-oxy III incorporates oxidized and stabilized steel along with titanium and ceramic. The movement is a C22RJ51 Concepto by Jacquet and the face is protected by a scratch-resistant double-coated sapphire window. It's water resistant to 5 Atmospheres and and comes with either rubber or crocodile strap. This is a limited edition of 2012 pieces, price available on request.

Titanic-DNA: An Expensive Lump Of Coal [via Acquire]

Retrodeal: Avalon Silvertone Railroad Pocket Watch

This simple $29.95 pocket watch is an interesting juxtaposition of vintage and modern design. It features a Japanese analog quartz movement that never needs winding, along with a 14" chain and belt clip. The case diameter is 41.5mm (1-5/8 inches) with a depth of less than 10mm (3/8 inch). Perfect for days when you choose to leave your phone at home but still need to know the time.

Avalon Silvertone Ultra Thin Railroad Pocket Watch with Chain

Retro Deal: $17 Casio Calculator Watch

Yes, it's geeky. It's also incredibly useful. The $16.45 Casio CA53W-1 calculator watch includes an 8-digit calculator, dual time zones, stopwatch, alarm, 5 year battery and automatic perpetual calendar. There's no backlight, but I suspect that's how Casio is able to keep the price so low.

Available from Amazon with free shipping on orders over $25