MATH WATCHES - Protractor and Slide Ruler Timepieces

Fifties geek-chic with this vintage 1958 Juvenia 'Architecture' watch featuring protractor and ruler hands. Featured in the Brunner/Pfeiffer-Belli book 'Wristwatches'

Their earlier 1945 Juvenia 'Arithmo' Slide Rule Watch

And with the door open to slide-rule watches, the testosterone-fueled leader of the math geeks is the 1973 Heuer 'Calculator.'

1990's Megapode

The Megapode, Ikepod's contribution to the hip mathematician. Is that an oxymoron?

2007 Megapode

Vintage Bullhead Chronographs Like It On Top

Bullhead Chronographs, as they're called, feature the crown and pushers on top of the case instead of the side. Due to the rarity of the configuration, more liberties are taken in regards to the overall design, many dials are angled up for a drivers style and feature unusual dials. A long way of saying they are some of the coolest damn watches made in the sixties and seventies.

1970 Bulova Bullhead (above) with the famous Chronomatic Calibre 11, the first automatic watch with a micro-rotor. Also used in the 1969 Heuer Monaco.
Additional photos here-->Link

1969 Omega Bullhead also featuring the Chronomatic movement. A case that is much wider at the top. Very rare. Link to additional photos-->Link


1970's Seiko Speedtimer sporting a perfect seventies burnt umber fade. A more commonly found vintage Bullhead.



Enormous 70's manual wind Orator Bullhead with massive steel case and gray gradation dial. A very obscure brand and an even more rare model.


1974 Breitling Pupitre is another asymmetrical Bullhead chrono with two-tone brown dial, manual winding Valjoux 7740 movement (also came in auto Caliber 11)



The bully of the Bullheads, the 1972 60mm wide Desotos Chronograph, first featured here-->Link


Another obscure 1970's Bullhead by Fleurier, a giant chunk of metal disguised as a chronograph.


1975 Victor Chronograph, manual winding, angled case, two-tone orange/gray dial.



Two vintage 70s Sorna Chronographs with one common goal...Make you look tough as hell. Above, is the volcano cased model (similar to the Omega Speedmaster Mark III) with multi-color black, orange, green, gray dial.

Below is the even larger triangular Sorna Bullhead with world time.

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE

Orange you glad you saw these?

Licking and Ticking - More Vintage Timex Commercials

Why don't watch companies advertise on TV anymore? So many catchphrases, so little time.

Black Max! It takes a real man to wear it!-->Link

Of course, the break-up wristwatch??-->Link

"I got too close, Mongo grabbed my Timex" -->Link

"Bluejeans that tell the time!" -->Link

Secret Dummy Watch Party! -->Link

"I found my Timex in a very interesting place" -->Link

And previously featured - What watch to wear when you're drowning-->Link

Giving You the Finger - Rolex & Jaeger LeCoultre Ring Watches

I wonder if it were socially acceptable to wear a watch on every appendage, would I..? Well, I'd likely start with one of these vintage 1950's ring watches. Very rare finger timepieces by LeCoultre and Rolex.

Above is a platinum & diamond set LeCoultre 'Duo-Plan' with an impossibly small dial & movement. Top-hinged for winding and setting of the watch.

Below is the 18k Rolex Precision with engine turned conical cover.

Now, when you give someone the finger, be considerate, tell them what time you want them to fuck off.

Vintage Solar Powered Watches - A Partly Cloudy History

Evolution of the Sundial

1. Synchronar - Conceived in the early sixties and first produced in 1968, the first Solar watch ever was invented by the reclusive inventor Roger Riehl. Solar panels on the top with a sideview LED display. Heavily debated within a microcosm of vintage watch collectors as the first digital watch ever. That distinction is commonly given to the 1970's Pulsar LED. 

2. Nepro - 1975 LED with raised display and backside solar panels.


3. Uranus - "This is one of the earliest LED watches in existence. It is one of the very earliest "wearable" wristwatches made by Uranus (approx. 1971) and one of only a few made (hugely expensive to build). It actually predates the Pulsar and launched Uranus into a patent fight with Hamilton (Uranus lost). The thing that makes this watch unique is that it does not use an LSI (large scale integrated chip) but instead is made up of discrete logic and driver chips using hundreds of wire bonds to connect them up. It is truly a packaging marvel. The display is only hours and minutes. The face is divided in half horizontally with the LED in the upper half, the lower half being composed of solar cells in a fan pattern to supplement the battery, all in a gold filled case." by Guy Ball


4. Sicura LCD - 1976 LCD with innovative solution of putting solar panels on the side of the watch.

Sicura Ad

5. Sicura Analog - 1978 Analog version of the same watch.


6. Junghans 'Mega Solar' - 1990's radio-controlled, PVD-coated wristwatch with solar cell, date and integrated radio receiver from one of the most accurate clocks in the world - the Caesium Time Base at Germany’s National Institute of Natural Engineering and Sciences.

7. Citizen Crystron - 1976 "This was the first solar-powered analog wristwatch. It conformed to the conventional design of most analog watches except for the four square gray panels that take up most of the face. This watch began Citizen’s long-term commitment to solar powered watches, which has culminated in the very successful Eco-Drive line of watches." by Soluhr

8. Calcron & Louis Erard Calculator Watches - Mid to late seventies solar calculator watches with side panels. The non-solar Calcron is believed to be the first ever wrist-calculator watch made as originally featured here-->Link

9. Cristalonic 'Solar Quartz' by GmbH - 1980's LCD with an asymmetric black plastic case.

Cristalonic Advertisements

10. Lorus - 1980's solar LCD. A division of Seiko.

Sadly, development of the modern light-powered watch, like the Citizen Eco-Drive, eliminated the need for innovative visual configurations as solar panels now absorb light through traditional watch dials. It was fun while it lasted...