Digital vintage watches – 6 odd favourites

Text: Andreas Johansson

Did you grow up in the 80s-90s? Well, then you surely remember that most people walked around with digital wristwatches. Brands like Casio, Seiko and Citizen dominated the market and several odd models were released. In this article we take a look at a few personal favourites. 

In the year 1972 the Hamilton Pulsar P1 was launched, the world's first digital wristwatch with an LED display. Early digital watches used light-emitting diodes (LED), but these required a lot of energy. In the 1970s LCD screens were introduced, which extended the battery life considerably.

Casio and Seiko were two of the most influential companies within digital watches and during the 1980s digital watches became mass-produced and affordable in price, which made them very popular. The watch manufacturers launched several imaginative models with functions like calculators and game functions, below we have found a few odd favourites. 

Casio Cosmo Phase

Casio is in many ways the definition of digital vintage watches. But I have fallen for a watch that was released in 1988, the Cosmo Phase. The watch comes both in steel and plastic variants. The unique thing about the watch is that it can show how the planets including Halley's comet stand between 1901–2199. Throughout history man has always been fascinated by space and wanted to map where the planets stand. But exactly who was intended as the customer for this watch is unclear, I can however note that the ”complication” planet position does not seem to be very common. That is why this digital version is a crystal clear favourite with us.  

Seiko A829-6029 

Seiko's model A829-6019, is often called the ”Rotocall”. But it was never was an official model name. Despite this ”Rotocall” feels like a fitting nickname for a watch with a character of its own, comparable with other popular watch names like ”Pogue” and ”Tuna”. One of the most unique functions is the watch's rotating bezel. By turning the bezel you can easily switch between functions, without having to press any buttons. This makes it much smoother and more intuitive than looking for a button. It is a simple, but effective function that makes the watch user-friendly and practical. The watch became popular among NASA's astronauts during the 80s thanks to its simple functions, but the watch was never an official NASA watch. 

Citizen C010 Voice Memo

The C010, also known as the ”Voice Memo” is truly a watch of its time. The watch had a recording function that allowed you to record sound for 6 seconds. The sound quality is described as mediocre. The watch looks big but the measurements are 35 mm in width, 39 mm in height and 12 mm in thickness, which means that it is versatile when it comes to size and can be worn both on a larger and a smaller wrist.

Citizen D31, AM/FM-Radio

The 80s served up several fun watches, this is yet another one that would go in the category ”smart” watch. Citizen's model D31, had a radio function. When it comes to the design the watch is square in its appearance and the watch's housing is made of plastic. The model comes in several colours; among others a yellow, a black, a white and a pink variant. The watch consists of two parts. One part is the watch itself and the other is the black part which is detachable and has pins that stick out to attach into the watch's body. The black part is really a battery pack that is only used for the radio function. There are small contacts on the side that make it receive power and signal from the radio in the watch and send the signal to the headphone socket on the side. The watch is very simple and only shows the time and the date. It has two buttons on the side that let you set the time and check the date. The radio is as mentioned a separate module and has a built-in antenna, so you do not need to use a cable. It has both AM and FM, and you can switch between the two with a switch. There are also two dials to tune in the stations and a volume knob. Perhaps a watch for someone who wants to go back to a simpler time, but still wants to listen to the news.  

Orient calculator 

A very popular function during the 80s and 90s digital watches was the calculator function. Of all the different versions my choice falls on Orient's version with reference number, Y691101-40. The handsomest of this model has a blue dial, white numerals and a silver-coloured case, but there is also a black dial with white numerals and silver buttons. I would without hesitated have rocked one if I found one in nice condition, but unfortunately good examples are not super easy to find. 

Seiko TV Watch

At the beginning of the 80s Seiko took it into its head to develop a watch with a TV screen. You thus had the possibility of having a working TV on your arm. The watch consists of an LCD screen, which gives it a fairly nice appearance. The watch has the measurements 40 x 46 x 10 millimetres which does not make it big to wear. The slightly impractical thing is that you have to bring the receiver with you which is considerably larger, but you can have it in your breast pocket, with a cord in the shirt sleeve to the watch, problem solved.