My dad's vintage Pulsar & my Apple Watch

[sean000]

I have always liked the shape, and even the blank-when-inactive display, of the Apple Watch because it reminded me of the Pulsar LED watch my father wore when I was a kid. My father passed away in 1989, and one of the memories I have of him is this really cool digital LED watch that the Hamilton watch company marketed as the first "Time Computer." This was cutting edge wearable technology in the early 1970's and Roger Moore wore one as James Bond for a scene in Live and Let Die. This particular watch is 14k gold and my mother said she made payments on it for a long time without my dad knowing about the gift she was paying off. He had admired the watch at a local jeweler and my mother decided to surprise him with one. This Christmas my mother gave his watch to me. They no longer make batteries for this model, but there is a website that sells kits to adapt the closest modern size. I could give it a try to see if it still works, but then again I'm happy to wear it or hold onto it as a nonfunctional piece of jewelry. I can still see the bright red LED time displayed in my head whenever I press the buttons.

I remember that pressing one button displayed the time, and the other displayed the date. Pressing them both also did something... I think it displayed the time with seconds? I'm sure that naysayers in the 1970's were just as critical of the lack of an "always on" display as they are today, but it never seemed to be an issue for my father... and I thought it was the coolest thing about it. If my father were still alive today, I'm sure he would be rocking an Apple Watch. My aluminum Series 0 Sport may not be nearly as elegant, but these two watches are connected in spirit.

 

[44267547]

That's a very interesting looking Watch and a great conversational piece. The Pulsar still looks futuristic in a way. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JackieInCo]

I remember when those Pulsar watches were all the rage back in the day. The commercials were elegant as they were with many watches back then that were marketed to be higher end.

 

[BarracksSi]

Somewhere, buried in our stuff back at my parents' home, I'm sure there's a Star Wars LED watch that I used to wear. I'll try to take a pic if it ever gets found.

I don't think my dad ever wore an LED watch, but back when I had it, he wore this Omega (on the right, of course), which I remember him using to teach me about winding and setting wristwatches.

The Bulova is from my grandpa, who I never got to meet. We think he got it the year he got married to Grandma (I've found the model in a magazine advert dated the same year) and he wore it during his travels all over the world.

 

[sean000]

Somewhere, buried in our stuff back at my parents' home, I'm sure there's a Star Wars LED watch that I used to wear. I'll try to take a pic if it ever gets found.

I don't think my dad ever wore an LED watch, but back when I had it, he wore this Omega (on the right, of course), which I remember him using to teach me about winding and setting wristwatches.

The Bulova is from my grandpa, who I never got to meet. We think he got it the year he got married to Grandma (I've found the model in a magazine advert dated the same year) and he wore it during his travels all over the world.

I don’t remember if I had a Star Wars Watch, but I do remember having a Casio calculator watch in the early 80’s. Those watches from your dad and grandpa are real treasures. I think my brother has my grandpa’s watch. I know he has some of his pocket knives. Watches and pocket knives both make such durable and portable family heirlooms. I don’t like to keep a lot of stuff, but watches, pocket knives, and photographs I can always find room for.

 

[Vermifuge]

I don’t remember if I had a Star Wars Watch, but I do remember having a Casio calculator watch in the early 80’s. Those watches from your dad and grandpa are real treasures. I think my brother has my grandpa’s watch. I know he has some of his pocket knives. Watches and pocket knives both make such durable and portable family heirlooms. I don’t like to keep a lot of stuff, but watches, pocket knives, and photographs I can always find room for.

I had the Casio databank with the flip top.

 

[JackieInCo]

My first digital watch was a Texas Instruments. You pressed one button for the time and I think if you held it in, it also showed the date. I came across it about two years ago and went to Walgreens to buy two batteries for it. It was dead.

I then went searching on eBay for the exact same model and saw one or two, both going from about $250-$400 and they were supposedly working. I passed on them though.

I might still have mine here somewhere. This is a picture I found of the one I had. Mine had the rubber band and not the metal one.

 

[sean000]

My first digital watch was a Texas Instruments. You pressed one button for the time and I think if you held it in, it also showed the date. I came across it about two years ago and went to Walgreens to buy two batteries for it. It was dead.

I then went searching on eBay for the exact same model and saw one or two, both going from about $250-$400 and they were supposedly working. I passed on them though.

I might still have mine here somewhere. This is a picture I found of the one I had. Mine had the rubber band and not the metal one.

View attachment 744820

As an homage to these old LED watches, I think Apple should release a watch face that displays the time in red LED digits

I guess X-Large in red is close, but not quite the same....

 

[JackieInCo]

As an homage to these old LED watches, I think Apple should release a watch face that displays the time in red LED digits

I guess X-Large in red is close, but not quite the same....

The only thing I don't miss about those old watches was having to adjust the date on certain months of the year and especially on February 29th. they weren't smart like now where they have built in calendars so they know what months have 31 days and leap year.

 

[sean000]

The only thing I don't miss about those old watches was having to adjust the date on certain months of the year and especially on February 29th. they weren't smart like now where they have built in calendars so they know what months have 31 days and leap year.

The Pulsar literature says that some models had a "Smart Calendar" feature that knows the difference between 30 and 31 day months, and changes the month automatically. But even on those models it says that February is programmed for 29 days, so no adjustment is required in a leap year. In other years you have to change the date only on March 1st. I remember that my dad had to set this watch by touching little magnets to indentations on the back. Later models allowed you to set time/date using the buttons. I have a bag of extra straps, but the little magnet tools are not in there. I'm sure anything magnetic would work (if the watch itself worked), but it would be cool to have the originals.
EDIT: I just read that the "timeset bar" is stored in the bracelet clasp, so I'm going to check that out when I get home!

 

[Nell]

That Pulsar watch is beautiful. How lovely to have it as a momento! If it were me, I’d definitely see if it’s possible to get it working.

 

[sean000]

The Pulsar literature says that some models had a "Smart Calendar" feature that knows the difference between 30 and 31 day months, and changes the month automatically. But even on those models it says that February is programmed for 29 days, so no adjustment is required in a leap year. In other years you have to change the date only on March 1st. I remember that my dad had to set this watch by touching little magnets to indentations on the back. Later models allowed you to set time/date using the buttons. I have a bag of extra straps, but the little magnet tools are not in there. I'm sure anything magnetic would work (if the watch itself worked), but it would be cool to have the originals.
EDIT: I just read that the "timeset bar" is stored in the bracelet clasp, so I'm going to check that out when I get home!

I did find the "timeset bar" stored inside the bracelet clasp, so for anyone curious about how you set the time on a 1973-ish Pulsar... you remove the magnet from under the clasp and touch it to the indentations for minutes and hours on the back (they also correspond to month and day when setting the date). Touching the magnet to the back sets the hour/min/month/day to zero and you hold it there until you reach he number you want:

 

[BarracksSi]

I did find the "timeset bar" stored inside the bracelet clasp, so for anyone curious about how you set the time on a 1973-ish Pulsar... you remove the magnet from under the clasp and touch it to the indentations for minutes and hours on the back (they also correspond to month and day when setting the date). Touching the magnet to the back sets the hour/min/month/day to zero and you hold it there until you reach he number you want:

That is wild. Really cool, but a pain in the ass, but still really cool.

It's funny, too, because one of the [arguably] newest technological advancements in traditional watches has been antimagnetic movements from Omega (some of its tech I'm sure has trickled all the way down to Swatch's Sistem51), which reportedly is unaffected by magnetism. Magnetized parts is one of the more common ways that mechanical watches can run out of spec, and the problem is one of the last hurdles of mechanical watches.

But here's a Pulsar from forty years ago that uses magnets to operate correctly. Hmm -- kinda like the Apple Watch needs magnets for charging.

 

[honglong1976]

I used to own this watch in the 80's. My dad still has it and has one as well. I remember it cost £25 (about 1986). Looks brand new still. I remember linking it to a C64 to copy some contacts across. Seriously, it had about two contacts. My mum and dad! hehe

Great watch though and along with the CED player I had.
great video about CED

I was about 20 years ahead of my time with tech and no one in my class ever believed I had a computer watch or something which played films from a disc.

Bottom left
http://live.worldofspectrum.org/infoseek/magazines/sinclair-user/47#108

 

[sean000]

I used to own this watch in the 80's. My dad still has it and has one as well. I remember it cost £25 (about 1986). Looks brand new still. I remember linking it to a C64 to copy some contacts across. Seriously, it had about two contacts. My mum and dad! hehe

Great watch though and along with the CED player I had. I was about 20 years ahead of my time with tech and no one in my class ever believed I had a computer watch or something which played films from a disc.

Love that terminal button! It's really cool that you could connect it directly to a C64 (as well as to the Apple II, IBM PC, Tandy, etc. according to the page below). It looks like you could also get external keyboards for the later models. http://pocketcalculatorshow.com/nerdwatch/seiko-computer-watch-fun/