While there are a bunch of Bluetooth watches on the market, none of them could be easily worn by your fashionable Bond-like gentleman. LEDs and LCDs don’t really go with a tuxedo. Sure, these days, a lot of us don’t need to wear a tux to go to work, but it never hurts to have a fashionable stealth watch that also has Bluetooth technology built-in.
The Citizen Eco-Drive Promixity is exactly that, a Bluetooth watch that looks like many other manly-chronograph watches. It will definitely cut it in a business meeting, thanks to its bold lines and steel casing. The watch can sync up to your iPhone 4S that has Bluetooth 4.0, as well as the next generation iPhone once it arrives.
If you miss a call or get a message, the second hand of the watch will point towards a word on the inner flange to indicate what happened on your phone. An analog cellphone indicator dials sound like something out of steampunk! There are no LEDs or flashing lights to make you look like a tech geek with this watch. There’s even a search mode that allows you to help your phone if you lose it in your house.
The Eco-Drive Proximity will sell for $550(USD) when it’s released this fall. That’s not cheap, but the design is certainly more timeless than the barrage of digital “smartwatches” hitting the market these days. Hopefully the tech inside won’t be outdated by next year.
If you’re a lover of the Rolex timepiece lines Submariner, Sea Dweller, GMT, and more, you’re about to get strapped with a brand new technologically forward-thinking addition to your collection, the Everest Band – here combining futuristic 3D printing production with the crowdfunding environment known as Kickstarter. With the technology used by the team behind this project, the Everest Band was made specifically for the Rolex family (Explorer II and Yacht-Master included too!) With a tolerance for error so small it’ll make you flip, our short interview with Michael DiMartini of Everest Horology Products (the group behind the Everest Band), shows the real effort that must be put into creating 3rd party accessories for fine-tuned equipment as well!
The story goes like this: Everest Horology Products has a real love for the Rolex line of timepieces, and because they wanted a product that did not exist, they decided to make it themselves. The Everest Band is the group’s first product, and it’s been developed over the course of 8 months, from drawing board, to prototyping, to production. The watch band that’s at the center of this whole project was created with 3D prototyping and what’s called “opti-jet” technology to make the next-generation insert inside the band a reality in this product – and Everest Bands Kickstarter is the next big step.
“3d prototyping was incredibly important in both aesthetic and fit for this rather unique project. Since the Everest band was fitting on to a Rolex, where tolerance for error is around .005 mm, it had to be perfect. The room for error was so small that with accurate models we would know if we were going down the wrong path very quickly. It allowed for us to try different designs at an incredibly low price and test both a solid and flexible concept.
The flexible “opti-jet” technology we used was intrical in determining the solid end link insert. One thing that we know will set this product apart from the rest is the fact that the insert that we used has both a molecular bond and a mechanical bond. This type of double redundancy allows to ensure that we have a permanent piece that will never fall out. The majority of other designs are one or the other – without the 3d Prototyping we would not have been able to correctly make this design happen.” – DiMartini
Above: 3D prototype test model bands appear in a basic off-white tone before they’re perfected. Once the perfect size is found, the perfect colors come next.
The insert in the band here is not just so well made that there’s no danger of it falling out, it’s darn near impossible to pull out, too! With the air friction barrier action going on here there’s a solid product, inside and out, that’s like nothing else out on the market – not in Rolex watchbands, anyway. Have a peek at a demonstration of the Everest Band here to see the final product:
DiMartini also made it clear that Kickstarter was and is instrumental in getting this project off the ground. A startup situation like this makes it so startup debt – a killer, in many cases – doesn’t need to be as much of a factor as it traditionally has been in the past. The web as a whole, too, has been a perfect battleground for Everest Horology Products to take off in and with.
“Kickstarter is our marketing tool and we are the voice. It was a perfect scenario for a company like ours. … The web has been our way of getting out the word and been our main reason we are seeing the success we have. The Forums, Facebook, twitter, etc. have been absolutely incredible for allowing us to communicate with the public. We have used it to not only market the product, but also design it. We listened to what the market wanted and what others were missing.” – DiMartini
Take a peek at the Kickstarter project page for Everest Bands right this minute to get a better idea of what this team of innovators is aiming to do for the future of timepiece bands right this minute. And stay tuned with the Everest Horology Products group for future products as well – things are looking up!
You know something? I find the phrase “keeping time” takes on a whole new meaning with the limited edition SAFE watches from Watchismo and Click Watches, where each of these puppies will come with their individual edition number engraved on the caseback. Needless to say, this will continue from where the more common Keypad Hidden Time watch collection left off, and the latter was recently released even. You can “unlock” the time not by swiping as you are so used with your smartphone, but rather, to press the zero in order to see a sequential flashing of LED bulbs in corresponding keypad buttons.
This makes it a snap to tell the time, although doing so still will not make it as fast as an analog or digital timepiece. As with many modern technological timepieces, you can opt to display the time in 12 hour or 24 hour formats, and the number pad has been set into an angular steel case without any distinguishable display at all, delivering a totally new way of checking out the current time. Will it make you more punctual? That can only be answered by you, and right now, instead of forking out two Benjamins for it, it will retail for a promotional $129.99.
Modern Japanese digital watches are definitely an acquired taste, but once you decipher how to read the time, you end up with a functional watch. This new watch from Tokyoflash doesn’t encrypt the time, so you won’t have to take a minute each time you consult it. Once you understand the display, it’s very easy to read.
The Tokyoflash Kisai Zone watch displays numbers in hexagonal form, and comes with a stainless or black strap, with a body to match. There are blue, green, purple or black options available for the LCD display.
The display is constantly moving, and since it’s LCD, you won’t have to push a button to activate it (though it does have an EL backlight for nighttime viewing.) The numbers for the current time are simply forced into hexagonal shapes, as shown in this demo video:
See, not hard to read at all. Plus, those animation modes are pretty cool too.
The Kisai Zone is currently on sale at Tokyoflash for $99(USD). After the two day launch period, it will revert to $139, so if you’re interested, you’d better grab it.
Shipments of the Pebble smart watch are close at hand, with the $10m Kickstarter project inviting backers to pick their watch color – with a new option added in for good measure – and register a shipping address. The project, which sold out back in May, now offers the Bluetooth connected watch in black, white, red, orange, or grey, with those who originally backed the cheapest black version able to upgrade for $15.
“Thanks for supporting Pebble on Kickstarter. It’s time for you to tell us where you live, and to select a color for your Pebble. We’ve added Grey, due to popular demand. If you backed a Jet Black Pebble, you can also upgrade to Color if you’d like!
We’ve set up a new website for our Pebble backers to manage their order. You have until Sept 30, 2012 to choose a color for your Pebble using this site” Pebble
The site also allows those who forgot to add in international shipping costs (an extra $15) to pay for that, though if you included the charge in your initial pledge then you won’t be asked for more. Exact shipping dates haven’t been confirmed, though the Pebble team did admit a few months back that it would miss its original September estimate.
Nonetheless, there’s still plenty of excitement about the watch. Designed as a companion for an iOS or Android phone, it can show messaging alerts, notifications, calendar alarms and more, as well as integrating with other systems such as fellow Kickstarter hit Twine.
Hardware specifications include Bluetooth 4.0, an e-paper display for low power consumption, and a vibration motor for discrete alerts. The watch is also compatible with generic watch-straps, for those who want to customize.
Tokyoflash omits function-based bells and whistles on its timepieces in favor of style, and if none of its previous designs have left you smitten, maybe the Kisai Zone will. The hook on this particular model is its hexagonal number display, which is surprisingly easy to read, given some of the company’s other offerings. The stainless steel strap and body comes in silver and black, with blue, green, purple or black options for the always-on LCD face completing the custom look. The watch is available now for a two-day introductory price of $99, which then jumps to $139. If your bare wrist is in need of further persuasion, then check out the video walkthrough below.
Constellations are pretty awesome to look at, that is if you’re not living in a big city. Once you get out of urban areas, you can see plenty of them in the clear night sky. This new concept watch attempts to put a constellation on your wrist, so you can see one even if you live downtown. TokyoFlash design contributor Sam F.’s watch is based upon the Cassiopeia constellation.
With a sleek and minimal bracelet design, the Cassiopeia watch has got a zig-zag display featuring a strip of colorful, twinkling LEDs. The pattern of the LEDs is supposed to mimic the one of the actual constellation.
You can tell the time by counting the number of colored LED lights that are lit up. With the arrangement of LEDs looking almost haphazard, telling the time might take some… time. Anyway, I’m sure that the final display will be streamlined if Tokyoflash ends up making this watch.
Head on over to Tokyoflash to vote for it so that it gets made!
It’s hard to deny that Bluetooth watches usually lack the social graces you need when dressing to impress. Citizen doesn’t want to leave you a binary choice between technology and poshness, however. The company’s upcoming Eco-Drive Proximity watch has all the respectability of an analog steel timepiece, but it quietly syncs to an iPhone 4S (or newer) through Bluetooth 4.0. Miss a call, get a message or approach a meeting, and the seconds hand will point to a word on the dial indicating what needs attention — there’s no broadcasting your geek credentials to everyone in the room. The iPhone syncs its time with the watch if you’re so inclined, and a search mode will ping the handset if it’s lost under the couch. Expect to pay $550, or about as much as many mid-tier quartz watches, when the Proximity goes on sale in the fall. It’s certainly not a trivial price next to other Bluetooth watches, but the public acceptance factor may be more than worth the premium.
GPS watches are great to track your runs, but most of them are kind of bulky. This new lightweight series from Garmin isn’t aimed at triathletes. It’s made to compete with some of the watches from Nike and Polar, which make it dead simple to track your runs.
The Garmin Forerunner 10 offers training features like a virtual pacer and auto pause settings, as well as a run/walk setting for beginning runners. The display shows the amount of calories burned, speed, distance and time. It will come in a few bright and bold colors, including apple green and cotton candy pink, as well as basic black, and it’s definitely less bulky than many of the other models on the market today.
Garmin usually offers expensive training watches, with a lot of features that most people don’t need. Nike+ is becoming widely adopted, so this $129(USD) watch hopes to offer a reasonably-priced alternative when it’s released this Fall.
The $129 Garmin 10 is a new GPS watch by Garmin. Designed as a direct competitor to “grab and go” sport watches from Nike and Polar, the new watch offers training features like “Virtual Pacer” and auto pause settings as well as run/walk break setting for beginning runners.
The onscreen display shows calories burned, speed, distance, and time. It comes a few bright candy colors including green, pink, and black.
Garmin has historically been seen as the creme of the GPS watch world and they had multiple self-contained GPS devices years before competitors. Now, however, upstarts like Nike+ are cutting into the casual watch market. This Sub-$200 model is definitely much more interesting for, say, a weekend runner or 5-10K trainee.
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You know something? I find the phrase “keeping time” takes on a whole new meaning with the 
