When Thin Was In

[abem]

Howdy,

I just thought I'd post a few quick snaps of a new Seiko F231 that just came in the mail. The Seiko and the Bulova Phantom are both from 1979, when the race was on to produce the sveltest, most advanced digital in order to demonstrate quartz mastery to the world.

They are both fantastic daytime watches (no backlight was provided to keep them thin). They are on par in terms of functionality with the Seiko providing a six digit display and alphanumeric day-of-the-week and the Phantom providing a stopwatch. They both have a jewel-like precision, with the Seiko perhaps a hair more refined and sophisticated and the Phantom being thinner (3mm vs. 5mm) and lighter.




-abe.

[LEDluvr]

I love that Seiko F231 abem! It looks to be in near-mint condition. (I wonder how you manage to find these rare jems. )
I have never seen one in 'the steel' but have always wondered, is the LC textured or is it the filter on top of the LC display? That waffle look is very cool -and rare.

[abem]

LEDluvr,

I should have mentioned that. The reflector behind the LCD uses a really intersting technology. It's composed of a matrix of tiny reflective pyramids so that it reflects the light both in front and to the side. It's sort of like a diffuser, but with a macroscopic regular geometry. You can see in the second photo, even though we are looking at the watch at a steep angle, the LCD reflector is still brightly illuminated, so it works pretty well.

When I get a chance, I'll try to photograph it at high magnification so you can see what I mean. The result is that the display has a really nifty patterned golden metallic sheen that you can start to see in the first photo.

-abe.

p.s. no real magic in finding these - I got this one from eBay for $140 from collector extraordinaire Archer MacLean a.k.a bigmacnofat. He somehow always seems to find the most exquisite specimens and photographs and presents them beautifully. A really nice guy too. How he finds them, I have no idea.

[abem]

LEDluvr,

I don't have my macro lens with me at the moment (I'm at work), but here's a closer snapshot where you can see the reflector geometry / texture better. Pretty neat! In practice, the texture is fine enough that it doesn't look nearly this distracting to the eye.



-abe.

[LEDluvr]

abem wrote:

I don't have my macro lens with me at the moment (I'm at work), but....

WTF ABEM!? What the $#% are doing on this site if you aren't carrying a macro lens camera with you wherever you go!?
Just Kidding of course! After reading that HP-01 thread I couldn't resist...

And I would razz you about positng on this site while at work but I don't want to be too hypocritical. Not that I'm at work right now... nooo.. nooo sirree.... not me!


Seriously - thanks for posting that close-up pic. I like that filter, probably because I don't own a watch with one. As always, Seiko was and is the World Leader in LCD watches! And once again - great catch there.

[abem]

Hehe. That's pretty funny. I'm still smiling.

Yes, in fact, I do feel naked walking around without a 35mm camera, but carrying around more than 2 lenses gets to be a bit much. The photos above are taken with a D300 / 18-200mm which I carry at all times. For a while when I was into shooting macro photos of everything, I would carry an additional 105mm macro. Then I got into shooting panoramas and I would tote around a 12-24mm. And once in a while, I'll tote around a 500mm mirror lens, but you can't be prepared for everything! Some day, I'll accidentally leave my camera at home and be accosted by UFOs, bigfoot, and the Loch Ness monster all at once.

-abe.

[bucko170]

Some day, I'll accidentally leave my camera at home and be accosted by UFOs, bigfoot, and the Loch Ness monster all at once.-abe.

That happened to me once and annoyingly neither myself or Elvis had a camera

[rewolf]

I really love that Seiko. Simply beautiful - even though it's gold. The red bezel...

[abem]

rewolf,

Yeah, the little touch of color really makes it. Seiko also made a silver and blue version of this particular model:
http://www.digitalwatchlibrary.com/DWL/ ... f231-500a/

That's one thing about LED watch styles that is rather limiting - most of them are just silver or gold colored with a few exceptions like the later Bulova models that experimented with colored faces.

-abe.

[LEDluvr]

Abem, I was kidding about you carrying around a camera at all times but it seems the joke was on me! I guess that explains why you are so good at taking pictures.

[canito]

Here :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &viewitem=

and here

http://cgi.ebay.it/NEW-Super-Vintage-Se ... 0676499811

[LEDluvr]

I really like version in that second auction link you provided canito.
Good old Mr. Georgepay... he seems to have an inexhaustable supply of mint LCD watches. I wonder if he owns a DeLorean??

[abem]

Got home, pulled out the macro lens... this should show the reflector microstructure a bit better.

Side view:

Top view:


-abe.

[charger105]

I must say I like this Seiko as well.
Like Rewolf and Ledluvr, I like the colour (I prefer gold watches anyway) and that display.
Once again, top-notch photos too Abe.

Rgds.

[rewolf]

Good old Mr. Georgepay... he seems to have an inexhaustable supply of mint LCD watches. I wonder if he owns a DeLorean??

You can bet on that. With working flux capacitor. Mint of course.

@abem: great photos. Looks as if the segments were actually painted on the reflector. Interesting that one can see the structure THROUGH the black segments - shouldn't they be opaque?

[abem]

Rewolf,

Since the LCD is based on polarizers, the black parts are never truly opaque and the light parts never 100% transparent. They look black to the eye, but if you were to shine a light on and look closely enough at any LCD, you'd see the same thing. Still, it is a weird visual effect - I had the same impression.

-abe.

[LEDluvr]

Amazing pictures Abem, it really does look like painted numbers on a gold metal surface. Too cool. Are the batteries for this watch hard to find? I understand that some of the battery sizes for the super-thin watches of the 80's aren't made anymore.

rewolf wrote

You can bet on that. With working flux capacitor. Mint of course.

LOL! Well, hopefully someday he will put that on ebay too!

[abem]

It is true that the batteries are a bit more tricky. The Phantom uses a 341 / Renata 33 and I think the F231 does also. Unfortunately, these aren't available in every supermarket and drugstore so I had to go to the local watch shop (where I'm on a first name basis with the guy at the counter) and they had them in stock (4 bucks or something).

If you had to, you could always order them online, so it's that not that big of a deal.

-abe.

[jones38]

Got home, pulled out the macro lens... this should show the reflector microstructure a bit better.

Side view:

Top view:


-abe.

Cool technology used to make this piece. Neat finds, lucky you!

[retroleds]

Abe:
I have the Seiko F231-4009, which has an integral band(5mm thick caseback to glass front). I'm curious about the complete model number for yours, since it was [appears] not made with an integral band?

For a while I was on a Casio Film Watch(6mm thick) kick. Apparently.


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[abem]

Hey Ed. Wow - nice collection of thins.

I really like that 4009 model with the integrated band. For some reason, I don't really care so much for the more common 4019 model with the rectangular face and buttons:
http://www.digitalwatchlibrary.com/DWL/ ... 231-40191/

Mine is the 5000 model as shown here:
http://www.timetrafficker.com/watches/l ... index.html
Here's what the back looks like:


Is your Bulova Phantom working? Mine runs great but it seems to chew through batteries in about 6 months when I'd think that they should last at least a year. I don't know if the last battery was just weak or if there's an issue that would cause it to gobble batteries. I should probably replace the cell and try again to find out.

-abe.

[retroleds]

Abe:
All those watches work, but the Bulova and Seiko are taking a rest. On a rainy day I hope to take the Seiko apart, polish the glass and replate the case - it's a little brassed.