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Blue Magic Nixie Watch

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cobra007

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Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post18 May 2012, 03:29

G'day folks,

It's been about 4 1/2 months since I had a eureka moment of how to design and make my Nixie Watch. It is finally there and guess what, I am wearing it :-).

Initially I gave it the name "Cold War" as the nixie tubes really come from that age, however, my wife re-named it yesterday to "Blue Magic", which describes very well to what it actually is :-).

Have a look, all comments very welcome!

Michel

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abem

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post18 May 2012, 07:02

Whoooaaaaaahhh! Dang. I like!

It's nixilicious.

-abe.
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ronaldheld

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post18 May 2012, 13:19

Looks nice except for the battery.
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cobra007

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post18 May 2012, 13:36

abem wrote:Whoooaaaaaahhh! Dang. I like!

It's nixilicious.

-abe.


Thanks for the thumbs up Abe!
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cobra007

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post18 May 2012, 13:44

ronaldheld wrote:Looks nice except for the battery.


Do you mean the battery itself or the sticker around the battery? The logo on the battery wrapper is (of course) the mirrored image of the well known "Hammer and Sickle", I used that to form the letters C and W mixed together which refers to the "Cold War" design, an era notorious for nixie tubes. It has no political meaning. Of course, you can always put your own wrapper around the battery.

Michel
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ronaldheld

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post18 May 2012, 14:10

I meant the sticker. Did I miss a current video showing the modes?
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cobra007

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post18 May 2012, 14:15

ronaldheld wrote:I meant the sticker. Did I miss a current video showing the modes?


The latest video is this one:
http://youtu.be/n7NGRoVZfIY

Still need to make a new video of the completed product.

Other pics (and explanation of the modes) are available on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nixie-Wat ... 4782160870

Michel
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bucko170

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post18 May 2012, 16:36

WOW looks cool 8-)

I have some questions.....

What is the size of the watch and how does the size compare to the David Forbes nixie watch?

What is the expected battery life?

How much are they and when are they going to be available for purchase?

How is the time activated, did you keep the motion sensor?

Thanks Mick.
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Kasper

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post18 May 2012, 19:58

Prachtig, knap staaltje werk,proficiat.

I wait for your answers on Mick questions. :-D
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cobra007

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post19 May 2012, 00:35

Hi Guys!

The diameter of the dial is 50mm (David Forbes 55mm)
The thickness is 16.5mm (David Forbes 20mm)

The initial batch will be AU$475, I need to check how much time it is actually going to take (on average) to make 1 watch but I think $475 will be very reasonable.

For all questions about battery life expectancy, I have made this excel file:
http://xiac.com/download/NixieWatchBatteryLife.xls
Battery life is strongly dependent on how the watch is used and the amount of ambient light. You can play around with the values in this excel file.

Yes, I have kept the motion sensor, it is quite a funny feature! I came to the conclusion yesterday that the most interesting way to activate the watch is by bringing it to your forehead to activate the time :lol: Sure you will attract a lot of attention while doing that :lol:

Another way to activate it is the touch button. It's a high impedance button, it is steady, not a button that you need to push-in.

I hope to make about 10 watches in the next 2 weeks or so. I want to play around with the colour of the case and strap as well.

Michel



bucko170 wrote:WOW looks cool 8-)

I have some questions.....

What is the size of the watch and how does the size compare to the David Forbes nixie watch?

What is the expected battery life?

How much are they and when are they going to be available for purchase?

How is the time activated, did you keep the motion sensor?

Thanks Mick.
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Cesar

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post19 May 2012, 11:01

Knap staaltje werk hoor
:eek:
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
The reason i collect watches is because it feels like i'm buying time.
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cobra007

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post14 Jul 2012, 12:29

Special order: Steampunk Nixie watch

I really like this one myself as I had it on my own wish list as well. The bronze and copper colour are all hand painted. Was quite a bit of work, but I am really happy with the result! I think it colours really well with the dark blue leather strap.

I didn't do anything too complicated with it as you sometimes see with other steampunk watches (especially with copper piping etc etc). I wanted it to be a watch you can wear in normal daily life, but still give it a little steampunk touch.

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Michel
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Kasper

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post14 Jul 2012, 13:27

nice one

can we choose the image of the capacitator ourselfs...i like my avatar to be in the middle :-D
btw..does anything sticks out when you view it sideways...i'm considering some glass to put over it.
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cobra007

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post14 Jul 2012, 13:51

kasper wrote:nice one

can we choose the image of the capacitator ourselfs...i like my avatar to be in the middle :-D


Of course you can. It's not a capacitor btw but a battery ;-) minor detail. I have these labels printed by vistaprint.

kasper wrote:btw..does anything sticks out when you view it sideways...i'm considering some glass to put over it.


What exactly do you mean by stick out, Kasper? You mean something that sticks out from the watch? Everything is covered by a watch glass.

See here:
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Kasper

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post14 Jul 2012, 14:01

"Everything is covered by a watch glass" that is all i needed to know.

i'm want to cover it with mineral super anti mirror glass, so make it a bit more secured for breaking.
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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post14 Jul 2012, 14:11

I am using mineral glass, it's 45mm in diameter and only 1mm thick but still quite strong. I tried banging it against several objects and it didn't break nor scratch.

It is not anti glare though, would be nice for sure. Where would you buy that?

Michel
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Cesar

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post14 Jul 2012, 14:22

I think i'd like this as a sticker on my battery.
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Great fun as i work for an electric company. ;-)
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
The reason i collect watches is because it feels like i'm buying time.
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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post14 Jul 2012, 22:31

Wow! It looks like it's been lifted straight out from a Jules Verne book. Are you planning more case designs? Both the first and the second version look cool. I wonder how it would look with amber LEDs instead of the blue ones. Congratulations for your project! 8-)
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cobra007

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post02 Aug 2012, 09:13

Cesar wrote:I think i'd like this as a sticker on my battery.
Image
Great fun as i work for an electric company. ;-)


That is a cool picture for a battery, and frankly, it is true! I've had a couple of electric shocks from this watch in the beginning but it's now pretty safe to disassemble it without much risk. It's not lethal though, it cannot supply more than 4mA @ 150V or 12mA @ 50V. But still, it is not really a pleasure to feel :lol:

Michel
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cobra007

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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post02 Aug 2012, 09:15

vpn wrote:Wow! It looks like it's been lifted straight out from a Jules Verne book. Are you planning more case designs? Both the first and the second version look cool. I wonder how it would look with amber LEDs instead of the blue ones. Congratulations for your project! 8-)


Yeah, it does look like something that could come from the Jules Verne book :-). I am still planning 1 more design that I hope to finish in a month or so. Will post some pictures once its done.

Michel
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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post02 Aug 2012, 18:12

I received my Nixie watch yesterday and it is superb :-D
The blue led back lights looks fantastic and I especially like the motion activated display, very cool 8-)
Setting is really easy and the buttons are very responsive (although I am not planning on using the button for displaying the time ;-) ).
The watch is a nice size, it's big, but not that big it looks over sized, looking at how well the case is packed it would be impossible to make it any smaller. ~:(
If you are planning an upgrade would it be possible to add a day\date display? I was thinking it would be good to have a right to left sweep over the sensor to activate the time and a left to right sweep over the sensor to display the date.
Great watch - Thank You!
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Re: Blue Magic Nixie Watch

Post02 Aug 2012, 18:21

welcome Back Mike 8-) we want...no we DEMAND :-D a wristshot...can't wait till mine arrives in europe somewhere sept/oct. :-D
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