Mikado calculator watch - rare?

[nick0123]

Just received this Mikado calculator watch and stuck a new battery in it hoping for the best; and what do you know - it works!

Tried Googling but nothing's coming back; there's a post about a Mikado calculator watch on the PCS forum from 2004 but no pics and it sounds a lot more like the Orient calculator watch than this one.

This is vaguely reminiscent of the Seiko C153 with the side buttons - the front buttons are almost flush/recessed, other than the Lap and Start/Stop buttons. I'd welcome any knowledgeable wisdom on its history though. Have yet to clean it up and test the functions, but am already pleased the time is working!

[charger105]

I like it. Looks cool
I don't see Mikado written anywhere. It looks like it says Gracia on the crystal.
Did a quick google on Gracia calulator watch and came up with this:
http://www.calcuseum.com/SCRAPBOOK/BONUS/62125/1.htm

Rgds.

[nick0123]

Wow - thanks for that; I looked for Gracia too but never found this?!

The band is a Mikado (which I thought might just have been a replacement) but the circuitboard itself is branded Mikado so figured it must be the real deal, or a badly-disguised knockoff.

It's pretty cool - very chunky.

[vespa78]

I have a nice Pic in my Watchfolder.

[Kasper]

That's a nice one. ... This is how a good calculator watch has to be.
Calculator, alarm, chrono and a dedicated light button at the side + high quality. Perfection.
Still looking for one in my collection

[nick0123]

That really is nice - thanks for the pic vespa78. Interesting it had a black and white face version (again, like the Seiko C153). Hopefully mine cleans up almost as well as yours!

It's been really interesting getting it functional so far. Putting a battery in yesterday fired it up and the time and light worked. It would sometimes beep when I pressed the light button too, but that's all that worked on it.

Fast forward 16 hours and some of the calculator buttons work - I can set the time (only the hours) and it will switch between time and adjust modes.

Another six to eight hours go by and I can set the time properly, and the date, key beeps can be turned on and off, and all the calculator buttons work. The only thing it won't do now is start the chronograph. Give it another few hours and it might though :)

Really liking this watch, but I know less about the Gracia brand than I did about Mikado. I'm guessing it's a knock-off of sorts, but the module is genuine so maybe it was one of those less-premium brands where white label modules were sold to different companies (like all the variations of the Nelsonic Space Attacker).

In any case, it's nice to see a photo of another one, and nice to see another old and rare? watch resurrected for another few years!

[nick0123]

And amazingly...the chronograph now works too.

I've never known a watch to enable/reenable its functions over time. Usually you put a battery in and the watch either works or it doesn't. And if it doesn't, it might suddenly spark into life at some point in the future with all functions working.

But with this one it was almost like it was going through some kind of reset procedure and turning on one button at a time (bearing in mind this took 50+ hours from when the battery first went in).

Just adds to its cool factor, and now it's fully functional, it's time for some cosmetic work to clean and polish.

Since it shares some similarities with Seiko's C153, I'm estimating the date will be around the same time - 1979?

[elceedee]

Nice catch,
I owned this one, but sold it last year. This one was mine, I made this picture:



I made a manual for the buyer, I think it might come in handy for you as its pretty unusual:

Note: " á " resembles " --> "

========================

Setting date;
First pusher on the side of the watch in ‘adj/chrno’ mode à set date by
pushing two numbers on the calculator panel, for example ‘25’ = 25th à push
the button on the calculator panel with ‘DT’ beside it and hold it for a few
seconds until the display returns to the time mode. You will now see the
right date on the left.

Setting time AM;
First pusher on the side of the watch in ‘adj/chrno’ mode à set time by
pushing four numbers on the calculator panel, for example ‘0236’ = 02:36 à
push the button on the calculator panel with ‘HR’ beside it and hold it for
a few seconds until the display returns to the time mode. You will now see
the right time set in AM time

Setting time PM;
First pusher on the side of the watch in ‘adj/chrno’ mode à set time by
pushing four numbers on the calculator panel, for example ‘0236’ = 02:36 à
push the button with ‘PM beside it (you will see a dot appear above pm) à
push the button on the calculator panel with ‘HR’ beside it and hold it for
a few seconds until the display returns to the time mode. You will now see
the right time set in PM time

Quickset seconds to 0;
Push the button with ‘sec’ beside it. Pushed when seconds are below 30
seconds it will reset to 0 on current minute. Pushed when seconds are past
30 seconds it will reset to 0 on next minute.

Setting alarm;
Like setting time , but push the button with ‘mrc/alm’ beside it to set the
alarm time

Toggle alarm On/Off ;
Push the button with ‘mrc/alm’ beside it

Beep when pushing buttons ON/OFF:
Push the button with ‘key/calc’ beside it to toggle On or Off

==========================

Goodluck, and enjoy the use!

[vespa78]

so this is where I got the Picture from
very nice watch, I would like to have one in my collection...
one of the best looking calculator watches IMO.

Nice catch,
I owned this one, but sold it last year. This one was mine, I made this picture:



I made a manual for the buyer, I think it might come in handy for you as its pretty unusual:

Note: " á " resembles " --> "

========================

Setting date;
First pusher on the side of the watch in ‘adj/chrno’ mode à set date by
pushing two numbers on the calculator panel, for example ‘25’ = 25th à push
the button on the calculator panel with ‘DT’ beside it and hold it for a few
seconds until the display returns to the time mode. You will now see the
right date on the left.

Setting time AM;
First pusher on the side of the watch in ‘adj/chrno’ mode à set time by
pushing four numbers on the calculator panel, for example ‘0236’ = 02:36 à
push the button on the calculator panel with ‘HR’ beside it and hold it for
a few seconds until the display returns to the time mode. You will now see
the right time set in AM time

Setting time PM;
First pusher on the side of the watch in ‘adj/chrno’ mode à set time by
pushing four numbers on the calculator panel, for example ‘0236’ = 02:36 à
push the button with ‘PM beside it (you will see a dot appear above pm) à
push the button on the calculator panel with ‘HR’ beside it and hold it for
a few seconds until the display returns to the time mode. You will now see
the right time set in PM time

Quickset seconds to 0;
Push the button with ‘sec’ beside it. Pushed when seconds are below 30
seconds it will reset to 0 on current minute. Pushed when seconds are past
30 seconds it will reset to 0 on next minute.

Setting alarm;
Like setting time , but push the button with ‘mrc/alm’ beside it to set the
alarm time

Toggle alarm On/Off ;
Push the button with ‘mrc/alm’ beside it

Beep when pushing buttons ON/OFF:
Push the button with ‘key/calc’ beside it to toggle On or Off

==========================

Goodluck, and enjoy the use!