Brilliant new Designs! Whats your take?

[LEDWatchStop]

Hi LED Watch Fans. I am totally infatuated with these new styles. Check out the GALAXY scrolling LED watch! It is the brightest LED watch in the world. I actually tested it in on a totally dark room and it up the room like an electric blue candle. This beautiful timepiece can be programmed to scroll your own message (121 characters). I love it love it love it! Very limited and very rare...the GALAXY is a bit pricey.....but with super high quality and all the extra functions it is worth every penny.(available in green, red, blue, orange)



Ever see that classic 1970s LED Watch Cartoon with the mountain climber? He uses his hand to push the button on his LED watch for the display.......and falls all the way down the mountain. Aaaackk!

Well....take a look at this!! New on the market...the DUKE. Finally an led watch with an automatic display. It works on a clever gravity switch. Tilt your wrist at the right angle ...and the display lights up. The design is extremely retro sexy with curved clean lines and reduced screen size. Brilliant! (available in blue, green, white, orange).




DWF is the best place in the world to get insight and opinions on LED Watches. Let us know what you think!

Cheers!

The LEDWatchStop Team
www.ledwatchstop.com

[rewolf]

IMHO this posting belongs here

[retroleds]

I think it's a promotional shot, and a more realistic photograph of the Duke would be more appropriate for a collectors site such as this. The photo looks very unnatural and unappealing...unless that is white plastic with steel buttons.

[LEDWatchStop]

I agree. The photo is the image from the manufacturer. The watch looks way better than shown here. We just got these in this week and will definitely post some new photos soon. The case is highgrade SS. What do you think of the idea of the auto switch on the Duke?

Troy

[retroleds]

I love the auto start switch function. See, the "idealized" picture distracted me from the parts that sounded really nice. Once a consumer feels there is a slight-of-hand going on, they generally shut down. I still wonder why someone can't make a display where the segments are about 2/3 as wide as on these, since the effect is actually created by a matrix(holes in a board) in front of square LEDs. The effect would be much more elegent(IMO), look a LOT like an old style LED, yet be plenty bright due to the new LEDs. Here - I've doctored your photo a little as an example...I understand it's a crappy job, but my hands aren't that steady until I've had my morning coffee....but it illustrates my point(I think).

You have enough of these made, surely you could squeeze your manufacturer to do some up like this, for those that like a more "old style" display. It's just a a little scrap of plastic at issue - I've pulled enough new ones apart in search of something I could alter for my purposes.

[LEDWatchStop]

I have discussed the slimmer light guides with some manufactures. The argument is usually that it compromises brightness. And honestly....the chinese manufactures of the "big" (alarm clock) led displays are almost married to the idea that big is better.

As for the picture posted.....well, I got excited when we got the watches. I should have waited till we took our own pics, ...but they are just that beautiful that I jumped the gun. This photo above is a real picture.....not an idealization..but it appears that the steel in this pic has been way over exposed and imbalanced. Don't worry...our own photos will be of a higher (and more realistic) standard.

The gravity switch is an amazing feature....but it is not like a "flick" module of the 70s that required more aggressive kinetics to turn the display on. Because it is a gravity switch......whenever you tip your wrist at the appropriate angle....it will display. So..IMHO ...the activation of the display can be somewhat indiscriminate.

Troy

[retroleds]

As far as brightness(you did talk about how bright these new ones are), maybe they could afford to waste a little light? I'm thinking the thinner segment lines would provide better contrast. Contrast and seperation between elements would probably go farther toward increasing clarity than brightness can beyond a certain point. Once lights get too bright they just blur together. :?

This might also be an age related issue - myself(47), I need reading glasses at this time of my life(having previously enjoyed better than 20/20 until about 3-4 years ago). If you ever work toward getting a higher priced "jewelry" quality watch produced, you definately should try to factor that in. Young eyes would never mind a sharper display..old eyes demand it.

All right, all right - I'll stop pissing and moaning about it. I've voiced my thoughts and you (really) have responded very graciously considering I'm a bit of a flamer. I can believe your complaint that you can't get the manufacturers to produce you something different in regards to some of the internals. The Duke is a nice looking watch really . Your scrolling one I wouldn't comment on since I am not a scrolling display fan(moving dots are moving dots in my book, and you've got them done perfectly) - I'll admit I once bought my dog an LED scrolling message dogtag. B'strd chewed on the littlest corner I thought he couldn't reach.

[LEDWatchStop]

I guess it is the same old argument about having to start from the ground up and build a new display...or work with the displays that are currently available. A lot of watch manufactuers will use the same displays that are supplied from original tooling. But the duke display is proprietary and a patented investment...so it is hard to influence change.

Have you ever looked at one of these displays first hand? They are quite impressive..big and bright. My grandmother of 87yrs can read it easily.

Secretly (well..not so secret)....I will admit to having a serious bias for the original vintage displays. I even have a bit of fondness for the fossil type display..in spite of the fishbowl effect over the characters.

As for the modern...chunky "alarm clock" display...the Duke is my favourite case. The shape and sleekness just kind of sings to me.

As for the Galaxy....it is noteworthy not because it is scrolling.but because it is a visible matrix set of clean, high quality (round) LED bulbs...and emits the brightest most beautiful LED glow of any watch we have ever seen. It actually is in a pretty cool case too. True....it is neat to have the programmable message function. Would be a good hook for a corporation that wants to give to customers or employees while still advertising their company name. Take a look at beachbabesy's movie. I guess you can say just about anything :D . This thing is just cool in the sense that it is displays like a mini scoreboard on your wrist. Far beyond any of those cheap scrolling dog tags or belt buckles (with square leds). Also..it has your 24/12, day/date/month/year, seconds...etc.

We have seen a lot of new watch designs in the course of a year. A lot of them are not even worth the time to consider. While others we have yet to release .....there are some new designs that we are working on. Speaking of new designs....I just want to put in a plug for Jeff's MAJESTYK LED watch. It really is something special ...and he has done an amazing job in terms of quality, design and function. I think it will be a watch that will be considered highly collectible in years to come.

Little1up..I am going to PM you with something interesting.

Troy

[retroleds]

I can unabashedly say I like the case designs of both of your new offering Troy, and Maestyk's too.

Peace,
E.C.

[Fitron]

Get Majestyk to take the photos then we'll all want to buy one. No one, but no one does it better. :wink:

Seriously, I do like the Duke a lot. I would wonder how long the battery would last if it comes on a bit too easy but that is not a crunch factor, just curiousity!

Oh and your Tokyoflash drivers is the cheapest I've seen it. Good value.

Any chance of a flash video or something showing the Galaxy in action? It's just so hard to imagine it in action.

[LEDWatchStop]

We were just talking about the battery life today. I am not sure how long it will run. Should be fairly long life because of the new technology yada yada yada. But... Definitely shorter than a push(only) action. I think we may ship it with an extra battery for free. :wink:

FF...check beachbabesy's post about the galaxy..he has a short movie. Very cool.

As promised..here are some new pics of the duke.







Troy

[LEDWatchStop]

Hmmm. I did not mean to post those pics multiple times.

Hey...any idea why the pics look so goofy when posted here on DWF? They look much better on our site.

Troy

[collector]

Sorry, but the Duke is not one I would ever add to my collection.

[Fitron]

I reckon it's a better looking watch by far than any other out there with one (exceptional) exception. You said you had some nice designs and you've delivered. I might just get one as a Christmas present to myself. Anything else up your sleeve?

[notonly1]

The gravity switch is an amazing feature....but it is not like a "flick" module of the 70s that required more aggressive kinetics to turn the display on. Because it is a gravity switch......whenever you tip your wrist at the appropriate angle....it will display. So..IMHO ...the activation of the display can be somewhat indiscriminate.

Troy

I think that the wrist activation of the Duke is an excellent feature, but not new in this form. All of the 70's Gillette led watches used this type of display activation which was called a position sensor. The display would come on when you turned your wrist to a 30 degree angle. Gillette also gave you the option to turn off this feature. Is this the case with the Duke?

[retroleds]

Hey...any idea why the pics look so goofy when posted here on DWF? They look much better on our site.
Troy

Yes, you sent photos that were not optimized to the size this site prefers, meaning dwf's server did the "crunching" for you, and your milage varied. You'll have to look up the thread or someone else may point you to it.

Few postings back(on this thread) you asked if I have seen your displays first-hand. Yes, I bought one red and one green driver off you about 3 months ago with the thought of buying a quantity and pulling the modules out for a pet project. We had emails back and forth....I was dissapointed with them but made two constructive suggestions: tighten up the matrix for clarity; and, applying a thin rubber/foam layer on the bottom of the matrix to block light from leaking into segments that are supposed to be dark. Both are changes which would only cost pennies per watch to implement and greatly improve the display, IMHO. I have that module in front of me now: trimmer-less, single chip design, common quartz crystal, one driver transistor per digit, ribbon cable from module to display board, lots of heavy soldering(odd), simple metal paddle contacts that hit a speck of copper circuit tracing on the edge of the board. $90ish bucks for my edification - people have spent more money in worse ways. A common man's "Consumer Reports".

I detest most of the new displays:I guess it's like they say with cars,"once you've had electric door locks or windows, it's hard to go back".

[dot matrix]

Hey...any idea why the pics look so goofy when posted here on DWF? They look much better on our site.
Troy

Yes, you sent photos that were not optimized to the size this site prefers, meaning dwf's server did the "crunching" for you, and your milage varied. You'll have to look up the thread or someone else may point you to it.

Whenever a picture gets reduced, you can always click on it and the original fullsize version will open in a new window. Reduced pictures are indicated by the dotted blue border around them.