36 years later...

[grenchat]

Well folks, after 36 years I finally own another LED watch! My ticker from back in ’78 was a space-age clone with the common line segment display, so I thought I’d start with something a little different this time. This a real early (circa 1974?) Mercury Time sunburst dial with a National Semiconductor WM-01 module (Hours, Minutes and Seconds) dot display.

The omission of a date function on this early module didn’t dissuade me in the least, as I now carry my smartphone wherever I go. Aside from the obvious fact that this watch came sans band, the overall condition greatly exceeded my expectations. The watch had been in transit for about 4 days and arrived keeping the correct time. The glass crystal had some fingerprint smudges that were easily remedied with old fashioned Windex, and now appears new. The tacky gold plate/paint is pretty much completely intact and free from the usual scratches and abrasions common to older timepieces. The springs in the 2 buttons (set and display) have the tension of a new watch and the display is bright enough to blind somebody in a dark room. My attempt at photographing the display was unsuccessful because I have my camera setup for [Auto] and the flash fires, causing light interference with the LEDs. I included the rather dull appearing photo that my seller took.

My photos were taken with my new 16MP camera w/optical zoom, however, it’s nighttime over here and the blasted flash makes the watch look very tacky. It really looks a thousand times nicer than in my photos. I will have a look under the hood when my new watch knife arrives. I’m thinking either high grade dark brown leather or an alligator band.

‘70s watches forever!

Cheers!

Jason ( the born again mod-man)

[SASM]

The watch has one of these very nice early National Semiconductor modules built in. I like the display and the bars made of very tiny lines. And what I like most is all the interesting information you are willing to share! Thank you, Hanno.

[grenchat]

The watch has one of these very nice early National Semiconductor modules built in. I like the display and the bars made of very tiny lines. And what I like most is all the interesting information you are willing to share! Thank you, Hanno.

Thank you for the kind words, Hanno, and I also enjoyed reading about all the excellent work you’ve been doing to recreate and program no longer made modules for the timeless classics. This is a fine example of good old fashioned “Black Box Engineering” at its best. I salute you!

It’s funny that you mention this WM-01 module at this time, as last night I got far less than my normal 8 hours of sleep because I decided to disassemble this early Mercury. I took measurements and carefully removed the module. Everything looked very clean and I verified the module type and number by the sticker affixed by National Semiconductor approximately 40 years ago. While I had it apart, I thoroughly cleaned the case interior, cleaned the back of the crystal, cleaned and lubricated the buttons, cleaned all contacts on the module, sealed the original gasket with silicon grease, thoroughly cleaned the case exterior and outside of crystal and reassembled/set the watch. It’s been keeping perfect time, but the watch seller sent it to me running on alkaline batteries, so it’s a good thing that I checked as these are prone to the dreaded leakage. I ordered 2 fresh silver oxide batteries for it and am currently deciding on a band.

Once I’ve installed the batteries and band, I will take some pictures in natural daylight without the awful flash.

‘70s watches until the end of time!

Regards,
Jason

[grenchat]

I thought that this dark brown genuine lizard 17mm Bulova band went well with this watch. I will post pictures of the display when I have more daylight or when I learn how to override the auto settings on my new camera.




Today I won another unusual vintage LED model on the bay. This hobby really is addicting.

‘70s watches until the end of time!

Jason