The first digital LED wristwatch

[SASM]

It´s possible to seperate the LED watch section into topics for each watch. But still I do not see any consequences.
Anyway, there´s no picture because I do not have a good one. As simple as that.

[clockace]

could the one ed was using work? peter

[clockace]

Bruce, you are probably correct on that. the Pulsar was much more marketable and servicable. i feel that Rogers concept of an indestructible, sealed up, abuse it however you want, had flaws. one was the sealed in cells which in reality had a limited recharge cycle. the design was ahead of its time. the electronics were basic what was available at the time. given the limited resources and manufacturing capabilities, he made an amazing product. i think the logistics ovewhelmed him. Howard told me they had only about 80 workers in the manufacturing process. with orders coming from all over and also warranties coming back it just bogged down. i bought my first one from a local jeweler, but a friend of mine who ordered way earlier waited and waited and waited for delivery. this was in 1975. i still have mine and it still works after i cleaned up the corrosion and installed new niMh cells. the question of who was "first" will always be there and it doesn't really matter, to me at least, but Hamilton already had the resources and manufacturing ability as a watchmaker. Roger basically started from scratch. he could have done things differentally and had a better product, but a Synchronar will always be a Synchronar. it has never been copied, whereas a digital led, Pulsar as well as any others, is a digital led. Synchronar will always be a unique timepiece. nuff said in its defense. peter

[bruce wegmann]

You'll never catch me saying the Synchronar wasn't a cool watch, because it was. A friend of mine got one a few months before I got my SS Date/Command (that was in March of 1974). It is certainly the world's first solar-powered watch, but without substantiating documentation, I can't accept it was the world's first digital watch. I'll admit a certain bias in favor of the P1, but the history of the P1 is pretty well-documented, and the Synchronar isn't; it's as simple as that. Oh, and Huertecilla, as to your suggestion that the P1 was a mere "field test"...I take considerable umbrage at that, sir; the P1 is dear to my heart for a lot of reasons, and you just tracked some serious mud into my living room with that statement. The P1 was a -Limited (production) Edition-; you need to go online and see some of the watches being produced, key word there..."produced"...by makers such as IWC, Greubel Forsey, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and others, models limited...again, key word there...to 99 pieces, 50 pieces, or one of the Patek models...6 pieces. By that standard, 400 P1s were a market-flooding deluge of watches. Limited editions are just that, production runs deliberately limited to some arbitrary number, and then discontinued. Prototypes, on the other hand, are seldom made in numbers exceeding one or two, and usually have features or elements of design not seen in the "production" parts. The P1 was intended to be a ground-breaking, unique, exclusive watch, and it succeeded in grand style. I would suggest you try owning one before so casually dismissing it out of hand...
Now, to the OT-subject of -consequences- to the LED Forum. Let me make an automobile analogy here. I like and collect, say, Rolls-Royces. So when I want to see what's going on in the Rolls-Royce world, I go to a Rolls dealership, where everything is Rolls-oriented. I don't see any Fords, Cadillacs, Chevys, BMWs, Mercedes, Volkswagons, Hondas, or Yugos mixed in. I can immerse myself in Rolls-ness, without being distracted by Fords, Chevys, or anything else. If I want to see a Ford, I go to the Ford dealership, and so on. That was the subdivided LED Forum in days past. Now, everything has been mixed together, in one gigantic parking lot, with all the various makes parked at random, and I am forced to wander aimlessly, hoping to find a car I'm interested in. But, it's a BIG parking lot, with some 1260 parking spaces, and it's just about gotten to be more effort than it merits. The cars need to go back to their respective dealerships, where they can be easily found and appreciated.
Seriously, I've been on this Forum for over seven years, have over 750 posts, and I can't find more than a handful of them; I'm guessing other veteran members have had their postings similarly scattered. A vast bulk of BRAND-SPECIFIC (a critical thing to bear in mind here) information is now much harder to access. Collectors tend to be very specific in their interest; seen through a collector's eyes, the new LED section resembles the chaotic aftermath of a tsunami...this is a text-book example of unintended consequences of altering a complex system (if I was from Tennessee, I would be saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"). I think I speak for a good many Members (including the former Administrator) in suggesting that this change be reversed.

[SASM]

Don´t care which one has been the first watch. My tendency is, that the P1 was the first one available. But if you look at the efforts a single person has done to launch a watch with new technology next to the fact, that he did it with less money in more or less the same time, then this is what an engineer should be proud of.

[quietman]

@ this thread.

I bet that back in 197? when the first P1 warranty returns came in there were batallions of irate old Hamilton Executives muttering -

"the new LED section resembles the chaotic aftermath of a tsunami...this is a text-book example of unintended consequences of altering a complex system (if I was from Tennessee, I would be saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"). I think I speak for a good many [Hamilton Executives] (including the former [Chairman]) in suggesting that this change be reversed."

[Huertecilla]

Oh, and Huertecilla, as to your suggestion that the P1 was a mere "field test"...I take considerable umbrage at that, sir; the P1 is dear to my heart for a lot of reasons, and you just tracked some serious mud into my living room with that statement.

I am sorry to read that you are taking umbrage as none is intended.

It is my opinion.
As I wrote, there are various ways to look at ´first´.
The way I see it a product which fails 100% to soon is not a ready product and as thus cannot count as such.

The P1 was intended to be a ground-breaking, unique, exclusive watch, and it succeeded in grand style.

Quit. No doubt it was grand marketing at a high level of luxury that put the solid state electonic digital on the map.
I wholeheartedly support the view that regardless of any definitions of ´first´ it was THÉ watch that put the LED watch on the map of horology.

That does not change the fact that 100% failed in gradations of ´soon´.
I cannot believe it was not released knówing it was not ready.
My opinion is that on grounds of the failure rate it was prematurely released and in effect a field test.

The P1 was a -Limited (production) Edition-; you need to go online and see some of the watches being produced, key word there..."produced"...by makers such as IWC, Greubel Forsey, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and others, models limited...again, key word there...to 99 pieces, 50 pieces, or one of the Patek models...6 pieces. By that standard, 400 P1s were a market-flooding deluge of watches. Limited editions are just that, production runs deliberately limited to some arbitrary number, and then discontinued. Prototypes, on the other hand, are seldom made in numbers exceeding one or two, and usually have features or elements of design not seen in the "production" parts.

It does not matter whether 5 , 50 or 500 are produced. When sold as a commercial product not working as it should, in my opinion it doesn´t count. Literally.

You obviously have the same right on a different opinion.

I would suggest you try owning one before so casually dismissing it out of hand....

That is imo not a proper argument.

As to what failure rate is acceptable is a difficult point about which I have no opinion.
Maybe discussing thát would be more fruitfull and -sensible

So; what field rate of failure within how much time constitus as acceptable for a ready product? What as a failure?

[bucko170]

...... and the first ladies digital watch was

[retroleds]

...... and the first ladies digital watch was

P2. Some fat broad bought a P2.
Sorry, couldn't resist....had a couple of beers which made reality a bit fuzzy. Come'on, it's like 23.38 here...cut me some slack.

[bucko170]

P2. Some fat broad bought a P2.
Sorry, couldn't resist....had a couple of beers which made reality a bit fuzzy. Come'on, it's like 23.38 here...cut me some slack.

Or the P1 and a RICH fat broad