Pulsar P2 Release Date?

[abem]

Hi.

I ran across a Pulsar P2 with the date on the clasp stamped "6/72". This got me to wondering when exactly the P2 was released.

Since the P1 was released on April 4, 1972, it seems remarkable that P2s were produced just 2 months later. Does anyone know the exact date when the P2 was released in 1972 and what the earliest date stamps might be?

Tootles,

-abe.

[bruce wegmann]

Earliest bracelet date I have on a watch I am confident is all original, is 8-72, which is a GF example, serial 11740 (bear in mind that serial numbers on the P2s start at 10001). It does suggest there was a gap of at least three or four months between the P1 and the P2. If someone has a price list prior to August of 1972 listing the P2, or an earlier bracelet date, that might narrow it down a bit.

[abem]

Bruce,

The rest of the watch looks appropriately early with one glaring exception. The clasp magnet holder is the earlier rounded type, the module has the light sensor under the display, the battery contacts are the early spiral type, etc. Unfortunately, the case back is one of the later Swiss Made types (#503136) and with the HR/MIN labels printed instead of inscribed.

So, I don't know. 6/72 seems awfully early - just two months after the P1. It's hard to say for sure, but I guess it's probably a frankie. Oh well.

-abe.

[bruce wegmann]

That bracelet is likely original to your watch. Bracelets (especially in stainless, and particularly the P2 style) are difficult to damage to the point where they require replacement. Casebacks, on the other hand, get dented and gouged by improper tools during battery replacement, and by other accidents, and can certainly be cosmetically damaged to the point where replacement might be a good option (watertight integrity is also compromised by a damaged case back). All the case backs for the Pulsar, Hamilton, and Omega LEDs are dimensionally identical and completely interchangeable (most, if not all, came off the same stamping machines at Star...except, of course, for the Swiss-made ones). After seeing an Omega TC2 with a Hamilton-marked back, I can believe anything is possible. Certainly, there was a rush to get the P2 out to the public as quickly as possible, after the fanfare for the P1, and a June release seems perfectly reasonable (still, it's worth noting that many P1s have bracelet date codes indicating manufacture in mid-to-late 1971, well before the completed watches were available in April of 1972).

[abem]

Bruce,

The portion of the clasp that contains the date stamp is non-trivial to separate from the rest of the bracelet. Due to that, at this point, I'm inclined to believe that the date stamp is from the original P2 bracelet, which is sort of interesting. The P2 was obviously pretty far along by the time the P1 was released.

-abe.

[bruce wegmann]

Working P2 prototypes existed nearly a year before the P1 was announced. From the very beginning, work was underway to make the electronics less complex, more compact (giving rise to the P4s and the Ladie's Models). It's interesting to note that the original plastic carrier (the movement ring) was designed to hold the larger, 201-1 circuit board (the one we most often see in P1s). Just a few months later, the smaller 201-2 circuit board was put into production, and the injection molds for the carrier were never re-worked to properly accommodate the newer board (this left a lot of "wiggle room"). During assembly, technicians simply "eyeballed" the central position of the circuit board, and they were not always on the mark; I have a couple Pulsars where the display is perceptably tilted one way or the other, or displaced left or right. It gives you a fuller picture of how much pressure Time Computer was under to assemble and ship watches.

[azimuth_pl]

managing a project from a manufacturing, marketing and logistics point of view is not easy.
depending on the optimistic or pessimistic approach you might end up with a pile of product components, abused cashflow and additional storage costs for additional 3-6 months just because the R&D team found yet another issue with their circuitry ;) but still you do your best to get the other key components ahead of time.
maybe that was the situation and they also had issues with getting the P2 ready on time, maybe those were even issues far different than technical challenges, maybe financial, maybe internal politics.
I would say that the date stamp is original to your watch but it's always possible that somebody used another piece of a clasp from a totally different Champion bracelet used on many analog 70's watches. it's not that difficult to separate the two parts with a hammer and pin remover.