I have researched this subject thoroughly for years. I always like to talk facts and base any information I give strictly on documented facts that I can back up. Although a few people around the world have made claims to inventing the first ?Digital Wrist-Watch? or the first ?Solid State WristWatch? , fortunately this is well documented. In all due respect, Mr. Riehl may very well have been working on his wrist-watch in his basement but he had no knowledge of what others were working on at the same time! This is why one must timely document their ideas with the U.S. Patent Office so they can make legal claim to an invention. Documentation is the true measure of fact when it comes to who invented anything! I know of no legal documentation with claims other than those listed below. Some out there would like to think there is a controversy but a handful of believers does not constitute this??there is no controversy! .....It's a clear-cut issue at the Patent office, the Smithsonian and all the watch museums!
John M. Bergey, who I know personally have discussed this very issue for years will be the first to tell you that it took a team of many people from different companies to develop the "First Digital LED Wrist-Watch". They all should be proud to be part of a watch that changed the way the world tells time.
It should be noted that the first IC developed for an electronic wristwatch was developed by RCA. It was exclusively developed for The Hamilton Watch Co. in Lancaster, PA. A discussion one Sunday on the golf coarse between Jerry Robins (of Hamilton) and the CEO of RCA, Robins was asked, ?How?s that watch coming?? Robins?s answer was ?We have completed our end, we are just waiting for you to finish the development of the IC?. The next morning there was a meeting at RCA between R&D from Hamilton and RCA engineers to accelerate the finalization of the IC for the World?s First Digital LED Watch.....the Pulsar!
If anyone can supply me with factual documentation such as a Patent number to research at the US patent Office that supports otherwise then I will be the first to acknowledge and revise my records. My research excludes the Jump-Hour wristwatch that is technically the first wrist-watch displaying the time using numbers on a dial, disc or drum, I emphasized on digits displayed in a row by means of light, my documented research is the following:
The first ?Digital Wrist-Watch? was invented by John M. Bergey and Kenneth W. Derr, filed on June 25, 1968. This one will surprise most everyone. This invention is the first wristwatch that the time was displayed using digits of light, the seven segment display looks just like the LED displays we know today but the light was supplied using fiber-optics. This digital watch is so unique you just have to see it yourself! Patent#3,566,602
The first ?Solid State Wrist-Watch? was invented by Richard S. Walton, filed on October 16, 1968. This is the earliest documented proof of a device that used solid state technology to regulate time. There is no mention of a particular method of displaying the time, just a method to regulate it. Patent #3,560,998
The first ?LED Digital Wrist-Watch? was invented by Richard S. Walton, filed on April 22, 1969. This is the first wristwatch displaying the time using Light Emitting Diodes, the time was supplied by solid state circuitry. This by all means is the first watch to combine both digital and solid state technology in the same timepiece. This is the very invention that led to the development of the Hamilton prototype that eventually became the Pulsar LED wristwatch. Patent #3,576,099
The first ?LCD Digital Wrist-Watch? was invented by Richard S. Walton, filed on May 13, 1969. This is the first wristwatch displaying the time using a Liquid \Crystal Display, the time was supplied by solid state circuitry. Patent#3,613,351
The first "Side View" and the "First Solar Charged Electric" solid state digital timepiece was invented by Roger W. Riehl, filed on May 3, 1971. Along with some great improvements to earlier inventions this is the first claim to a digital watch that the display is on the side of the watchcase so as to view the time on the side of the timepiece instead of the top surface. Ironically, Bergey's earlier invention #3,566,602 does not make claim to this but is certainly the first concept of the sideview display. Bergey didn't make legal claim to that aspect of his invention so the invention belongs to Mr. Riehl. This also is the first watch to use a solar cell to charge a battery that supplies the power to the electric digital watch, the first wrist-watch solely powered by solar energy without a battery came many years later! Patent #3,823,551
I urge all that are interested to do the research themselves by going to the U. S. Patent Office website at http://www.uspto.gov/ and search these patents. There is much more than what I have supplied here so have fun!
Dennis L. Klein
John M. Bergey, who I know personally have discussed this very issue for years will be the first to tell you that it took a team of many people from different companies to develop the "First Digital LED Wrist-Watch". They all should be proud to be part of a watch that changed the way the world tells time.
It should be noted that the first IC developed for an electronic wristwatch was developed by RCA. It was exclusively developed for The Hamilton Watch Co. in Lancaster, PA. A discussion one Sunday on the golf coarse between Jerry Robins (of Hamilton) and the CEO of RCA, Robins was asked, ?How?s that watch coming?? Robins?s answer was ?We have completed our end, we are just waiting for you to finish the development of the IC?. The next morning there was a meeting at RCA between R&D from Hamilton and RCA engineers to accelerate the finalization of the IC for the World?s First Digital LED Watch.....the Pulsar!
If anyone can supply me with factual documentation such as a Patent number to research at the US patent Office that supports otherwise then I will be the first to acknowledge and revise my records. My research excludes the Jump-Hour wristwatch that is technically the first wrist-watch displaying the time using numbers on a dial, disc or drum, I emphasized on digits displayed in a row by means of light, my documented research is the following:
The first ?Digital Wrist-Watch? was invented by John M. Bergey and Kenneth W. Derr, filed on June 25, 1968. This one will surprise most everyone. This invention is the first wristwatch that the time was displayed using digits of light, the seven segment display looks just like the LED displays we know today but the light was supplied using fiber-optics. This digital watch is so unique you just have to see it yourself! Patent#3,566,602
The first ?Solid State Wrist-Watch? was invented by Richard S. Walton, filed on October 16, 1968. This is the earliest documented proof of a device that used solid state technology to regulate time. There is no mention of a particular method of displaying the time, just a method to regulate it. Patent #3,560,998
The first ?LED Digital Wrist-Watch? was invented by Richard S. Walton, filed on April 22, 1969. This is the first wristwatch displaying the time using Light Emitting Diodes, the time was supplied by solid state circuitry. This by all means is the first watch to combine both digital and solid state technology in the same timepiece. This is the very invention that led to the development of the Hamilton prototype that eventually became the Pulsar LED wristwatch. Patent #3,576,099
The first ?LCD Digital Wrist-Watch? was invented by Richard S. Walton, filed on May 13, 1969. This is the first wristwatch displaying the time using a Liquid \Crystal Display, the time was supplied by solid state circuitry. Patent#3,613,351
The first "Side View" and the "First Solar Charged Electric" solid state digital timepiece was invented by Roger W. Riehl, filed on May 3, 1971. Along with some great improvements to earlier inventions this is the first claim to a digital watch that the display is on the side of the watchcase so as to view the time on the side of the timepiece instead of the top surface. Ironically, Bergey's earlier invention #3,566,602 does not make claim to this but is certainly the first concept of the sideview display. Bergey didn't make legal claim to that aspect of his invention so the invention belongs to Mr. Riehl. This also is the first watch to use a solar cell to charge a battery that supplies the power to the electric digital watch, the first wrist-watch solely powered by solar energy without a battery came many years later! Patent #3,823,551
I urge all that are interested to do the research themselves by going to the U. S. Patent Office website at http://www.uspto.gov/ and search these patents. There is much more than what I have supplied here so have fun!
Dennis L. Klein