Right before we left for CES we received a review sample of the Happy Hour Bottoms Up Timepiece. The Bottoms Up is a nice-quality watch with a large, impressive face, a wide, comfortable band and… a bit of a surprise. Here’s a look with a video that will make clear what is special about this watch.
The GPS watch market has been dominated heavily by Garmin. Ask a runner, “Do you have a Garmin” and they aren’t going to wax poetic about their Nuvi…they’ll know you mean a Forerunner watch. But Magellan is looking for a piece of that pie, and they’ll be debuting two new watches, the “Switch” series, designed to appeal to runners as well as “crossover sports” (triathletes, bikers, and swimmers, presumably). Based on the press release, it sounds like the Switch will have very similar features to the competition, including the ability to race against a specific pace, mark laps and miles,…
Are you someone who is not ready to give up your wristwatch in favor of simply checking the time on your mobile phone? I don’t blame you if you aren’t; I’m not either. As a result I’m always looking at watches, considering ones I might wear and balancing function and geek factor against the watch’s looks. The Mutewatch is a design I recently found that looks cool, is simple enough to operate, and adds the function of timers and alarms. The use of “swiping” is cool to see on a watch, and for $259, it’s not too outrageous. via Meet…
Judie, forget about the Vertu you reviewed last June and are using as your daily-driver. Serously, THIS phone makes THAT phone look like… like… a Moto Razr. Behold the Æ+Y PHONE. With a price STARTING at $10,425 it is sure to impress and make pretty much every other phone feel inadequate. No, it doesn’t have the cool concierge service the Vertu offers but hey, with such fine materials, and handcrafted artistry they had to cut corners somewhere. The phone is on pre-order with a gold option also available. As the site explains, Æsir is currently taking pre-orders for the first production quantity…
We’ve looked at a number of different offerings that help turn your iPod nano into a wrist watch. Some of those “nano-bands” include the iWatchz, the Speck TimeToRock and the TikToc, a product that emerged from the KickStarter product incubator. All of them serve the same function- they turn the diminutive MP3 player into a watch. All work well enough but none can match the style and class of HEX’s Vision Metal Watch Band for iPod nano Gen 6. With all metal construction and a strong clasp, the Vision stands out as a quality way to wear your nano. Here’s…
Judie likes her loud, statement-making watches. (And she can, of course, pull it off!) There’s the Black Phosphor Appear she recently got. And there is the blinged-out version she reviewed in full. Me, I’m a bit more of a subtle guy (at least in this one regard.) That’s why I was excited to take a look at one of Phosphor’s “simpler” E-ink watches. This E Ink Digital Hour Clock Watch with Black Leather Band is a simple timepiece that looks great and is exceptionally comfortable to wear. From Phosphor: You’ve never seen a digital watch quite like this before. Its…
While preparing for our family vacation, which included a morning at surf school, I realized I no longer had a rugged watch. I’d owned several over the years, including an Ironman that lasted from Basic Training through several overseas trips before finally succumbing to a broken strap and went missing somewhere in the desert. Surfing…salt water…surf watch? Freestyle is a company which has been making saltwater-friendly watches for many years, so I picked up one of their midrange models. The Freestyle Buzz 2.o ($75-80 MSRP) has gigantic numbers for the main time, two time zones, two alarms, and the usual timer…
Last month I reviewed the new Phosphor Appear watch in the women’s red with a Swarovski crystal embedded dial, and I thought it was a little bit too blingy for every day. Since I mentioned that I was going to order the men’s black with a plain black bezel, I thought I would post a picture so you could see the difference. It’s still a bright and attention-getting watch, but it is not quite as blinding now. I think it is perfect! =) The Phosphor Appeal starts at $199, and you can find them on the Phosphor Site.
It just doesn’t get any better than this! Geeks and Watch aficionados alike have been eagerly waiting the Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology found in the Omega Time Computer, and it is finally here — just in time for Father’s Day and graduation! Available in 14K white or yellow gold-filled, or 18K solid gold for those who want the very best, the Omega Constellation LED Time Computer I has a gorgeous and futuristic red LED dot display, and it is accurate to within five seconds a month. What is an LED and how does it work inside this watch? A…
I have two watches that I wear; my everyday watch is a stainless and gold ladies Rolex Datejust (that I would greatly love to trade in for the midsize version), and the other is a gold David Yurman that I wear on dressier occasions. I’ve seen plenty of other watches that have caught my eye for whatever reason, but it has been years since I saw a watch — any watch — that actually turned my head; that’s exactly what the Phosphor Watches’ Appear did. This is a much bigger and definitely flashier style watch than my others, but it…
I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how a watch that “[miniaturizes] the “flip-dot” technology found in bus signs and train depots” works, because it just seems so fantastically futuristic and yet so retro at the same time. What I do know is that Phosphor, the company behind the intriguing eInk watches we previously reviewed, has just released a big, bold and more than a little bit blingy watch that appeals to me on several levels. I like watching the crystals flip over to show the time, the seconds, or nothing at all in these .gif’s, so I can…
The other day I reviewed TokyoFlash’s Console watch. (We will also be giving it away soon!) Today I have the opportunity to review another watch from TokyoFlash- the Kisai Sensai Pure. The Kisai Sensai Pure watch is not only unique in its design and features multicolored LED’s for telling the time. It looks more than a bit unusual and I like that! The face of the Sensai Pure has 3 different sets of LED’s and each has its own purpose. Like the Kisai Console, the Sensai Pure’s face is totally dark until you press the button to activate it. Unlike the Kisai Console,…
I have always admired Tokyoflash watches from afar. They have a look about them that just appeals to the geek in me. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised when Tokyoflash was able to send me one of the newest designs fresh from their site, the Kisai Console Watch. The first thing you will notice about the Kisai Console is that it’s face is entirely dark most of the time. The magic of the Kisai Console only happens once you press the button. Then the entire face lights up and certain lights flash to indicate the time. To tell the time, you just…
The TikTok Multi-Touch Watch Band that took-off on Kickstarter.com is now shipping. The goal was to raise $15,00 in pre-production pledges and, in the end, they raised over $940,000. With that kind of money and press it would have been kinda rotten if the actual product was … well, rotten. Well mine came today and it is anything but. This band actually makes the iPod nano look and feel LIKE a watch. It is easy to pop the mp3 player in, and it doesn’t feel all that bulky. The actual watch band is sturdy but soft and the hardware is…
I wasn’t initially sold on the “nano as watch” concept until I tried on at CES. Now I’m a fan. In fact, I’m a fan who is excited to see a number of options finally becoming available. One company that has bands available in the Apple Store already is iWatchz. Their Q collection is just $24.95 and is available in a number of colors. The bands have style… And so does their promo video. (See if you can figure out what other company might do this kind of ad …) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PcrY1q8fn_s In addition, the company is expanding their line. At…
I’ve always admired Tokoflash watches from afar. They have a look unlike any other watch I have ever worn and are just plain cool. Well they now have released a watch that looks like it comes right from a 80s scifi movie. The watch is the Kisai Console Watch and it was selected in February 2010 on the Tokyoflash Design Blog as a watch that fans would like to have created. Now it’s reality thanks to Tokyoflash! Kisai Console is a USB rechargeable watch design. The USB cap is fitted flush against the case and can be unscrewed with the…
Let’s face it, thanks to cellphones and iPods, wrist watches have, for many, been relegated to the role of fashion accessory. Sure, they still tell time the way they always have but almost all of us have a cellphone with us constantly and even the most rudimentary phone has a clock built into it. The result? For many of us watches are jewelry. That does not, however, mean watches can’t be bold, interesting and desirable. They can be and, with their line of E Ink watches, PHOSPHOR is out to show just how big, bold and technologically savvy a watch…
I have a pretty extensive watch collection which includes time pieces that range in price from very low to very high. While I do posses several “high-end” watches I find that I wear a digital watch most often. Part of the reason is my line of work – I just am too hard on anything I wear to worry about a pricey wrist accessory and part of it is the functionality a digital watch offers. A few weeks ago I took off my trusty Casio G-Shock while at the mall and gave it to my wife to hold. When we…
Anyone who knows me personally knows that long before I struck up a love affair with gadgets my heart belonged to watches. As early as junior high school I had a fascination with time pieces and started a blossoming collection. Back then I could only afford Swatches and Casios, but as I grew older and as my income increased I began to acquire more valuable pieces including Rolex, Cartier, Panerai, and more. I’ve sold off most of them because in this economy it’s just too hard to hold onto so many valuable things, but I have never lost my addiction….
Every year I take one of my daughters on a weekend trip to NYC. This past weekend on our annual excursion we stumbled across ECOWRIST at a street fair in the Soho section of Manhattan. ECOWRIST was founded by husband and wife team David Gandy and MarQuerite Hamden in 2008 and the pair hand-makes watches from recycling, the use of natural materials, and minimal wastes to ensure as little effect on the environment as possible. From the ECOWRIST web site……….. The primary components of the watches are bamboo, tagua nuts, acheera seeds, coconut, wood, cow’s leather and canaflecha (reed in…
I’ve always wanted a Tokyo Flash watch but just haven’t pulled the trigger and ordered one. Partly because their designs are so intricate I’m worried I won’t be able to figure them out and partly because I’m a person that doesn’t like waiting. I need that immediate satisfaction. So when I stumbled upon the Nixon Newton while shopping at my local mall the other day I snatched one up. The Newton features a two-hand quartz movement with an LED light and rotating disc. No numbers on this watch. You’ll actually have to think about the time when you glance at…