The Best 80s watches?
I still wear a wristwatch, mainly my faithful Casio F91-W. However, there’s a whole wide world of original 80s watches out there, that look far more interesting than what I currently have. And I repeat, currently…
Nintendo Game Watch: Super Mario Bros. 3
It’s the 90s. You’re sitting in the classroom. It’s math class. However, the teacher keeps scribbling letters on the board. Some Latin, some Greek. Not one number on sight. How can it be, you’re wondering. How come there’s a whole math class with only letters. That doesn’t make sense. You’re bored and you want something to pass the time. Well, young fellow, why not catch up on some Mario on your brand new Nintendo Game Watch: Super Mario Bros. 3? The game is basically a glorified Game & Watch game, where you try to get Mario to save the princess. Not suitable for people with fat fingers.
Seiko TV
This piece of 80s tech marvel gained worldwide recognition in Octopussy. In the movie, James Bond (Roger Moore) notices the Seiko TV watch in Q's lab. He then continues to experiment with it in ways that are hardly appropriate in today’s standards. The watch comes equipped with a small TV screen, and can receive all UHF and VHF channels by an external receiver.
Casio TM-100 Transmitter
It’s easy to understand what Casio named this watch TM-100 Transmitter. How else would you call a watch that can transmit audio for up to a 100 meters? This 1987 looks like another spy movie worthy gadget, similar to the Seiko TV watch, but for some another, obscure purpose. You can buy one on eBay for $999.
Casio F-15
The Casio F-15 was introduced in 1988 and is considered rather rare today. No special features here, but I really like the white model!
Timex Aerobics
Aerobics classes gained massive popularity in the US in the early 80s, following the release of Jane Fonda's Workout home video. The tech savvy people at Timex recognized the business potential and later released the Aerobics to monetize on the trend. And what better way is there to appeal to the growing fitness enthusiasts, other than to offer heart monitoring capabilities? The Aerobics did just that.. well, sort of. As the ad reads “You simple touch its preset timer and locate your pulse. When the watch beeps twice, start counting. When it beeps again, multiply by six and you’ll know exactly how hard your body is working”. You work out both physically and mentally!
Telephone Directory Watch
I’ll admit. Compared to the 80s and 90s and even early 00s, I have no idea what are the phone numbers of 99% of my contact list. Phone numbers have become the equivalent of IP addresses, just an underlying connection enabler to the more user friendly web address – or contact name. But hey, what if it were the 80s and you could store all your important numbers – discreetly – on your watch? And not only that, but also have a calculator on the way?
