Unique watches
L.U.C Louis-Ulysse The Tribute
To mark the 150th anniversary of Chopard, the classic Swiss watch company, only 150 of these stylish watches were made. This pocketwatch, which snaps into a unique cradle to become a wristwatch, houses a proprietary Chopard movement.
Elegant Roman numerals and a separate dial for the seconds give the watch a classic look, while a striking white gold case and alligator band mark it as thoroughly modern.
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Alfex Black Light 5624 Watch
Available in two designs, the Alfex Black Light 5624 is creating buzz because of its 3-D dial, which features a recessed face.
The hands float beneath SuperLuminova-painted hour markers, which are printed on a sapphire glass above the face. The hour markers show up distinctly at night against the black face of this unusual watch.
Price:$995 Source:Link
De Bethune Dream Watch One
This rare and beautiful timepiece is a precious metal collector's dream, as it is made from white gold, palladium and titanium. The palladium dial sits inside a white gold case, while the balance wheel is a silicon disk in a platinum ring.
The many textures and finishes of this stunning hand-wound watch are a visual delight, and the watch's technology is an engineer's playground.
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Jean Dunand's Palace Watch
The industrial revolution meets 21st-century technology in this steampunk watch. The Eiffel Tower, Charlie Chaplin, trains and motorbikes are all referenced in the complicated Palace from Jean Dunand.Two tracks hold dials indicating the power reserve and a second timezone. A delicate sapphire crystal disc indicates the time. All movement, including a flying tourbillion, is visible through the face and through two sapphire windows on the sides.
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MCT Sequential One Watch
This complex watch, of which only 99 are being made contains 471 Swiss-engineered parts that coordinate in a delicate dance around the face. Four windows contain prisms that rotate to show the hours, while a rotating sapphire crystal minute disc jumps 90 degrees every 60 minutes to reveal a new hour.The bold, masculine face is square with elegantly rounded edges, and a sapphire crystal allows the owner to watch the movement. see it in action
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Knot0Hundred Timepiece
We're not sure if the jump-hour Knot 0-Hundred watch looks like a camera, a compass, or a high-tech military gadget.We do know it looks awesome, with its three rotating dials, which combine to show the time. The numbers are painted in SuperLuminova and jump from one interval to the next. Two large knobs, one on top and one on the side, control the settings. A clear panel on the underside allows you to see the watch's inner workings.
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The Unique Watch Guide
With many modern devices having a time display, in particular cellphones, modern watchmakers are coming out with more radical, unique and unusual designs to attract attention and gain customers.
The Unique Watch Guide covers some of the wide selection of unique or distinctive watches that are available today. The site is updated weekly to provide you with the latest news on unique watches. It also relates some of their history and development and identifies the visual, operational and functional characteristics that make them out of the ordinary.
If you are looking to buy a unique watch, this site will I hope give you some idea of the different types that are available..
There are many different ways in which a watch can be considered unique so for organisational purposes this site is divided into the various categories which identify the singular features of the unique watch. These are shown in the menu.
The wristwatch, its evolution and constant development.
In the beginning wristwatches were worn only by women, as much for adornment as for practical timekeeping. Men found them to be too feminine and preferred the more substantial and probably more accurate pocket watch.
Soldiers during the first world war however found a quick glance at the wrist so much more convenient and speedy than hauling out the much larger timepiece from under a greatcoat, an action which could get you killed. From here on the wristwatches popularity steadily developed.
Wristwatches have also steadily improved since and as new developments took place so novel applications and designs were found. In the 1920s Rolex produced a waterproof wristwatch and soon after introduced a self winding version. New materials were used to make watches more durable enabling them to be used in more testing environments.
In the latter half of the 20th century quartz movements were introduced, further widening the scope for innovation and more recently still, microprocessors were developed for wristwatches giving them almost unlimited opportunities for novel applications.
Unique watch Timeline
This timeline shows some of the unique watches that have been introduced since the beginning of the twentieth century, beginning with the first Dive watch in 1932.
| Watch Type | Year | Comment | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dive | 1932 | Omega debuted its Marine watch in 1932, considered to be the first Dive watch. It used a unique case within a case to help with waterproofing and in 1936 before the age of scuba diving gear Charles Beebe an underwater researcher dove down to a depth of 14m using weighted boots and the watch strapped to his diving suit. | ||
| Electric | 1957 | In January 1957, the Hamilton watch company announced the "Electric 500" it was unique for being the first watch to never need winding because it was the first electric powered watch. | ||
| Quartz | 1969 | The Seiko Astron was released in Tokyo on December 25, 1969, after ten years of research and development. Within one week 100 gold watches had been sold, at a retail price of 450,000 yen (US$1,250) each (at the time, equivalent to the price of a medium-sized Japanese automobile) | ||
| LED | 1971 | In the autumn of 1971 the Hamilton company released the first LED watch. This was also the first watch to display time in an electronic digital format as well as being the first all electronic watch. It was given the name "Pulsar", had an 18-carat gold case and retailed for $2,100, about the price of the Chevrolet Vega at the time! | ||
| Solar | 1972 | The first version of a solar watch was produced by inventor Roger Riehl in March 1968, a prototype followed in 1970 and a full production version called the 'Synchronar' was released in 1972 | ||
| Calculator | 1976 | Pulsar is credited with bringing out the first mass produced Calculator watch in 1976. | ||
| TV | 1983 | The first TV watch that Seiko introduced back in 1983. It had quite a low contrast blue and white LCD screen and received UHF and VHF TV channels with a separate TV receiver which was intended to be placed in your pocket. It was noted at the time by the Guinness Book of Records as being the smallest TV set in the world. | ||
| Talking | 1984 | First talking watch | ||
| Atomic | 1990 | The first atomic watch was released by the German company Junghans and was called the "Mega 1". It had the receiver mounted in its strap and during the early morning hours would receive signals from the atomic clock in Frankfurt. | ||
| Gps | 1999 | In June 1999 Casio released the first GPS watch, it was the top of the range model in their Protrek series of outdoor watches. | ||
| E-Ink | 2005 | 2005 Seiko released a prototype of the first E-ink watch , called the Spectrum. It was a unique watch with a bracelet style design aimed at women. | ||
