Review of the Bathys 100 Fathom Automatic

Electric fields are applied to the microcapsules to cause the particles inside them to polarize: some move to the top where they can be seen, and some move to the bottom where they are hidden. The result is a high contrast monochrome display that can be viewed in most lighting conditions (including direct sunlight), from any angle, and which can retain its image without having to consume power.eBooks are an obvious use for E Ink technology since you can store hundreds of books, magazines, and news***s on a single device. But once I saw the Phosphor E Ink watch, it was clear that electronic ink has just as bright of a future in watches. Available with either a leather or a polyurethane strap.At $250, the Phosphor E Ink watch is an affordable, intriguing, and very unique timepiece. Personally, I'm mesmerized by E Ink technology, and I find myself admiring and playing with this watch several times a day, wishing that all my digital watches used electronic ink. The E Ink technology in the Phosphor seems every bit as good as that in the Amazon Kindle; fonts are clear and sharp, and the contrast is about as good as a printed news***.That said, the Phosphor E Ink watch is probably not the last or only watch you'll ever need.

Review of the Traser Classic Automatic

If you hit it with sufficient force, however, you can go through the PVD and into the material below, and since it's still a coating, polishing to remove scratches is not recommended.Another more advanced technique is Chemical Vapor Deposition, or CVD. The main difference between PVD and CVD is that the deposited material is produced via a chemical reaction instead of directly coating the su***ce. The titanium nitride hardening on the Citizen PMT56-2711 that I reviewed is the product of CVD, and holds up extremely well.Better still is DLC, or diamond-like Carbon, where, via secret-sauce processes, the su***ce of a watch is coated with something very much like synthetic diamond! With an incredible su***ce hardness, this is very nearly impossible to scratch, and can been seen on some high-end Citizens like the Attesa, on the Casio MR-G watches, and on watches like the Rado V10K.This combination makes titanium a great material for dive watches, however one drawback is that its su***ce hardness is relatively low which means it's easily scratched.One method that can be used to change the su***ce properties of a material is called Physical Vapor Deposition, or PVD (you'll also see it labeled as Ion Plating, or IP, which is a variant on PVD). The PVD process involves placing the item to be coated in an inert (non-reactive) atmosphere, heating it up to 400° C or so (depending on the process), and basically spraying it with the molecules that you want to coat it with. That's the general process, however there are a lot of subtle variations like using charged ions for the ion plated variation. PVD has been around since 1838 and is heavily used in semiconductor manufacturing, automobiles, and many other places including, or course, watches.

Review of the Oceanus 5 Motor (OCW600TDA

The stopwatch's second hand is the third primary hand (which is usually the second hand on analog watches without chronographs), and the subdial at the six o'clock position which normally measures seconds in timekeeping mode measures fractions of a second in chronograph mode (only for the first 60 seconds). Daily alarm. When in alarm mode, the world time subdial allows you to set a single daily alarm. Automatic calendar (through the year 2099). 24-hour subdial at the 9 o'clock position.One of my favorite watch complications is the GMT hand: a separate (typically fourth) independently settable hand marking 24-hour time. It's extremely useful for people like pilots, travelers, and businesspeople who not only need to be able to switch between different time zones easily, but who also need to be able to keep track of two time zones simultaneously.The addition of the GMT hand came in the mid-1950s when Pan Am worked with Rolex to create a watch for pilots flying transatlantic flights. You can read more about the history of GMT watches in Christian's review of the Rolex GMT Master II. But for now, back to Citizen.I recently learned that Citizen has added several new GMT models to their Attesa line of high-end quartz watches.It has the same octagonal case as many of the older G-Shocks (and the new retro tribute G-Shocks), but the brushed stainless steel bezel makes the shape much more pronounced. In fact, the shape is the first thing you notice about the GW056A.

Rado Invents the World's Hardest Watch: the Rado V10K

The titanium case and bracelet keep it lightweight, and the contour of the case keeps it perched properly on top of my narrow wrist. Speaking of titanium, I've had trouble in the past getting titanium atomic watches to calibrate, possibly because it's more difficult for the signal to penetrate titanium than plastic, however the Oceanus 5 Motor has no difficulty receiving a signal from San Francisco. (Disclaimer: I can only vouch for signal reception in San Francisco -- as with all atomic watches, your mileage may very depending on where you live.)Although I've been very happy with the Oceanus 5 Motor, there are a couple of minor issues. First, it doesn't have any type of lighting system other than luminescent paint on the hands and hour markers. Titanium case and bracelet (also available with a black leather strap) . Synthetic sapphire crystal. A sapphire crystal (virtually scratch-proof) is not something you see everyday on a Casio, but on an Oceanus, it's standard. Water resistant up to 100 meters, or about 330 feet.On top of being a functional, sturdy, and a nice looking timepiece, the Oceanus 5 Motor is exceedingly comfortable. I've been wearing it for several days now, and it has a way of *** you forget it's there. Although I've found that the luminosity does last all night (this was easy to test because between kids, earthquakes, and general city cacophony, I'm awakened at all hours of the night), I wouldn't mind seeing the 5 Motor outfitted with the same LED illumination system as the Oceanus Chronograph. The 5 motor is also not the easiest watch to get the hang of.

Innovations like these add new dimensions to watches

However, a *** wrist tetherthat Sony seems to be attaching to many of their devices now fixes that problem,and I can't remember the last time I left the house having forgotten my wallet.That's not to say there isn't room for improvement and innovation in world ofdigital watches. Quite the opposite, in fact. I believe Casio makes some of thebest and certainly most accessible and affordable digital watches in the world,though I can think of all kinds of ways to improve them. For instance:High contrast displays. Analog watches are stillusually easier to read than digital since the physical separation of the dialfrom the hands creates depth and more contrast than LCD readouts produce. I'dlove to see very bright, high resolution miniature screens embedded in digitalwatches like we are becoming accustomed to on all our other devices like cell phones,MP3 players, digital cameras, laptops, handheld gaming systems, etc. New ways of telling time. Rather than trying find new things for a watch to do, I'd like to see designers put some thought into new ways of doing what watches are meant to do. The YES Watch, for instance, is an amazing digital watch that not only tells you the time, but, among several other things, also graphically indicates exactly when sunrise and sunset occurs wherever you happen to be in the world. Innovations like these add new dimensions to watches, and potentially to our lives, as well. (Review forthcoming, by the way.)Vibrating alarms. I'm really surprised more watches don't have silent alarm modes these days. As watches assume more PDA-like responsibilities, the more useful and, at the same time, obnoxious they can become. Personally, I'm embarrassed when my digital watch draws attention by beeping, just like I hate when my mobile phone rings in public. I usually keep my mobile phone silent, and I'd love to keep my watch silent, as well, without having to give up alarms and hourly time signals. Customizable faces. As soon as you have a bright, high contrast, high resolution display, the next thing you'll want to do is create your own time-telling arrangements, or perhaps download and install those created by others. Personalization is becoming a priority in consumer electronics, though digital watches are not adapting.