Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
Showing 1 of 16 conversations about:
A community member
Jul 1, 2018
bookmark_border
I want to like it but i can't help thinking that a watch that is so imprecise is just an affectation. Like riding a horse and cart to work, or something.
Cloaca
1906
Jul 2, 2018
bookmark_border
Psychologically I think einzeigers are good for people like me who rarely have meetings and appointments and work from home on projects that take larger chunks of time, from half an hour to half a day. The larger hour hand emphasizes the passage of the day. In the product shot of the watch here you can see that you have 100 minutes or 1 and a third hours left before lunch. What task do you have that would fill that time nicely? Then after lunch you'd see that you have two two hour chuncks. The time can be see clearly down to five minutes, and if you bother to set the watch accurately, down to a minute or two, but your attention is drawn to hours and quarter hours, which are more natural work units.
Cloaca
1906
Jul 3, 2018
bookmark_border
Yes, that's a good suggestion. It turns out that
Nomos Glashütte sells a nice sundial.
https://nomos-glashuette.com/en/beautiful-things
Benefits: - No need for a battery - Few moving parts, so low maintenance costs - Design eliminates need for helium release valve - Relatively inexpensive
Problems: - No lume - Works only during the day - Works only when you are outside - Works onlys when the sky is clear - Doesn't work so well at high noon - Works only in cities at one particular latitude - Process of using is cumbersome - Accurate to plus or minus ten minutes
I considered getting one for my wife, as an interesting necklace, not a timepiece. They briefly made one for Tokyo's latitude, but now it is only available as dead stock from one jewelry store in gold, who have marked it up higher than I want to pay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eM5ePYw2mw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THuX-NMRKQM
Nomos Glashütte sells a nice sundial.
https://nomos-glashuette.com/en/beautiful-things
Benefits: - No need for a battery - Few moving parts, so low maintenance costs - Design eliminates need for helium release valve - Relatively inexpensive
Problems: - No lume - Works only during the day - Works only when you are outside - Works onlys when the sky is clear - Doesn't work so well at high noon - Works only in cities at one particular latitude - Process of using is cumbersome - Accurate to plus or minus ten minutes
I considered getting one for my wife, as an interesting necklace, not a timepiece. They briefly made one for Tokyo's latitude, but now it is only available as dead stock from one jewelry store in gold, who have marked it up higher than I want to pay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eM5ePYw2mw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THuX-NMRKQM
boozed
297
Jul 3, 2018
bookmark_border
Cloaca
1906
Jul 3, 2018
bookmark_border
boozedI've found that you can simply ask people the time and they will tell you. If someone refuses, ask another person.
By the way, I'm considering tying up with a Chinese watchmaker on an idea for a Kickstarter. The einzeiger with one hand for hours has already been invented. But there is an opportunity to offer a a one-handed watch that shows minutes, or one hand that shows seconds. Or days. Or years.
Someone else beat me to the zero hands analog watch:
https://www.massdrop.com/talk/2658/the-watch-with-the-opaque-crystal
Actually, the Krypton and the Haldemann are three-hand watches with opaque crystals, a subtle difference. Which makes me think that you could make a watch with the hour hand visible on the front and the minute and seconds hand on the back side, visible through the display back.
By the way, I'm considering tying up with a Chinese watchmaker on an idea for a Kickstarter. The einzeiger with one hand for hours has already been invented. But there is an opportunity to offer a a one-handed watch that shows minutes, or one hand that shows seconds. Or days. Or years.
Someone else beat me to the zero hands analog watch:
https://www.massdrop.com/talk/2658/the-watch-with-the-opaque-crystal
Actually, the Krypton and the Haldemann are three-hand watches with opaque crystals, a subtle difference. Which makes me think that you could make a watch with the hour hand visible on the front and the minute and seconds hand on the back side, visible through the display back.
A community member
Jul 5, 2018
bookmark_border
Cloaca
1906
Jul 5, 2018
bookmark_border
I think it's plenty precise if you try to arrive for meetings and trains five minutes early, which will impress people in these smart phone times. I lived pre smart phone, and it is entirely possible to commit, in advance, to a time for something, and honor that commitment. With smart phones people figure they have an excuse to be late since they can message the person that they will be late. If you aim for five minutes early, you won't be late. (Trains are another matter, but hey, with a smart phone just take Uber. You never need to be reliable with a smart phone.) And stay off my lawn.
Which raises the question, these days does it really matter if your watch is precise, or even set to the right time, if you have a smart phone?
Which raises the question, these days does it really matter if your watch is precise, or even set to the right time, if you have a smart phone?
A community member
Jul 5, 2018
bookmark_border
CloacaThat's a curious rationale for an imprecise watch - because you have a precise phone clock...
you have just negated the argument for carrying any watch - except as a jewellery item.
What you really need is a watch that doesn't tell the time... just a beautiful face unencumbered by hands. How minimalist would that be! then you're free to use your phone as a precision timepiece.
Anyway, I usually don't carry my phone, or have it turned off, so I have no use for a watch that does not tell the time. When I do carry my phone I still prefer to use my watch for telling the time - being handily situated on my wrist for quick reference. Given that requirement (timekeeping), having a watch that tells the time with reasonable precision is important.
What you really need is a watch that doesn't tell the time... just a beautiful face unencumbered by hands. How minimalist would that be! then you're free to use your phone as a precision timepiece.
Anyway, I usually don't carry my phone, or have it turned off, so I have no use for a watch that does not tell the time. When I do carry my phone I still prefer to use my watch for telling the time - being handily situated on my wrist for quick reference. Given that requirement (timekeeping), having a watch that tells the time with reasonable precision is important.
Cloaca
1906
Jul 5, 2018
bookmark_border
It does depend on your eyesight and the ambient illumination, but you can pull out a time to the minute, plus or minus 30 seconds, from an accurately set einzeiger. How much more precision do you need in real life? This is from the Botta website, showing one of their 12-hour watches:
https://www.botta-design.de/layout/od_botta_v1/img/uhrenprinzip-12-en.jpg
They go so far as to make the same claim with their 24-hour watches (maybe plus or minus a minute), although I dislike these because they are confusing if you switch between the einzeiger and a two-hand watch:
https://www.botta-design.de/layout/od_botta_v1/img/uhrenprinzip-24-en.jpg
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/meistersinger-adhaesio-automatic-watch/talk/2125559
https://www.botta-design.de/layout/od_botta_v1/img/uhrenprinzip-12-en.jpg
They go so far as to make the same claim with their 24-hour watches (maybe plus or minus a minute), although I dislike these because they are confusing if you switch between the einzeiger and a two-hand watch:
https://www.botta-design.de/layout/od_botta_v1/img/uhrenprinzip-24-en.jpg
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/meistersinger-adhaesio-automatic-watch/talk/2125559
A community member
Jul 5, 2018
bookmark_border
CloacaYes you can but it is hardly easy, is it.
There is a good reason why watches have a minute hand.
It is elegant.
One hand is just an affectation. It has no practical advantage.
boozed
297
Jul 5, 2018
bookmark_border
CloacaI'm trying to picture in my mind the kind of person who would pay for and wear a watch with an opaque crystal...
One-handed watches with a different focus could be very interesting, on the other hand (Edit: pun not intended!) I'm interested to see what you come up with.
I'm partial to Fortis's Mysterious Planets, which indicates minutes on its single hand and has a jumping dial. The thing's far too big for me though.
Incidentally, Fortis also did a semi-opaque crystal, one its many "art watch" collaborations with Rolf Sachs. The crystal was heat sensitive and would fog up when cold: https://forums.watchuseek.com/f251/fortis-frisson-unisex-limited-edition-595-11-82-si29-real-life-pics-600826.html
One-handed watches with a different focus could be very interesting, on the other hand (Edit: pun not intended!) I'm interested to see what you come up with.
I'm partial to Fortis's Mysterious Planets, which indicates minutes on its single hand and has a jumping dial. The thing's far too big for me though.
Incidentally, Fortis also did a semi-opaque crystal, one its many "art watch" collaborations with Rolf Sachs. The crystal was heat sensitive and would fog up when cold: https://forums.watchuseek.com/f251/fortis-frisson-unisex-limited-edition-595-11-82-si29-real-life-pics-600826.html
314BJ
Jul 6, 2018
bookmark_border
If you can't get precise time from a regulator, it's probably because you're not good at math...or telling time. I've worn a regulator in regular rotation for years, never once have I been late, struggled to tell others the time or found myself frustrated. Your kindergarten teacher cheated you out of something...confidence and competence in reading clocks.
Cloaca
1906
Jul 6, 2018
bookmark_border
314BJI'd never heard of regulators. Looking at the Chronoswiss stuff, I'm not so sure I like the concept. It's just offsetting the axes of the hour and minute (and second) hands. An einzeiger turns the watch face into a pie chart of the day (or half day) and the only hand is kind of like the edge of the graph section of time remaining in the day. It's very easy to conceptualize. A regulator with the hour hand as the center hand and the minute hand in a complication would be more appealing to me, but a pure einzeiger is even better.
I like divers, so I'd like to see someone take a stab at an einzeiger or regulator dive watch. It would be so stupid that it would be great fun. "WARNING: Use of this watch while diving may cause the bends." To maximize the hilarity, it should be really thick and heavy and be rated to 2,500 meters and have a helium release valve. I wonder how much I'd have to put in up front to get a prototype made so that Kickstarter would let me post it. Writing the sales copy would be a gas.
Another idea: an einzeiger on the front, and a regular three hander (or regulator, or justs minute and seconds hand) on the back of the watch in the display back. Not a reversible watch, but there if you need it.
Also, I have always thought that display backs should show a secret power reserve dial.
https://shop.chronoswiss.com/en_ch/collections/sirius-regulator.html
I like divers, so I'd like to see someone take a stab at an einzeiger or regulator dive watch. It would be so stupid that it would be great fun. "WARNING: Use of this watch while diving may cause the bends." To maximize the hilarity, it should be really thick and heavy and be rated to 2,500 meters and have a helium release valve. I wonder how much I'd have to put in up front to get a prototype made so that Kickstarter would let me post it. Writing the sales copy would be a gas.
Another idea: an einzeiger on the front, and a regular three hander (or regulator, or justs minute and seconds hand) on the back of the watch in the display back. Not a reversible watch, but there if you need it.
Also, I have always thought that display backs should show a secret power reserve dial.
https://shop.chronoswiss.com/en_ch/collections/sirius-regulator.html
Cloaca
1906
Jul 6, 2018
bookmark_border
CloacaSomething like this monster, but automatic, with one huge orange hour hand, and a bezel with hours, not minutes:
Actually, maybe solar would be better for this, since it would be so hard to set accurately.
Actually, maybe solar would be better for this, since it would be so hard to set accurately.
A community member
Jul 6, 2018
bookmark_border
314BJi Have never seen one - it is cloaca who admitteded their use is more difficult than a regular watch, and stated that he times appointments with an allowable error of 5 minutes.
i just stated that they are less precise or more difficult to discern the time than a regular watch, which must be a true statement given their design. In a 24 hour watch with one hand, with a face of the same size, there is half the space between increments. How can it be as precise as a meter with twice the space between increments and, with a second hand, 60 times the measurement interval?
do you know what precision means?
i just stated that they are less precise or more difficult to discern the time than a regular watch, which must be a true statement given their design. In a 24 hour watch with one hand, with a face of the same size, there is half the space between increments. How can it be as precise as a meter with twice the space between increments and, with a second hand, 60 times the measurement interval?
do you know what precision means?
JohnnyCredit
469
Jun 26, 2020
bookmark_border
Drop Refurbished
Like-new products you can trustDrop Rewards
Get $5 for every 500 points you earn! Learn more
Drop Keyboard Club
Become a member and expand your keycap collectionCollaborate With Us
For Brands & DesignersFollow Drop