[anzac1957]

This one just came into my possession complete with original box..

 

[Axel66]

Great find Tony!
Me as one of the young guns here (just 44), that reminds me of my "Gymnasium" (somehow but not really comparable to High-school) days.
We grew up with that stuff!

I'm still waiting for the right Japanese Vintage LCD to come up for me.
So far, besides some modern Casios and a no-name pulse-watch, the only LCD I own is an old Revue:

Cheers,

Axel

 

[anzac1957]

Yeah, I remember when the LCD watches came out.. They were a big step up from the LED watches of the early 70s.. I had a Pulsar and later a Casio.. So this one also brings back memories of my youth..

 

[minidriver]

Weren't the original Orient LCD modules co-developed with Sharp?

 

[anzac1957]

Weren't the original Orient LCD modules co-developed with Sharp?

It would be nice to find out for sure.. but who to ask??

 

[minidriver]

"1974 -- Working with Sharp Company, Orient released an LCD Quartz digital watch."


Quoted from Orient's historical timeline....

 

[minidriver]

Found this Orient Digital on Ebay UK for USD $35....


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220546050484#ht_500wt_1182

 

[nhoj]

That's a cool find! And some contraption to hold the battery in...almost like a G Shock.

I am curious...was there a trimmer screw in there somewhere? I can't see one in your picture, but the battery holder is so large. I'm just curious if this was a more standard feature on plder quartz modules.

 

[anzac1957]

I sent an email to Orient and they replied asking me for the numbers on the caseback as they couldn't read them well enough.. So hopefully I will have some more info soon..

 

[anzac1957]

Here is the response from Orient in Japan..

We received your e-mail on 7th/April/2010 again.​

​

Thank you for your information and sending picture in this time.​

​

This digital quartz model No.is 040602-40. At the moment, we did not have any special names or numbers for this model.​

It was produced on around 1985, and, we are using Orient digital movement, caliber Q4000 Made in Japan.​

​

Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
Thanks again for purchasing Orient watch.
​

​

Orient Watch Co., Ltd.
Tokyo, Japan
Customer Relations

 

[Seikojohn]

This one just came into my possession complete with original box..

Interesting and maybe a rare find.
I suspect that it was made for Orient by one of the larger companies in Japan given the cost of setting up such a production line.

 

[minidriver]

Unfortunately, finding information about vintage Orient digital watch calibers is proving to be an exercise in futility. However, it is very doubtful that Orient had the know-how and production capability to develop their own LCD modules. The company time line lists the 1974 release of the Orient LCd watch as having been co-developed with Sharp electronics. Make sense to me.

 

[minidriver]

Furthermore, the current Ana-digi modules used in some "Breitling Airwolf/B1" type of Orient quartz watch are being sourced from Citizen-Miyota. Those watches are the only Orients that do not use Seiko sourced quartz calibers. This goes to show that Orient, at its very core, is a mechanical watch company. Orient does not produce any quartz movements in house. They are either sourced from parent company Seiko or Miyota.

 

[anzac1957]

Unfortunately, finding information about vintage Orient digital watch calibers is proving to be an exercise in futility. However, it is very doubtful that Orient had the know-how and production capability to develop their own LCD modules. The company time line lists the 1974 release of the Orient LCd watch as having been co-developed with Sharp electronics. Make sense to me.

Thanks.. Can you provide a link to the timeline you are referring as the one I found didn't include any mention of Sharp electronics.. Always like to know more about whatn I have in the collection..

Cheers

 

[Selym]

It would be nice to find out for sure.. but who to ask??

Perhaps someone fluent in Japanese could email Orient Japan. Perhaps there's a "Tokunaga" of Orient. Incidentally, how did Tokunaga-san learn of the SCWF?

EDIT: Woops! I see you have emailed Orient Japan. My apologies for not reading the entire thread before posting.

Best,
Myles

 

[anzac1957]

Perhaps someone fluent in Japanese could email Orient Japan. Perhaps there's a "Tokunaga" of Orient. Incidentally, how did Tokunaga-san learn of the SCWF?

EDIT: Woops! I see you have emailed Orient Japan. My apologies for not reading the entire thread before posting.

Best,
Myles

and they didn't require me to be fluent in Japanese either.. I find that they are usually very helpful..