Caveman's Watch Forum
Avatar Is Happy Day! For your edification and enjoyment, I present The Ultimate Poor Man's Watch. Post contains photos
Ricky Lee
April 19, 2009 02:57PM		 Registered: April 2005
Posts: 2,454 (2009-04)

A bold statement, I know. But bear with me! Looked at a certain (twisted? I am smiling...) kind of way, it's true.

If one posits that a watch with a MSRP of $0.00 is the ultimate PMW, the list is narrowed considerably, no? Leaving such fine timepieces as Happy Meal giveaway watches and such. Well, judging by the packaging, I'm pretty certain this one was a Zero MSRP Giveaway Watch. 'ere's the instruction sheet;

OEM Scan

No, your eyes ain't playin' tricks on ye. I am smiling... That's Swedish, sure. Laughing! Here's the actual watch;

Photo by Ricky Lee

Click HERE for larger photo

One of the quirkiest, most unusual designs Crazy, man! that's ever crossed me watchmaker's bench. It came to me with a dead battery so, yeah, I have been all up in it;

Photo by Ricky Lee

Click HERE for larger photo

Fired right up on installation of a fresh 364 cell. Thumbs Up!

But, alas, the battery change also revealed a pretty major design flaw. See the pushers near the bottom of the caseback? They're for setting the time & date, and are designed to work by shorting two contacts on the PC board. But the thing is, the pushers are made from plastic. How the Sam Hell are you gonna short electrical contacts with a non-conductive material? I am confused... Crazy, man! Scary! And, yeah, sure I buttoned it all back up before I figured this out. Laughing! Had to take the caseback off again and manually short the contacts with a screwdriver to set the time. I am angry!!

I dunno. I'm totally bamboozled at how such a boner could happen, even on a giveaway watch. It's such a titanic faux pas - surely no designer could fall into such a trap? This is all pure conjecture, but I figure it went down like this: the original design called for a metal insert to be affixed on the tip of the pushers. This would make the design functional.. except that there's no provision for self-retracting the pushers (a spring would be the obvious solution) so they intermittently and unintentionally shorted the contacts, resulting in a watch that wouldn't stay set. Scary! But being a freebie, they took the easy way out, and purposely crippled the setting function. I am angry!!

Ah well, we may never know for sure. In any case, it made for a fun diversion on a rainy morning. Thumbs Up! T'anks for lookin' y'all!

-Ricky

Messages In This Thread

Is Happy Day! For your edification and enjoyment, I present The Ultimate Poor Man's Watch. Post contains photos (Views: 135)
Ricky Lee -- April 19, 2009 02:57PM
To be honest, I wouldn't wear it even if I got paid... Wink, wink ... But I'm probably the only one in the forum who can read the instructions! Cool! (n/t) (Views: 4)
Wycombe -- April 19, 2009 10:36PM
I am smiling... Laughing! Rolling on the floor laughing my a$$ off! (n/t) (Views: 3)
Ricky Lee -- April 20, 2009 05:28PM
Thumbs Up! I remember that from a Blog post I read, I thought it was a pretty cool idea (n/t) (Views: 5)
Brian Uziel -- April 19, 2009 09:49PM
i have one of those! Post contains photos Post contains linked URL (Views: 24)
jay_m -- April 19, 2009 06:29PM
but i paid actual money for mine (around $10). i bought it a while ago for one of the nieces or nephews but never gave it to them for some reason. i had totally forgotten about it until i saw your post.

mine's not running. maybe i'll dig up a battery and wear it to work tomorrow

on the back it says made in china and © 2001 hogwildtoys and a URL www.hogwildtoys.com

that website shows they still sell them, along with some other fun variations

Photo by Jay_M

Get outta town! I am confused! Man, small world, huh? Wink, wink ... (Views: 8)
Ricky Lee -- April 19, 2009 07:16PM
Though if you're gonna turn up a twin to something this obscure, the PMWF is better'n a shady rock, I reckon. Laughing!

    Quote
    jay_m
    but i paid actual money for mine (around $10).

Hate t'break it to ye, sport, but ye got rooked. Scary! Laughing!

    Quote
    jay_m
    i had totally forgotten about it until i saw your post.

Ah'm tryin' t'forget this'n! Scary! Laughing!

    Quote
    jay_m
    mine's not running. maybe i'll dig up a battery and wear it to work tomorrow

I hope ye have better luck wi' that than I did. Laughing!

Seriously, I'm extremely curious to know if you encounter the same design flaw in the setting mechanism. Please let me know, 'K?

    Quote
    jay_m
    on the back it says made in china and © 2001 hogwildtoys and a URL www.hogwildtoys.com

    that website shows they still sell them, along with some other fun variations

Whoa! Good info there mate! Thumbs Up!

Look out, John Lind, he's anglin' to take over your gig! Scary! Laughing!

Thanks Jay!

-Ricky

Re: Get outta town! I am confused... Man, small world, huh? Wink, wink ... Post contains photos (Views: 7)
jay_m -- April 20, 2009 01:01AM
Quote
ricky lee
Seriously, I'm extremely curious to know if you encounter the same design flaw in the setting mechanism. Please let me know, 'K?
mine's got a whole different "movement" (sorry about the bad photo).

the switch has a fairly clever design. the plastic pusher pin pushes on the top of the silicone cup which provides the "spring", and there's a conductive button attached to the inside of the cup. i'm not sure what the button is made of, it's a matte black material with grainy texture, must be carbon or ceramic i guess.

i put a new battery in it, and it sets and runs fine.

Photo by Jay_M

Re: i put a new battery in it, and it sets and runs fine. (Views: 5)
Ricky Lee -- April 20, 2009 05:27PM
Great!

Yours does indeed appear to have a totally different "works". Definitely a different PC board. Maybe I've got the beta version. I am confused...

-Ricky

Hey ricky, funny watch indeed. coincidentally, my brother just sent me pictures of this one. Post contains photos (Views: 28)
JohnnyT -- April 19, 2009 03:45PM
Photo stolen by JohnnyT
Ah! Yeah, someone posted a photo of that one t'other day. Crazy, man! (n/t) (Views: 5)
Ricky Lee -- April 19, 2009 04:02PM
I think it is great any time watches get web coverage... Post contains linked URL (Views: 5)
Brian Uziel -- April 19, 2009 10:09PM
Blogs seem to like to feature retro, gadget, and ultra-expensive ones. I guess because they are more interesting than what the herd generally wears I am smiling ...
Watch Without A Face recently found here [gizmodo.com]
and this guy has a whole section for watches [www.retrothing.com]
I'm wi' ye! Thumbs Up! (n/t) (Views: 3)
Ricky Lee -- April 19, 2009 10:57PM
Proving, I think, that price is maybe not the most important factor in determining the ultimate PM watch Laughing! (n/t) (Views: 5)
TakesALickin -- April 19, 2009 03:42PM
Much as it pains me Inner Scotsman I am crying!, I've gotta agree. Laughing! Rolling on the floor laughing my a$$ off! (n/t) (Views: 4)
Ricky Lee -- April 19, 2009 03:59PM
Interesting Ricky. (Views: 6)
Chris L -- April 19, 2009 03:38PM
There are conductive plastics, made of carbon. Your typical membrane-style keypad uses carbon pads on the button pushers to bridge 2 contacts.
Re: There are conductive plastics, made of carbon. (Views: 6)
Ricky Lee -- April 19, 2009 03:56PM
Good point! Thumbs Up!

But, trust me, this'n ain't got such. Scary! I am angry!!

-Ricky

<Back to My Watch Collection