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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 17, 2022 16:42:05 GMT -8
As most of you know, I am collecting and doing write-ups on Seiko World time watches. As far as I am aware, the first to have a nick name was the "PAN AM", or M158-500X. Much later someone online called the A718-5030 the "John Cleese", as he was caught wearing that watch in an old movie and that seems to have stuck.
I have really grown fond on these nick names and would like to (collectively) come up with some for the other digital models. Here's the run down
M158-500X - the "PAN AM" - sorted
A239-50XX - "WOPR" - sorted
- These models are the ones with the dual lcd setup, with one lcd being a world map with selectable timezones
- Its not the First dual LCD, there is at least one earlier that had a calendar view as the second LCD
- I've been calling it the "dual lcd", but that feels perhaps a bit uninspired
A358-500X
- Direct predecessor to the M158
- Added an alarm complication
- Otherwise kind of boring...
- I've been calling "The Alarm", but that seems a little boring
A708-5000 - The "TWA" - sorted
- The aesthetic descendant of the M158
- Same module as the A718, with the alarm bits removed - and the case is COMPLETELY different
- The only digital world timer from Seiko with a curved glass crystal - kinda cool retro feel
- Is there another Airline from 1984-1988 that could be the successor to the PAN AM? Maybe the "TWA", but they weren't know for international flights were they?
A718-5010 - "Frankenstein's Monster" or just "Frankenstein" - sorted
- This version had a chiclet bracelet and hooded lugs on the case with that chiclet design as well
- This is the "Sports 100" version, perhaps the first time Seiko sold a World Timer as a complication on a Sports watch?
- Frankfurt Germany is added to the Dial Frame for the first time
A718-5030 - the "John Cleese" - sorted
So... the models in red need nick names, and I am curious if anyone has better suggestions that the ones I have come up with?
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inboost
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Post by inboost on Mar 17, 2022 17:36:03 GMT -8
dapellegrini it seems nick-names come from two places. A physical trait of the watch that is unique (Sushi / Turtle / Etc) or a widely known celebrity owner (Pogue / Brue Lee / Etc). So this might be a long road of finding someone world renowned wearing one, or we need to pick some attributes that upon first sight most could agree on. So maybe some photos of the contestants to get the ball rolling?
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Tyrone Jenkins
Is a Permanent Fixture
On the day when the wagon's come I just pray that you let me on
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Post by Tyrone Jenkins on Mar 17, 2022 19:08:50 GMT -8
Nicknames are how thugs, drug dealers, gangbangers, pimps, hustlers, hackers, someone with an angle, and hood folk network and stay one step ahead of the gubment agents.
Some try to use their "nickname" or alias' or by claiming they are "a watch collector" to stay off the grid.
Made it out no reason to go back to the Northside.
I hope the best for everyone else who was in my same situation growing up.
"Since it now cold out there are not droves of the locals sitting on there porches or congregating on street corners and if they were I still don't think it would have been safe to take pictures of people many of whom most likely have warrants and are wondering why some cracker is taking their picture. Also trolling the side streets is not the best idea especially if some cop stops you and asks you what you are doing down there with 2 guns in your truck and you tell him "I'm taking pictures of my watch to put on the internet" 
&stanlee™®©
This reference is free.
It is too late to dig up my post about charging $20 for a Stan Lee "I told you I said it before" documented reference.
Jus' sayin'
The best nicknames are earned or owned, not self appointed, even if they were originally make in jest or bullying.
"It's Fumbles. It was always Fumbles."
I have no nicknames or street names or alias'
My gubment name is . . . . .
Anywho what were we talking about again ? 
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 17, 2022 20:44:30 GMT -8
Right. Photos below. It seems if the watch is important enough in the Seiko community it has a nickname. Same with bracelets, even just variations of a watch. It took me a while to know a Tuna from a Turtle, a Mini Coffins from a Railroad or Chiclets, a True Pogue from an Aussie. And I highly doubt anyone could name an actual PAN AM pilot that wore an M158. I bet someone made that up, and probably not that long ago... M158-500X - "The PAN AM"  A239-50XX - "The Map"  A358-500X - "The Speaker"  A708-5000 - "The TWA" (or a better airline reference)  A718-5010 - "Frankenstein"  A718-5030 - "The John Cleese"  |
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 18, 2022 8:32:47 GMT -8
@cd_god - No criminals or crimes here... unless bad taste is criminal  The A718-5010 with its prominent buttons and continued bracelet design straight up the case lugs is the most "robot" looking one in the bunch:  Another oddity on the A718 is that they decided to note Paris as FRA/PAR - I guess they wanted to not just recognize Paris, but the whole country of France? |
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inboost
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Post by inboost on Mar 18, 2022 12:53:08 GMT -8
And I highly doubt anyone could name an actual PAN AM pilot that wore an M158. I bet someone made that up, and probably not that long ago...
Most of my engineering staff weren't even yet born  |
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 18, 2022 13:05:05 GMT -8
Crazy that a lot of kids today didn't know a time before the internet... ...and what are you going to tell me next, "car phones" are no longer a thing?  |
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scubarob99
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Post by scubarob99 on Mar 18, 2022 17:02:43 GMT -8
@cd_god - No criminals or crimes here... unless bad taste is criminal The A718-5010 with its prominent buttons and continued bracelet design straight up the case lugs is the most "robot" looking one in the bunch: Another oddity on the A718 is that they decided to note Paris as FRA/PAR - I guess they wanted to not just recognize Paris, but the whole country of France? Thinking Frankfurt/Paris/Rome? |
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 18, 2022 17:07:28 GMT -8
Ohhhhhh... I think you must be right! That's the kind of fresh perspective I can't find riddling this all out alone in my head  Ironically, I found my example in Germany, perhaps FRA was part of the strategy to sell in to that market in the late 1980's |
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Tyrone Jenkins
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On the day when the wagon's come I just pray that you let me on
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Post by Tyrone Jenkins on Mar 18, 2022 17:10:23 GMT -8
@cd_god - No criminals or crimes here... unless bad taste is criminal The A718-5010 with its prominent buttons and continued bracelet design straight up the case lugs is the most "robot" looking one in the bunch: Another oddity on the A718 is that they decided to note Paris as FRA/PAR - I guess they wanted to not just recognize Paris, but the whole country of France?
That one looks more like Frankenstein (although the correct reference to the picture is the Monster of Frankenstein or Frankenstein's Monster) with the protruding neck lugs.
Or maybe Bumper Pool
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 18, 2022 17:16:56 GMT -8
Nice. A theme is brewing. FRA (Frankfurt, Germany) is added for the A718-5010... And according to Google: Victor Frankenstein is born in Italy; raised in Geneva, Switzerland; and then goes to Ingolstadt, Germany, for his studies - and that's where he creates the monster. Victor returns to Switzerland while the monster stays in Germany for a time, before his wanderings also take him to Switzerland to find Victor again. Ingolstadt is about 300km from Frankfurt - and I guess importantly here - the same time zone |
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trilo
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Post by trilo on Mar 24, 2022 0:40:33 GMT -8
Crazy that a lot of kids today didn't know a time before the internet... ...and what are you going to tell me next, "car phones" are no longer a thing? Is it possible to re-wire the system to use a modern SIM card? |
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inboost
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Post by inboost on Mar 24, 2022 6:52:19 GMT -8
Is it possible to re-wire the system to use a modern SIM card? Not possible, those were all analog phones. The analog system known as AMPS or 1G was deactivated a long time ago, I believe in 2008 in the USA and likely the rest of the world too. The infrastructure and equipment to talk to them and the bands of radio frequency devoted to support them are long gone. Planting a modern day digital phone inside would require some custom hardware to be created to interface a modern 4G/5G industrial mobile phone to the handset. Someone could probably do it if they were very strongly devoted to the task, but it would be a labor of love and not a product one could ever hope to market. Honestly though, if there was a way I'd pay dearly for an old /////ALPINE analog phone to match the audio gear I have in one of my vehicles 
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 24, 2022 8:29:33 GMT -8
I collect old tech and love it when I can get it to work. I have several old phones that needed conversion boxes to work. I wouldn't be shocked if someone out there as figured out a way to rewire these old car phones to work on a digital network. If not, there is likely a niche market brewing for it - as more and more 1990's cars become "collectable". A quick google check and there is at least some guy in Germany that appears to have figured it out with an old Lincoln Town Car phone.
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victor
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Post by victor on Mar 24, 2022 8:55:38 GMT -8
A708-5000
- The aesthetic descendant of the M158 - Same module as the A718, with the alarm bits removed - and the case is COMPLETELY different - The only digital world timer from Seiko with a curved glass crystal - kinda cool retro feel - Is there another Airline from 1984-1988 that could be the successor to the PAN AM? Maybe the "TWA", but they weren't know for international flights were they?
Trans World Airlines not known for international flights? Yes, they were - Howard Hughes was behind their post WW2 international expansion. And that $*&! Carl Icahn was an important part of the destruction of the company. (all that aside, while I traveled overseas a number of times on Pan Am, I don't think I ever took a blue water flight on TWA).
BTW, I like the Frankenstein's Monster nickname. That works.
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cobrajet25
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Post by cobrajet25 on Mar 25, 2022 4:03:27 GMT -8
The digitized world map display on the A239 always reminded me of the somewhat contemporaneous 1983 movie 'WarGames'.
Maybe call it the 'Wrist WOPR'? 
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inboost
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Post by inboost on Mar 25, 2022 6:35:06 GMT -8
The digitized world map display on the A239 always reminded me of the somewhat contemporaneous 1983 movie 'WarGames'.
Maybe call it the 'Wrist WOPR'?
I see it cobrajet25 ! Now I'd vote for that one! or is it Joshua instead of WOPR? |
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 25, 2022 14:16:56 GMT -8
WOPR (War Operation Plan Response), pronounced "Whopper", was the computer that simulated WW3 in War Games. Ironically we could probably use that today.
I wonder if the acronym can be reworked for something about the watch...
Wrist
Operated
Pilots
Reference
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Post by dapellegrini on Mar 25, 2022 16:24:24 GMT -8
This leaves the A358. This watch was released alongside the A239 (WOPR), likely the true, direct successor to the M158 (PAN AM), and the predecessor of the A708 (TWA). It got a speaker grill for its new alarm complication, which pushed the whole dial down and off center from top to bottom, a weird look. It also was 33mm wide, down from the M158's 37mm width. So long and thin. The A358 dropped Tehran and Wellington, and added no new reference cities. It came in SS or SGP (Gold tone), with black, white and light gray dial frames. Production appears to have run mainly through 1979, with a few examples in Jan and Feb of 1980.   With a A239 (WOPR) and A708 (TWO) ...  |
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Tyrone Jenkins
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On the day when the wagon's come I just pray that you let me on
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Post by Tyrone Jenkins on Mar 25, 2022 18:17:24 GMT -8
There is an old saying "2 wrongs don't make a right"
There is another saying "2 wrongs don't make a right but 3 lefts do"
You do the math or get out a pen and a piece of paper and try it out for yourself 
That being said it looks like starting from the case inward at 12 o'clock you have 2 rights, and between 8 and 11 you have 4 lefts.
Not sure where 5 o'clock is going.
Or if you look at each "box" as a garage and look which way you turn when you reach the end of the driveway and meet the street all of the blue roads are all right turns.
The black lines are left turns.
It seems some have longer driveways than others and some have to turn into the alley as soon as they pull out of their garage.
Looks like TYO is some richie phuk with a mile long driveway who just keeps on going straight after he turns around his pond.
Or maybe he is some hippie traveler on a journey.
Fate.
Destiny.
Maybe you could call that one the "Palm Reader"
It looks like the black line from HKG is going to interject itself into the lifeline of TYO.
Better get a prenup or be careful of the company you keep.
Jus' Sayin'
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