Stranger Things
Watches that aren't
Before digital timepieces like the Apple Watch Ultra and devices with instruments embedded into battery powered watches such as Casio G-Shocks, watchmakers offered wearable purpose-made instruments for extremely niche scenarios. Most have gone the way of the dinosaur, but for a few golden years some of the biggest (and smallest) names in watch manufacturing offered unusual and interesting wearable tools. Here’s a look at some of my favorites.
Heuer Sportcraft Game Master
Released in 1959, the Heuer Sportcraft Game Master is nothing more than a stopwatch. Intended for referees and racers alike, it provided a wearable tool for any who might require its services. In typical Heuer fashion, the simplicity of the tool is executed with bold flair. The stark contrast of the white dial with the black rotating internal bezel creates the appearance of a tuxedo dial. The beefy red minute counter hand punctuates in beautiful dissonance with the seconds hand providing a needle-like visual precision.
It’s not for the small-wristed measuring 47mm and still larger for rare military versions. And it’s certainly not the most practical thing to have on your wrist every day. But for those that appreciate a combination of mechanical timekeeping and great design, pieces like the Sportcraft Game Master are intriguing alternatives for any willing to test the vintage and preowned markets.
Seiko Metronome
Alright, this one is cheating seeing as it also functions natively as a watch. Even more so when you consider I opened the article by sectioning off the sandbox to play in a era before batteries were common in watches, yet here we have a quartz movement. But I just don’t care. The function on the Seiko Metronome is so bizarre it deserves a spot on the list. As the name implies, the watch is designed to operate as a metronome and the way it goes about this is both ingeniously simple and hypnotic. Using the various pushers to adjust the function, the hour hand selects from the provided beats per minutes displayed on the perimeter of the dial while the minute hand, centering at 12, osicilates back and forth between 11 and 1 as a smoothly pendulating metronome when activated. This can either be done silently or with a digital tone enabled to mark the beat.
Measuring at 36.5mm in diameter, it’s also an extremely wearable piece. It’s clean aesthetic and Bauhaus-inspired design language is impervious to trends and works for just about any situation or style. Whether playing your instrument or checking in on your schedule, the Seiko Metronome is sure to help you keep time. Or make you sleepy. Verrrrry sleepy…
Aquastar Depth Gauge
I’m back to playing by the rules and with my return to integrity comes the Jean Richard Aquastar Depth Gauge. Here we have all the hallmarks of great vintage watch design rolled up into a highly-specific functional tool. The depth gauge measures atmospheres (ATM) underwater, maxing out at 8 ATM or 80 meters (ouch) and providing the wearer with his or her current depth. It was a very useful—even vital—tool for divers, especially before the advanced dive computers of today. Avid divers I’ve consulted with advise the device would have been paired with an accurate bottom timing instrument (dive watch) to complete its usefulness. Another reminds me the atmosphere is what we breathe and ruin with hairspray. Does it provide any meaningful function for the daily lives of land dwellers? Likely not. But it is cool.
Aquastar long ago ceased production on these particular depth gauges (and has changed ownership and focus over the decades, including a recent revival) though these can still be found periodically on sites like eBay. Coming in at 43mm in diameter and thicker than my Minnesota accent, it’s certainly a choice to wear. But for the individual that isn’t currently underwater and doesn’t mind sacrificing some (let’s be honest, all) functionality in the name of intrigue, something like the Aquastar Depth Gauge is a statement, tool, and talisman of rugged adventure all wrapped into one.
Have these choices reminded you of other examples I didn’t include above? Leave them in the comments below. As always, thanks for reading.
–M
That Seiko Metronome looks like can also function as a tuner/pitch pipe. Ingenious!