Whether or not you are into retro stuff, I am pretty sure you will be intrigued by Nixie clock, and if you do, then I am sure you will be elated to know that the folks behind NIWA Nixie clock has perfected the art of miniaturizing Nixie tubes and fitting them into a wrist-worn timepiece. Yeap. You heard it right. Nixie Tube Watch is a thing now and you know what? It is huge, like literally, and so it is a good news for big watch lovers like yours truly. Coming in at a grand 55mm and available in a choice of polished or painted solid machined aluminum, the NIWA Nixie Tube Wrist Watch features real Nixie tubes to tell time, and boy, it is a sight to behold!
It took the team two years to perfect it into a watch, bringing together retro tech with today’s tech to derive to what you see today. Employing the proven IN-16 Nixie tubes, NIWA Nixie Tube Watch also boasts a gyro sensor that only lights up the watch only when you move your arm to check on the time and it is powered by a mobile phone battery that will last you 4-6 days before needing to recharge. Charging is via a USB-powered docking station, each time taking 3 hours.
Another notable feature is, it has no visible buttons for time adjustment. It uses reed switches embedded at the sides of the watch which requires the use of the included magnet to set up the time. Now, that’s another cool factor there, isn’t it? If you are not familiar with Nixie tubes, you may have the belief that this thing is running hot. Well, it is not. Ok, it is hot, alright, but not in the literal sense, but I think you get the jive.
Anywho, the watch generates no noise or heat, and despite its intimidating glowing light, it is as cool as cucumber which is likely to take the coolness of the wearer up several notches. I maybe a little biased on this, but heck, a 55mm case diameter? And Nixie tubes to tell time? I will say ‘shut up and take my money already’. But wait. There’s one problem though: It’s beyond my budget. However, if $420-440 sounds like what you can comfortably drop, then go ahead and hit up NIWA Nixie Tube Watch’s Kickstarter campaign and pre-order yours.
The campaign is, not surprisingly, well over its funding goal and so, yeah, your pledge is a pre-order which will realized as soon as June 2017.
Images: NIWA.
Kickstarter via designboom.
