Tokyoflash watches are ultra-stylish but have deliberately cryptic faces that are notoriously hard to read. In fact, you probably need a scientist to tell what time it is. Testing that theory, our own Vanessa Rae takes two of their most mysterious models to scientist Dr. Michio Kaku — a theoretical physicist, futurist and professor at CCNY — to see if his awesome brainpower can decipher them. Hint: It's not going to be easy.
We start Kaku off with the slightly less confusing Kyokusen, which means "curved" in Japanese. It uses a digital tube LED display to tell the time (or not) and costs about $125. Then we move on to the Geomesh, which is not only hard to read but hard to set, even when you have the instructions in front of you. Its display uses a diabolical series of vertical and horizontal lines that can mean different things depending on what time it is. Apparently harder to read = costs more, since this one runs $153. Did we mention they both look pretty hot?
Vanessa also takes the pair of stylish-yet-perplexing watches to the streets of New York City to see if anyone was up to the challenge of telling the time. The results may surprise you. Or at least entertain you. After you watch the video, browse the gallery for more shots of Vanessa in action. Konichiwa.
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editor@dvice.com
By exelias at 9:17 PM ON 11/27/07
just ordered my kyokusen yesterday :)
By TecnoCientista.info at 11:01 PM ON 11/28/07
The whatches are cool. But I was really interested in the cute and sympatic girl. Good one DVICE! She is a keeper!
By taash at 7:52 AM ON 11/29/07
Not real friendly watches, but the "Curved" watch is reminiscent of an episode of "The Odd Couple" where Felix redecorated the apartment in a "Mod" style. He had a clock that was very similar, and only Oscar's secretary could read it.
As for your site, using Firefox, when I try to view the different pics, the page reloads taking me back to the top of the page. I'm no website guru, but many sites handle this better.
By Dogengar at 2:10 PM ON 11/29/07
I cannot get the video to play in either IE7 or Firefox
By Denise 'Money Making Machine' Maine at 9:51 PM ON 11/29/07
Why making time so difficult to read? Do we have SOOO much time to waste that we can get dumb watches like this?
Get a Timex if you want a cheap watch.
-Denise
By DarrianAshoka at 10:35 PM ON 11/29/07
I get why they would make a watch that would be so different; there are lots of people who collect watches of all different types. Fossel alone has several hundred different designs to choose from. This is just another alternative design to be a great conversation piece. Simple as that.
I would love to see a much more radical approach made to how we tell time, where they convert time into metric divisions like this: 10 hours in a day, 100 minutes in an hour, and 100 seconds in a minute. This would make a the new seconds even more precise, since it would be a little faster than the standard second. There are 86,400 seconds in a day now, but this would make an even 100,000 second in a day instead. The beauty of this would be how time could be shown in a simple 3 digit display without an AM/PM designation. Short of showing the seconds, but how many people really need that information to know if they are late for a meeting?
By Boo at 8:09 AM ON 11/30/07
A Timex? You got to be joking. Better off using your Cell. These watches a fun. Good on ya Tokyoflash. Should be more companies like you around.
Kevin
By Mission Control at 3:12 PM ON 11/30/07
I haven't found any of these watches hard to read, having known about TokyoFlash's variety of watches (they're not a brand by itself, they carry a few manufacturers watches) it's not rocket science, or perhaps I should stroke my own ego that I'm quick at picking up patterns.
By Brian at 4:39 PM ON 11/30/07
The Kyokusen is a bit ambiguous. The intended way to read it is that the dots on the outside represent 5 minute increments and the dots on the inside represent 1 minute increments as described in the video. Alternatively the outside dots can represent 1 minute increments while the inside dots represent 12 minute increments, in which case the time would read 8:18. A person (i.e. alien vistor) who's not already familiar with the layout of traditional clocks may not understand the subtle queue of the arrangement of lit outside dots.
By kaeel at 3:56 PM ON 12/01/07
Is there some way to tell if the grid watch is right side up or upside down?
By avenga at 7:11 PM ON 12/01/07
I think tokyoflash watches are great. I own 2 on them, a 1000100101 and a shinshoku. they become really easy to read after a day or 2 of owning them. it is just a learning curve untill you get used to them. my next watch I buy will be a geomesh.
By philnolan3d at 3:35 PM ON 12/02/07
I have a watch that I love from Tokyo Bay It can be a little tricky to read if you don't know how, but once you've got it it's very easy. I often get nice comments on it too. It's this one:
http://www.tokyobayinc.com/product.cfm/id/5/scid/a/submit_thumb/2
By Fabian at 7:51 PM ON 12/02/07
The world of weird watches:
http://zorigami.free.fr/odd_watches/
Enjoy,
Fabian.
By drdeak at 7:51 AM ON 12/04/07
Ah! a chance to see if my opinion of Michio Kaku stands correct. I consider him overrated and a Carl Sagan or Richard Feynman wannabe. Long hair = physicist? More flash than physics, a TV physics guy. The watches are mental exercises for those that don't have opportunity to play more.
By mtgg at 4:14 PM ON 12/04/07
Let's face it, nobody gives a crap about the tacky watches. Vanessa is just damned cute and that's what this article is about. And so it should be. Cute cute cute.
By Ramon at 8:57 AM ON 12/05/07
www.timeitwatch.com ?
By Stolencheese at 4:27 PM ON 12/08/07
First of all, Completely agree with MTGG, Cute! ^.^
Second, Cool but not practical watches. I'd rather get a binary watch, THOSE are cool.
By Jason at 12:15 AM ON 12/13/07
Thank you DVICE, for this entertaining story. As ubiquitous as wireless phones are these days, *almost* no one really NEEDS to also wear a watch anymore. Tokyoflash watches are entirely about fun, fashion and gadgetry, so why put any unnecessary expectations on them to be practical as well? (For now, my wallet and belt can remain the only boring, utilitarian accessories that I carry/wear daily.) If you buy one of these watches, I honestly think that you're going to be able to learn how to read it!
By Midian at 3:05 PM ON 02/26/08
The watches are cool, even if it's simply for entertainment purchases. I mean you could always say you bought it the same store the Predator got his bomb detonator. And the pics of Vanessa, well what can I say....Got a soft spot for the lil 5'1" and 1/2 cutie.
By mark at 5:14 AM ON 04/13/08
good dvice tv,Short of showing the seconds