A calculator watch is a

digital watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

with a built-in

calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...

, usually including buttons on the watch face. Calculator watches were first introduced in the 1970s and continue to be produced, despite falling from their peak popularity during the 1980s. The most dominant brands were the Casio Databank series and Timex. Most calculator watches perform only basic

arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...

operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). However, there are several models with additional functions: scientific, including transcendent and trigonometry, in models Casio CFX-20, CFX-200, CFX-400 and Citizen 49–9421, financial functions (Casio CBA-10) and also TV remote control functions (CMD-40B and CMD-30B). Usually, calculator watches operate with eight-digit numbers; however, calculator watches can work with six digits (for example, Casio C-801) or ten-digit (Casio CBA-10).

History

Calculator watches first appeared in the mid 1970s introduced by

Pulsar A pulsar (from ''pulsating radio source'') is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles. This radiation can be observed only when a beam of emission is pointing toward Ea ...

(1975, then a brand of the Hamilton Watch Company)"History of LEDs - Chapter 1"
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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

website. and

Hewlett Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

. Another popular calculator watch was the Time Computer Calculator 901, which could perform basic arithmetic functions. The 902 models had additional functions such as percentage calculations. The Time watches carried a high price tag (US$4,000) because they were made of solid gold and operated by a stylus pen owing to the small size of their buttons. Popular watches include those from Seiko and

Citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

, some of which had innovative functions. Japanese electronics company Casio produced the widest variety of watches. In the mid-1980s, Casio created the Databank calculator watch, which performed calculator functions and stored appointments, names, addresses, and phone numbers. The calculator watches made by Casio earned much fame due to their appearance in movies and also due to being celebrities' choice during public events. Mass-produced calculator watches appeared in the early 1980s, with the most being produced in the middle of the decade. Their popularity began to fade in the mid-1990s with the introduction of cheaper mobile phones and PDAs, which could perform the same functions. The calculator watch is now a collector's item, and notable watches such as the Timex watches and some special variants of Casio calculator watches such as the CFX-400 command a high premium in the used market.

References

* ^ ''Collectors Guide to Pocket Calculators''. by Guy Ball and Bruce Flamm, 1997, – includes an extensive history of early pocket calculators and highlights over 1,500 different models from the early 1970s, including several of the early calculator watches. The book is still in print.

External links

Programmable calculators
- Specifications and descriptions

- Section on calculator watches {{Smartwatch Computer-related introductions in 1975 1980s fashion Watches Calculators Consumer electronics

History

See also

References

External links