Watch Wearing Wednesday: 90s Vintage Pulsar Day-Date Quartz Watch

Sometimes, you have to fall back on watches that are tried and true. In my case, it's this Pulsar Day-Date watch (below) that I seem to have had forever.

Pulsar Quartz Day-Date Watch

This Pulsar has a stainless steel case and bracelet, a simple dial with batons, and 100-meters of water resistance (when new). It's also unobtrusive, fits under the cuff of a shirt sleeve, and from a Seiko brand. Pulsar seems to have been relegated to the dustbin of Seiko history for now. I've seen articles indicating that the Pulsar brand has been discontinued and, yet, I've also seen a trickle of Pulsar watches being sold through Walmart.com.

Pulsar Day-Date Watch

I first wrote about this watch way back in 2011. I have no idea when I actually got it. No matter what the fate of the Pulsar brand may be, you can usually find a simple day-date watch under the Seiko umbrella between Seiko, Citizen, and Bulova.

TGIF: The Pulsar Watch Brand Is Gone

In our universe, a Pulsar is a neutron star which is the remnant of a massive star that has undergone a supernova explosion. They remain spinning quickly out in the cosmos and appearing to pulse strong beams of electromagnetic radiation as they spin. In the universe of watches, the brand appears to be the same. A dead star that we remember in flashes of brilliance. Seiko quietly discontinued their Pulsar brand a few years ago (2023?) to focus on their global brand Alba.

"Since it's launch in 1972, Pulsar watches have stood for a real value, quality brand of the Seiko Watch Corporation. However, Pulsar watches are no longer manufactured and they have made way for the truly global 'ALBA WATCHES.'

Alba watches offer the same exceptional value, style and quality you would expect from SEIKO Watch Corporation.

We encourage you to click below to discover the Alba range of timepieces."

My Pulsar Dive-Style Watch in brilliant blue

This is probably old news to many watch enthusiasts. I just found it intriguing that I could no long find the brand on Amazon. It's a bit of a bummer since I have a few Pulsar watches in my collection and always found them to be a great value: high quality at an affordable price point. I like the dressy sophistication of my Pulsar Chronograph and the brilliant blue of my Pulsar diver-style watch.

Pulsar Chronograph Watch

If you'd like to read more on the rich history of the Pulsar brand, check out my 2015 post: Pulsar Watches - Past and Present. It can serve as a suitable requiem.

As of this writing, if you search for Pulsar watches, you can still find them listed in online auctions and a few sold via Walmart.com.

Spooky Watch Photos to make your Pulsar run cold!

Do you hear it?  Do you hear the galloping hooves?  Perhaps it is the autumnal winds and the blowing leaves?  But, may be it is headless horseman pursuing us with a warning that Halloween is approaching fast!

Headless Horseman pursuing Ichabod Crane - John Quidor [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Every tick and every tock, brings us closer to that time on the clock with the barrier between the living and the dead is very thin indeed!  We've recently had a few spooky encounters of the horological kind.  For example, here is an evil jack-o-lantern that asked me for the time.  While my own pulse nearly stopped, I was wearing my Pulsar dive-style watch.

I found that all of the undead were most excited about this dive-style timepiece.  It had plenty of bracelet for the local skeletons.  If you hear a clink-clink-clink in the evening, it may be a skeleton wearing my watch!

Wristwatch Review: Men's Pulsar Chronograph Dress Watch with Roman Numerals

Examining a Stainless Steel Chronograph Watch from Pulsar

Power, sophistication, and sensibility are the perfect combination for a man's dress watch. Does the Pulsar Chronograph Model PT3399 demonstrate all three? I received one for Christmas 2013 and will look for those qualities.

Pulsar Chronograph Model PT3399

[This is a re-print of a review that I published on the now defunct Yahoo Voices.  As of 2024, this watch is unavailable, but mine still looks like a million bucks.]

 Watch Style. Roman numerals on a dress watch always up your game. Instead of piloting an aircraft or driving a sports car, a dial with Roman numerals suggests that the wearer is likely to pilot a major corporation or drive an important court case. It's a different kind of power and the Pulsar PT3399 demonstrates it. Roman numerals circle a silver dial with XII exerting its authority with a larger font in blue. The hour, minute, and second hands are done in the same blue. The hour and minute hands have a luminous white insert for night visibility.

This Pulsar has chronograph subdials at three, six, and nine o'clock. The subdials are silver with small black arabic numerals on raised rings. The subdial at three o'clock provides the 24-hour time. Seconds are provided at six o'clock and minutes are provided at nine o'clock. The pushers work well to activate, stop, and reset the chronograph subdials. However, I wouldn't really use this watch to time anything athletic.

A date window is canted and sits between four and five o'clock just inboard of the numeral track. The date and all of the other numerals on the watch are readable even with my aging eyes.

The watch itself is all stainless steel with the bracelet and case elegantly alternating high shine and flat satin finishes. The bracelet has a fold over clasp with push button. It fit me well with a little room to spare, but smaller wrists may need to remove a link or two. I think this watch is very sophisticated looking.

Watch Size. The diameter of this watch is officially 43 millimeters but that's about 45 millimeters counting the crown or pusher buttons. It is 10 millimeters thick and has a wide bracelet that measures 21 millimeters at the lugs and 20 millimeters at the clasp.

Watch Construction. Despite the Roman numerals, this Pulsar is built with a respectable water resistance rating. The watch has a hardlex crystal. It also has a screw down caseback. These features help the PT3399 achieve 100 meters of water resistance. Since Pulsar is a Seiko brand, it has a reliable Japanese quartz movement.

Price. The suggested retail price for this watch is $175. However, with smart shopping at Kohl's, my wife was able to get a considerable discount for this watch on sale.

Overall. I like this Pulsar Chronograph very much. It has the classic, powerful, styling that is seen in many far more prestigious mechanical watches. This Pulsar has Roman numerals to up the sophistication game. Plus, it has a reliable, economical, Japanese quartz movement. The Pulsar PT3399 has everything I look for in a dress watch. This watch will be my go to dress watch for important meetings, job interviews, and other important business functions.

Sources:
www.kohls.com
www.pulsarwatchesusa.com

Pulsar Watches - Past and Present

There are always lots of pictures of high end watches.  The heritage of mechanical watch making is well celebrated.  But, it's also worth noting that the quartz watch makers have their own history to celebrate.  For example, PULSAR was created as a joint venture between Hamilton watches and Electro/Data Inc.  The company was a pioneer in the development of digital watches.  They created the first ever LED watch in 1972.   

Vintage 1970s Pulsar LED watch - Photo by Joe Haupt from USA [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Watches like the PULSAR Model P2 Time Computer LED Watch pioneered the whole idea of digital watches.

PULSAR Model P2 Time Computer LED Watch by Joe Haupt from USA [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

PULSAR also introduced the very first calculator watch in 1975.  It was an LED watch with small calculator buttons.

PULSAR LED Calculator Watch - Photo by Rept0n1x (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Today's PULSAR watches are powered by accurate, reliable, quartz watch movements.  PULSAR was bought by Seiko in 1978.  As part of the Seiko family of watch companies, they are certainly reliable and accurate. In stores, you generally see far more analog PULSAR watches than digital. But, today, you can still get Pulsar digital watches.  When you glimpse at your wrist, you'll also be wearing part of digital history.

[As of 2025, you don't see too many Pulsar watches for sale in the US. It looks like you can still buy them online at Walmart.com.]

A Guide to the Affordable Men's Watches of the Classical Revival

Classic Watches for the Common Man

According to the WatchTime 2012 Buyers Guide magazine, there is renewed interest in simple, basic, elegant timepieces that focus on the essential function of telling time. The magazine called it the classical revival. To some degree, they said the classical revival is a reaction to large, boisterous, timepieces that sport huge cases and oversized dials. For prestigious Swiss watch makers the test of design and craftsmanship has always been getting reliable mechanical functions into an aesthetically pleasing and slim watch case.

Venerable watchmakers like Zenith and Vacheron-Constantin have released watches in recent years that mimic their classic models of the 1950s and 60s. The Zenith Elite Ultra Thin is a simple elegant watch with a round face, baton markers, and a small seconds hand sub-dial. The Vacheron Constantin Historiques line includes the round Ultra Fine 1968 and the square Ultra Fine 1955. Both sport simple graceful faces with minimal markings and complex mechanical mechanisms beneath the surface. These high end watches are made by craftsmen working to the most exacting standards. They are heirlooms to be passed from generation to generation in some of the world's most elite families.

While the high end watches of Vacheron Constantin are out of reach for most consumers since they are price between $20,000 to $30,000, there are many classically-styled quartz watches for the rest of us in the marketplace. While classic watches may not have their own shopping network television shows, they can be found in nearly every local department store. Here are five of my favorite affordable classic watches for men:

1. Bulova Classic Quartz Silver Dial Watch. Bulova makes some very accurate and sophisticated quartz watches. At $400 or $500 the Bulova Precisionist line is a marvel of modern design. But, the venerable company also makes many traditional quartz dress watches that are perfect for no nonsense business attire. My $99 Bulova (Model 96B168) has a slightly technological look due to a subtle grid pattern underlying the dial. Other models have a sunburst design.

2. Fossil Ansel Vintage Style Watch. If you are of Generation X, you probably remember the watches your father and grandfather wore. They were simple, fairly, slim, and they had plain faces and hash marks on the hours. In short, they were attractive, minimalist, and superbly functional. Fossil brings that look back in a more contemporary quartz package with a larger face more in keeping with today's fashion. The retro look of the Fossil Ansel works well.

3. Pulsar Men's Analog Dress Watch.  Silver on silver is one of the coolest color combinations on any man's watch. My old Pulsar does the job well. It's cool, competent, and perfect for job interviews. A watch doesn't have to scream for attention. Sometimes it can better serve you by standing competently in the background and adding to your aura of competence. Of course, in the right light, the dial of my Pulsar looks much like the dial of the more expensive, automatic, Ebel Classic 100.

 

4. Timex Weekender. Simple. Readable. Indiglo. Preppy. The $35 to $45 Timex Weekender looks like the watch you'd wear at your summer place in the Hamptons. It offers tons of preppy practicality in a non-snooty package. It's an affordable classic. Plus, the Swiss don't have Indiglo backlighting at one thousand times the price.

5. Armitron Diamond Men's Analog Dress Watch. Of course, not all classical watches are plain and functional. Some achieve a dramatic look with an accent jewel. For example, most Movados have a timeless elegance. At a sub-$100 price point, you might take a look at the Armitron Diamond series of watches. Mine has a deep brown face, accented with golden batons marking each hour, and a tiny diamond chip at 12 o'clock. It looks great, but not necessarily rich.

Classical designs have never gone away. They've just been waiting for you to stop playing SCUBA Steve, Racer X, and Johnny Fighter Pilot. If you are ready for a simple, elegant, timepiece that tells the time and looks professional, your classic watches are waiting.

Reviewing My New Pulsar Chronograph Watch

Over Christmas, I got an outstanding new watch.  It's a Pulsar Chronograph Dress Watch with Roman Numerals.  This watch (Model PT3399) has a silver on silver motif with vertical stripes of white on the dial.   It's a very classy and powerful watch.  Plus, Pulsar Chronograph Watches are made by Seiko!

Men's Pulsar Chronograph PT3399

This timepiece has quickly become one of my favorite watches for the office.  If you'd like to read my full review, you can read it here:

Wristwatch Review:  Men's Pulsar Chronograph Dress Watch with Roman Numerals

Pulsar PT3399 Chronograph with Locomotive in Marietta, Georgia