The Untold Story of Seiko’s other Digitals : Pulsar, Alba and Lorus

The Pulsar Time Computer was the first electronic digital watch available in 1972, but its acquisition by Seiko in 1979 marked the downfall of the digital watch industry in the US and Switzerland. However, Seiko's commitment to innovation in technology led to the revival of Pulsar, Alba, and Lorus brands, allowing for experimentation and unique designs. The initial offerings of Pulsar and Alba were affordable versions of Seiko's main brand watches, and while they maintained the branding of the original Pulsar, it didn't quite land.

Seiko and its Pulsar brand made early innovations in the digital watch market with the Y739 calculator watch, Y651 Dimension II, and double layer LCDs in the Y951 and Y950. Seiko also introduced sporty options like the Y771 and Lorus brand, and experimented with gaming watches under its Alba and Pulsar ranges. However, the brand never fully embraced novelty gaming watches like its rival Casio, and instead left that domain to Nelsonic.

In the mid-80s, the Lorus thin Solar watch was a high points, and Lorus had a version of the Seiko A829 Rotocall range that was worn by astronauts in space. The 1985 thin solar digital watch claimed to be the world's first batteryless solar digital LCD watch. In the early 90s, sports watches revived with the introduction of the Indiglo electroluminescent backlight technology to the Ironman Triathlon range. This led to the introduction of the hyper-tech range and models like the Lorus Marine Tech, Alba Racing Pro, V081, V083, V084, and V085.

The rise of the action-oriented surf style culture in the 1990s led to the emergence of youth brands such as Alba and Spoon, which offered a range of watches with various designs, including collaborations with anime character designers and surfers. Other sub-brands such as Vividigi and Alba Wired also emerged in the 2000s, offering unique liquid crystal displays and Tokyo-themed designs.

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1:23 Revival and a New Dawn : Pulsar and Alba Beginnings
3:58 Sports watches
5:44 Novelty Watches
7:20 90s Sport
10:30 Getting Hyper
12:32 Youth Focus (Spoon , AKA)
15:06 Lorus Fusion
16:06 Wired