Some of my favorite gadgets.


I remember buying an "Advance" brand watch at Zayre store in the 1980s and I liked it so much I went back to buy a spare but they were out and I never did find another one- even after months of asking about another one. The original price was about $50 and on clearance it was approx $15 - and they had 2 left at the time I bought 1. Eventually the store closed and I kept that watch in a drawer and occassionally used it. I made the mistake of wearing it when I was working and accidently broke that watch (which I still have) and thanks to the internet and ebay - I was able to find a replacement many years later.


Here is a photo of my replacement watch. It is actually nicer than my broken one. It is silver and is mostly metal- while my old broken one was black plastic with a white face. The name brand is different but the watch is the same. Same shape , same screen, same keypad, same perpetual caladar and alarm. It is just a rebranded identical watch.


What is very unusual about this watch is it shows a full month of calandar days. With the next month - the calander on the lcd jumps a litle to the left or right of the previous position on the screen. It is reusing some of the lcd numbers - but filling in the rest. It is really hard to describe - this onscreen perpetual calander. It is so cool that everyone I show says "that is a really a neat watch."


I bought a couple of them on ebay and some were broken and others missing parts. I finally found a good one. The ironic thing is that it wasnt expensive on ebay. It took years of searching to find it (the word advance is too common a word and makes finding it difficult. Searching for MBO is much easier and produces more results) . I suppose it was in someones drawer - practically unused for many years. Its not valuable to anyone but me. I'm glad to have it. Its one of my favorite things.


I tried to upload a few photos but for some reason my paid webhost's server is not uploading my pictures. Probably because its 3AM as I writing this and they are probably doing maintenance like backups or some other task (like sleeping?). I'll upload those next time.


Heres the ebay listing I bought it from Apr 07, 2014

ebay#   201049538057


It is amazing what you can find on ebay - the search engine there cross references everything very well. Google search also works very well. I'm so glad I'm usually at the top of the first page on Google searches. I try to maintain my site and update it.


Details

My old calculator watch brand " Advance " (L24 model) black plastic

My replacement calculator Watch brand  " MBO " (4754 model) mostly silver metal but some parts plastic


Above pictured Advance L24 watch (on the right - see its unique perpetual calendar) The keys are rubber and my bottom right button broke off when I brushed up against a box while squishing my way through a warehouse crowded with boxes. It is not tough enough for everyday use. I suggest it only be used for your "Sunday Best" and not for everyday work. I am relieved to have found a replacement 30+ years later. (The watch on the left is not applicable to this article - just a random watch - thats all) I couldnt find my original pictures - my hard drive crashed and I lost everything last year - so I just found a photo to show you.

The following ad shows where I bought my watches from. One is not working - I intend to put the "guts" of my working watch with a broken rubber key and mashed in plastic corner - I will put the guts of this working watch into the nonworking watch I bought with a good case and keypad.
The above is the bigauctionsite listing that I bought my watch from. I blanked out ads and sellers user name.


Ok my webhost site is now working again for uploads. My old ebay listing expired so the picture is not there anymore - but here are some photos of this model of watch. Some are black with a white face, some are silver color, some are gold color. But the main thing is the calendar - it works very amazing - it reuses the center columns of numbers - on some months - the first column is there and the calnedar is shifted to the left. On some months the calendar is shifted all the way to the right. It reuses the same LCD numbers on the center columns. SOmeone was a genius to figure that out and make a watch that has EVERY calendar month on a permanently etched LCD screen - they just illumunate the columns that are applicable to that month.

Having a calendar is very very useful for scheduling your time and knowing which day (Sat, Sun, Mon) a calendar day will fall on.

Advance also had a more bulky watch - that one broke too when I hammering 30+ years ago and the internal screen cracked. I have never found that watch I think it was an Advance watch - and trying to search online for a generic word like Advance is like trying to find "laptop computer" or "laser computer" - those are real name brands - impossible to search for in this millenium. Companies should pick names that are not common words - otherwise they are unfindable on the internet.

If i knew the model of Advance watch - then it might be findable.




Contact Information

Pete (847) 454-7858 between 11am and 7pm daily