Lip Diode Watch (Green)

Technology + design, French style

Description:

This Lip Diode watch is a retro tribute to the iconic 1975 LIP LED watch fashioned by the legendary industrial designer, Roger Tallon.

The TGV High Speed Train Also Designed By Roger Tallon

One glance at this watch and the hyper-minimalist yet highly functional design is obvious. Roger Tallon incorporated this desgin sensibility into hundreds of products including camera, furniture, televisions, drinking glasses, and most famously, the French TGV high speed train.

This watch is typically French. It's really beautiful and stylish but the display can be a bit hard to read from the side or in bright lighting and it sacrifices some functionality for the sake of design. To view the time you simply push the nice rounded button on the upper right, as expected. However, to view the date, you have to push a recessed button on the lower left. What were they thinking? The answer is that the module used on this watch is the same as that used in some other two button designs and rather than changing the module or adding a second button which would destroy the style on this watch, they used a recessed button. So, although this watch has the capability to display the date and seconds, for all practical purposes, it shows the time only. Sacrifices must be made in the name of fashion!

The Orignal 1975 (courtesy of www.theledwatch.com)

Despite these shortcomings, this is an easy watch to love because of the style. The integrated leather band is very comfortable and the inside is colored to match the accents on the watch - a nice touch. The clasp features a nice little green lightning bolt - another nice touch. The watch is also extremely well made and very solid.

If you want an original 1975 Lip diode watch, you should be prepared to shell out $1000 or more if you can find one. They are extremely rare. This modern remake is a sensible alternative. Another significant advantage of the the new watches is that they are available in colors that weren't possible in the 1970s because of advances in LED technology. The new diode watches are available with displays that light up in red, green, blue, and orange.

Condition:

This Lip diode watch is in excellent, almost new condition. There's really not much to say about the condition since it is effectively new. This watch also comes with its beautiful original leather case and (slighly confusing) printed instructions.

Case: Excellent.
Almost new.

Face / Hands: Excellent.
All LED digits and segments are complete and bright.

Crystal: Excellent.
Almost new.

Band / Bracelet: Excellent.
The leather band shows a few slight wrinkles (less noticeable than in the photos) as you would expect for any leather band that has been worn even just a few times.

Function / Accuracy: Excellent.
All functions work perfectly. Digital quartz accuracy, although these modern quartz watches are slightly less accurate than high end vintage watches like Pulsar.