1972: a different way to read time.
Hamilton announced the Pulsar in 1970. The P1 reached the market in 1972, becoming the first commercially available electronic digital wristwatch. Guinness records its release on 4 April 1972. That is the year behind Digital Dawn.
Time appeared as illuminated numbers on a dark screen. For Hourworn, that change in how a watch communicates is the starting point: the moment electronics became something you could read on your wrist.
Red light, at the touch of a button.
The P1 combined quartz timekeeping with a red LED display. LED stands for light-emitting diode. Its display consumed enough power that it lit up on demand when the wearer pressed a button.
That small interaction gives our line, ‘The future at the touch of a button,’ its meaning. A glance at the time became a deliberate action: press, illuminate, read.
From the Pulsar to Digital Dawn.
Digital Dawn starts with the change from hands on a dial to an electronic display. I’m working through how that idea becomes a garment.
The Pulsar is the historical starting point. I’ll share Hourworn’s full interpretation closer to opening.
The current ERA.001 direction.
I’m keeping the full Digital Dawn artwork for closer to opening. Next I’ll try the design on a sample and work out the garment and print size. You can follow that work in the Studio.
What draws you to this chapter of watches: the red glow, the electronics, or the idea of wearing something that once looked like the future? That is the conversation we want this design to start.
Read the source.
Sources and references behind this note.
