Seiko TV Watch / Credit: Buzzufy
Japan has always been regarded highly for their creativity, from technology and media like their famous anime to watchmaking with companies like Citizen and Seiko. As far as watches go, Seiko, in particular, is beloved for their unique designs and technological innovation. One of which was once known as the smallest TV in the world and appeared in James Bond’s Octopussy! However, as far as watch nerds go, we know it by a different name, the Seiko TV Watch.
Development of the Seiko TV Watch supposedly started in 1980 and took several years and several million yen. The Seiko TV Watch was launched in 1982 and equipped with a 1.5 by 2-inch TV screen, along with: an FM radio, an alarm, a chronograph, and a calendar. It was quite the technical marvel for its time and designed to be carried around with headphones and a receiver unit. One would connect the receiver to the TV unit using a black cable that Seiko recommended be put through your sleeve. The timepiece also had surprisingly long battery time at 5 hours and the headphones could also be used as an antenna. The watch was priced at about $500 at the time, which was pretty expensive in the 1980s and even now for a Seiko. Nonetheless, people were curious about the watches functions and it became very popular.
In Octopussy, which was released in 1983, Bond is summoned by Q to take a look at some new equipment and uses the watch to zoom in on one of his co-worker’s chests before putting his tuxedo back on and leaving. In addition, the watch appeared in the Guinness World Record Book the following year, when it was officially recognized as the world’s smallest TV.
Although not as well known as some other vintage Seiko and most other Bond watches, the Seiko TV Watch played an important role in watch history, being a technological development that not many had predicted and set a precedent for wrist computers developed by the likes of Seiko and Casio throughout the 1980s, what many consider the original smartwatches.