Pulsar P2 Date Command LED Uhr Astronaut

LED Uhr von Hamilton/Pulsar, etwa 1974. Hochwertige Ausführung in Edelstahl, Magnetverstellung.

Pulsar P2 Date Command L.E.D watch.

Brand: Time Computer Inc. (Pulsar)

Model: Pulsar P2

Type: LED

Year: 1973

Case Material: stainless steel

Band Material: stainless steel

Original Price: $395

Movement: Pulsar #2900

Features: 3 functions - hours, minutes, and seconds only

Although the Pulsar P1 gets credit for being the very first digital watch, it was a limited edition (of only 450) and the P2 was the first to digital watch to be produced in any significant number. The P2 entered the market with a huge splash in 1973 during the opening scenes of "Live and Let Die", the first James Bond movie starring Roger Moore.

The P2 was a very simple digital watch by today's standards. With its single button, it only had the capability to show the time (hours, minutes, and seconds) - no date, day of the week, stopwatch, alarm, or any other features were included. Still, the P2 was a technological breakthrough and is today considered by horological historians as the first entirely successful digital watch in history.

What made the P2 a success was the first use of large scale integrated (LSI) chip technology in a wristwatch. The first LED watch prototype that was shown by Hamilton at a press conference in May of 1970 had 44 discrete chips, each very simple. Only three prototypes existed and Hamilton struggled to keep at least one of them running for the duration of the one hour press conference. When the Pulsar P1 was introduced in mid 1972, the chip count was brought down to 25 but the module still had over 400 discrete connections. It proved again to be unreliable and was recalled within months. Although the Pulsar P1 was a historical landmark, it was not a technical or financial success. When the Pulsar P2 was introduced in 1973, it's Pulsar 2900 module replaced the entire arrangement of chips and connections with a single integrated circuit chip. This finally gave the digital watch the solid state reliability that designers had dreamed about and resulted in a design that was practical enough to build reasonably economically and reliable enough to wear. These factors are why the Pulsar P2 is now considered to be the very first successful digital watch.

Despite its limited capability, the stainless steel Pulsar P2 sold for $395 in 1973 - more than a Rolex Submariner which cost only $385 at the time. Despite the hefty price, the P2 became a highly coveted icon of the modern age. The elegant lines crafted by Hamilton's master watch case designer Jean Wuispchard made the P2 an instant classic. The Pulsar P2 found its way onto the wrists of a number of celebrities including Bill Bixby who wore his P2 on and off-screen, Peter Sellers, Jack Nicholson, and John Entwistle from The Who.

The P2 was available in two models, a stainless steel model called the "Astronaut" and a 14 KT gold filled "VIP" model. Solid gold models in 14KT and 18KT were also produced as a special order item.