The futuristic Seventies jumping-hour Digitrend watch from the Swiss brand Amida has been relaunched for the modern era.
The original watch was launched at Baselworld in 1976 and has now been recreated with several modern refinements.
The original watch had a mechanical movement – this was back when it was a more affordable alternative to the pioneering LED watches of the day.
Now, of course, LED would be less likely to impress your friends, and the new watch is mechanical because that is what the people want.
The new Digitrend has an automatic movement equipped with a specially developed jumping hour module, a sapphire prism for the side display, and digital readout.
The readout is an optical effect created by a prism-shaped crystal – the movement is horizontal, but the image of the hour and minute discs is displayed vertically.
This clever Light Reflecting Display system is patented by Amida and adds to the offbeat appeal of this watch.
The Digitrend’s stainless steel case measures 39.6mm wide and 39mm long. At its thickest, the case is 15.6mm, but it slopes down to 6mm at the pointy end. It is water-resistant to 50m, just in case.
The movement is an automatic Soprod Newton P092, with a jumping-hour disc developed in-house. It has a 44-hour power reserve.
The Amida brand dates to the 1920s, but it really made its name in the Seventies with the original Digitrend.
The brand is being relaunched by a pair of entrepreneurs: the Geneva watch designer Matthieu Allègre; and Clément Meynier, founder of car-obsessed French watch brand Depancel.
They are calling their first watch the “Take-off Edition”, and it will be available for limited pre-order period from May 28th, 2024.
Price: CHF 2,900.