Hanko watch a design nerd's joy
(Credit:
Tokyoflash)
Sure, you could buy a regular watch that displays the time in a regular way, but where's the fun in that? You're a nerd (you're reading Crave) and you want to be different. So you probably already know about Tokyoflash watches.
The latest is the $99.62 Hanko, and it's a design nerd's joy. The stainless steel watch is named after a form of Japanese stamp art it resembles and it's very simple object-wise, with nothing on the face save the black acrylic lenses. Behind these lenses is an array of LEDs that indicate the time when the action button is pressed.
The lights chase around the face, finally ending in a three-light position that tells you the current time. The inside lens is the hour, the outside the five-minute increments watches normally have, and the middle field is the number of minutes past that. Thus the illustration above shows 5:42.
Sure there's a learning curve, but if you learned how to tell time on a traditional clock face you should be able to learn on the Hanko, too. It's attractive enough on its own, but the added fun of bewildering people with your time-telling abilities makes this a fun watch as well as a stylish one.
With more than 15 years experience testing hardware (and being obsessed with it), Crave freelance writer Matt Hickey can tell the good gadgets from the great. He also has a keen eye for future technology trends. Matt has blogged for publications including TechCrunch, CrunchGear, and most recently, Gizmodo. E-mail Matt. 
