PHOSPHOR APPEAR SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL MICROMAGNETIC MECHANICAL 2011
The Phosphor company was created with crowdfunding (around 2010/11) by a guy that worked for Fossil for many years. They had a motto "relentless pursuit of watches that integrate new technologies with compelling design" but they went bust around 2014. I hardly own any modern watches...but the Phosphor Appear (originally named Reveal) definitely got me intrigued with a breakthrough innovation and huge Wow! factor. It's really a one-of-a-kind M3D watch what stands for Micro-Magnetic Mechanical digital where time is presented by rotating digit segments/bars in a similar way to LED watches of the 1970's. As one blogger put it...it's a physical display digital watch presenting time with moving shiny Swarovski crystals....or real diamonds for custom models.
A few models were made available in different colors as well as case material ranging from polished steel, black PVD steel to nylon plastic. All very large with 44mm diameters. Most of them contain Swarovski dials which are just to pimpy or bling in my opinion. The black version shown above would definitely be Darth Vader's favorite watch but as it was not available in stores as decided to transplant a black dial with orange crystal segments... from a nylon version to a top quality PVD all steel case with screw back. Various designer reviews are available on the web for the Phosphor Appear but none of them bothered to see how this watch works. Still it's worth to watch and listen to the clicking sound of the flipping mechanical segments.
Mystery revealed! The 23 moving bars are affixed on tiny hinges to the dial and upon an electromagnetic impulse they click to show their bottom contrast side to indicate a numeral. Each bar has a tiny ferrite magnet mounted on the side which is attracted or repelled by 46 micro-electromagnetic coils placed under the dial (2 coils per bar). The coils with ferrite magnet centers are quite high so the module is 11mm thick to accomodate all of the components and the electro-magnets. The circuitry is sealed with epoxy to reduce shock and increase durability however some of the thin wires are exposed so I wonder what the longevity of the Phosphor Appear will be? Still, it's an uber-cool wristwatch! Extraordinary...but very power hungry what might have caused too many complaints/returns and killed the company.
Keywords: phosphor appear, reveal, phosphor crystal watch
Market value: 75-250$-5000$ (version, condition, box, Swarovski crystals or diamonds)