Interesting re-edition of the world’s first solar powered watch, first shown in Baselworld in 1976. This reproduction is made up to date with new tech, including a red OLED display.
Press Release information with commentary in italics.
New: Neprosolar 1976 by Alatron
The Neprosolar 1976 by Alatron will have a Swiss public price of CHF 690. Available end May.
Commentary
Curious looking watch, looking exactly like it has time travelled from the late 1970s. The angular design, the red LED, except that it is not an LED, but a recreation using an OLED panel. A solar patch sits on the toberlone-shaped case with the display on the other side. Very retro-cool.
The case is in stainless steel, and the movement is quartz with a rechargeable, solar powered battery. We are not sure the efficacy of the solar panel. Or if it will actually last the 10 hours to 3 years claimed. This is a very wide specification for the power reserve of a battery.
And even cooler is the box which it comes in. An aluminium cylinder which opens up like some futuristic space movie from the 70s. Very cool.
Pricing seems to be very reasonable, at below CHF 700, it is very competitive compared to the GP Casquette 2.0, which lacks solar power and uses an actual LED panel, but goes for CHF 4.5k. Another watch in the same vein is the Bulova Computron, which is solar powered, runs on an LED panel and goes for USD 450. The solar panel is likely to be sourced from their parent company Citizen, the world leader in solar powered watches. Here is an interesting site with lots of information on LED watches, and others using unusual technology.
Release details
First introduced at the 1976 Basel Fair, Neprosolar is back 50 years after its creation with its timeless avant-garde design, like a back to the future.
Already being snapped up in a special edition by the famous Bamford London label, the ultimate in personalized watches for crazy collectors and trendsetters around the world, the Neprosolar 2025 is in its originally designed look now also available directly from the manufacturer’s website (www.neprowatch.com).
A timeless design meets cutting-edge tech
Retro-elegance: authentic, completely loyal to its original 1976 design which remains as contemporary as ever after 50 years, the Neprosolar 2025 has just been wholly reconstructed: the time display and the time control system has been developed together with Dynamic Motion, a La Chaux-de-Fonds company renowned for its mastery of the most advanced electronic technologies and expertise in custom-made developments. As for its photovoltaic microcell and its rechargeable battery, they maximize the solar energy capture and storage performance.
A son’s homage to a father
This very up-to-date model has its origins in the private and personal pages of a family watchmaking story that began over 50 years ago with Dr. Paolo Spadini, a key figure in the early days of quartz watches and miniature alarm clocks: his son Daniele Spadini, a discreet entrepreneur in watchmaking suppliers for leading names, left no stone unturned to ensure that the resurrection of the Neprosolar 1976 edition could, for one last spark, put a smile on his father’s face just before his final departure. Success!
Right down to the detail of its purely watchmaking finishing touches, the Neprosolar embodies accessible Swiss excellence: the brushed and polished steel of its case and the machined bracelet links, its 3-atmosphere water resistance and its red OLED display in the pure spirit of the 70s make it a truly desirable piece. A timepiece whose memory is unlikely to be erased, thanks to its unique box display, a so looked-like time-capsule that was definitively able to protect this design for almost 50 years and that further illustrates this time journey and back to the future.
A single touch of the right activator illuminates the red OLED display with an hour and minute display that can be set to 12 or 24-hour mode and that indicates seconds with a flashing colon; a second shows the day and month; a third the year; pressing a last time reveals a line of four bright dots, which gradually decrease in length as the energy runs out.
The battery has an approximate zero-to-full solar recharge rate of around 20 hours. If the display is activated 10 times a day without solar recharge, the battery will discharge in around 500 days. The Neprosolar is delivered in an aluminium cylinder, whose nostalgic look is reminiscent of those time capsules sending a message from the past to the future.
Nesprosolar 1967 Technical specifications
Type: Neprosolar 1976 Edition
Case: 36.2mm Steel, 316l AAA
Case back: Steel, 316l AAA
Case Thickness: 11mm
Movement: Quartz, rechargeable battery, solar-powered
Display: OLED, red
Functions: Time, date and power reserve indicator
Battery Life: 10 hours to three years, depending on usage. Full recharge time 20 hours.
Glass: Mineral Crystal
Bracelet: Multi-link stainless steel
Water Resistance: 3 ATM
