Phosphor World Time Curved E Ink watch

Big boy

The irony, of course, is that with no moving parts beyond the battery hatch and a single control button which pivots over two switches, the Phosphor has no moving parts. The front may be large, but the face itself - the aforementioned E Ink display - is just 18 x 30mm.

 

Dual-time mode (left) and calendar mode

Even more ironically, perhaps, the watch's oblong shape, coupled with the simplicity of its design, the 'big numbers' digital display and the way the body actually curves around your wrist give it something of a feminine look entirely at odds with its manly bulk.

"Looks a bit girly," said the missus when I showed it to her. Maybe 'metrosexual' would be a better description. It's certainly going to find favour among American Apparel customers.

Watches live or die by their design, but the use of E Ink gives the Phosphor geek appeal too. It's not the latest word in the screen technology, but it's good to see numbers change rapidly and smoothly when you're setting the watch for the first time.

 

Big Time (left) or Small Time - the choice is yours. It says here

But you get the inevitable 'black flash' when you switch between the watch's five display modes - or 'white flash' if you've selected the grey-on-black view. It's telling, perhaps, that there's no seconds readout.