Massive news as Bathys Hawaii debuts the World's first true Cesium Atomic Wristwatch.
Here's a snippet from the Press Release: World?s Most Accurate Wristwatch Debuted A self-contained Cesium Atomic Clock has been integrated into a wristwatch by US-based watch company Bathys Hawaii. The answer to the question ?Does anybody really know what time it is?? has been answered loud and clear ?Yes!? by the small Hawaii-based watch company Bathys Hawaii. Using state-of-the-art technology derived from the US military, watchmaker Dr. John Patterson and engineer George Talbot have successfully demonstrated a working prototype cesium atomic wrist watch capable of accuracy to 1 second in 1000 years. The new watch is called the ?Cesium 133?, named for the most stable isotope of the element. Unlike so-called ?atomic wrist watches? that use a radio signal generated by the US Government to keep accurate time, this new watch has its own self-contained Cesium source that generates the time signal independently. ?The technology found in this watch is something even a decade ago no one could imagine existing in such a small package? says Dr. Patterson. ?Within a single chip there is a laser, a heater, a sealed cavity of cesium gas, a microwave filter and a photodiode detector. Using the exact same principle of counting hyperfine lines of excited cesium 133 atoms used by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), our watch is able to achieve unprecedented levels of accuracy; on the order of 1 second per thousand years?. The prototype watch created by Patterson and Talbot is powered by rechargeable lithium batteries and the time is displayed on a traditional analog dial with a moonphase indicator. The watch at 60mm x 50mm x 23mm is large, but still fits comfortably on the wrist. Before the watch enters production, Patterson anticipates reducing the size and increasing the battery life. Plans are to release a limited edition of 20 watches in 2014 with an estimated MSRP of $12,000 each - not a bad price, but being on time will still be up to the owner. High resolution photos of the new Cesium 133 Watch can be found here: https://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c243/KauaiKane/bathys_csac2.jpg https://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c243/KauaiKane/Bathys_csac1.jpg
And the Youtube video (that racked up over 50,000 hits in one day!) is here:
Obviously we are stoked to be the first to use this new technology. We are already working to make the watch smaller, lighter and with more functions. This is a very exciting time here at Bathys Hawaii.
Here's a few more links if you're interested...
From Upstart Business Journal: https://upstart.bizjournals.com/news/technology/2013/10/01/bathys-announces-atomic-wristwatch.html
From CNET: https://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57605504-1/self-contained-atomic-clock-watch-may-be-worlds-first/
From our friends over at Gizmodo who've always been supportive of our little endeavor: https://gizmodo.com/this-atomic-clock-wristwatch-only-loses-a-second-every-1433827555?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmodo%2Ffull+%28Gizmodo%29
Even Discovery News! https://news.discovery.com/tech/gear-and-gadgets/wear-an-atomic-clock-on-your-wrist-131002.htm
If you'd like to stay abreast of the latest developments, please go to our contact page and join our Ohana List. Until then, you can bet on the fact we are working hard to get Gen 2.0 completed.
May 23, 2012
Big Congrats to long time Bathys Hawaii Ambassador Oscar Chalupsky for winning his 12th Molokai World Championship! Oscar is a machine, and he's been wearing a Benthic Pro Diver with a MOP Dial. He said, "I haven't taken it off in four years". I checked the watch over and aside from having worn off some of the paint, it looks and runs great. I asked Oscar how many miles he probably has paddled in those four years and he said "I don't know - thousands for sure".
Oscar asked for me to bring over a Benthic Ti ("the big one" as he called it), and he was smitten. I told him if we won I'd give him a kama'aina discount. He won, and we had to hook him up.
May 15, 2012
Good News! WE ARE NOW OFFERING FREE SHIPPING ON ALL OUR PRODUCTS TO OUR DOMESTIC CUSTOMERS. That will save you $20 just like that. (For international customers we've reduced the rate to $50 for EMS delivery.)
We had been giving everyone free shipping anyway for the last year or so, but we never remembered to mention it until now.
So there you go.
September 26, 2011
We now have the bracelets available. After several years of looking at samples, speaking with numerous bracelet manufacturers (which are their "own world" - quite separate from watchmakers), and getting many custom prototypes made and tested, finally we have something we can put our name on
. Why so much bother?
Well frankly most bracelets that met our quality standards would end up costing our customers $400 or more, and ones that were priced to our budget were, um, not-so-good. Some were OK, but not great. So finding a partner who could make a really nice bracelet specifically designed to match a Bathys watch, with all the other important features we wanted (like solid links, screw fasteners, folding locking clasp, etc) was a tall order.
Partnering with Matthey Time was the key to getting the bracelets we needed. The results speak for themselves: a strong but supple 3-link design. Every link is solid 316L steel. The folding clasp is substantial - note that we chose 1.9mm thick stainless bar stock for the clasp arms (vs 1.5mm typical), and 0.5mm steel for the overfold (vs. 0.3mm typical). We really sweat this stuff.
A hundred microns here, and hundred microns there; it adds up to a much nicer whole.
The bracelets come in versions for both the 100 Fathom series (including the 100F Quartz watch, the 100F Automatic watch, and the Aquaculture); and a separate version for the Benthic Professional Divers Watch. For each version you can choose between 316L steel ($165) or black PVD-coated 316L steel ($190. Our online store has the links to purchase one (or two). They dramatically change the look of the watch - pretty cool that.
People have been asking about the date for the garage sale - should be around the of end of November. It will consist of watches that are scratched, returns, even some ones with only very minor defects.
In a couple weeks we'll be getting an assortment of BATHYS HAWAII hats in stock. We had fun with this; making some trucker hats, some camo army hats, a blue camo safari hat, and my personal fave: black BATHYS beanies. Prices will be ~$20 + shipping. Destined to become highly-collectable.
OK that's all for now guys. Be sure to sign up for the Ohana List (under Contact Us) to get our crazy emails that we send out from time to time. Cheers.
August 4, 2011
Aloha Everyone!
Ok we are getting our swagger back and returning to our roots. No more chasing the retail dragon. For the foreseeable future Bathys Hawaii watches will be available online only. We have been blown away by the great response we got from our Ohana for the KALALAU promotion we did - we sold out every last 100F and Benthic Ti we had! MAHALO to da max!
Right now we are getting ready to launch Bathys Hawaii Ver 2.0. We'll have new, lower prices, more presence online and hopefully more cash to make more watches. We hired Alex Bensaid (who is staring at me right now - ok he stopped) to be our Director of Retail Services. He's French and way more organized than anyone we've had around herd before - and that might be a good thing. We'll see...
We'll be getting in more watches around August 22nd, and until then the pickings in the online store are rather thin. But the Lunar Midsize are available with a $100 disocunt if you use the discount code LUNAR100 at checkout.
After the new stock arrives, we will have all 100F Automatics and all Benthic Ti models available for the new online pricing. We are still working on the exact pricing structure, but prepare to be shocked. Only wish the dollar wasn't so weak against the Swiss Franc...
Also this Fall we will have a Garage Sale where we sell off some of the scratch-and-dents and demo watches we have for a good discount. No telling what will be in there.
Thanks for all the nice emails we've been getting lately. Glad to know you guys haven't forgotten us!
June 24, 2010
We woke up one day and realized we've been at this for exactly 5 years! Whoa. So to celebrate that we've made it through 5 years of stress, adversity, fun, pain, and growth we've decided to have our first-ever sale. From June 20th until July 31, 2010 if you purchase either any 100F automatic or Benthic Ti model you can pick up any of our Lunar Midsize watches for the insanely-low price of $200 - a savings of $495!
This sale is available online by using the discount code LUNA495 at check-out and it is also available through select dealers as well. We just received a new shipment of men's watches so we've got a good stock of both 100F automatics and Benthic Ti s. (sorry still no silver quartz 100 F yet...but we're working on it..)
Also make sure to venture over to our image archive for some nice new shots of the Bomb Timer
January 27, 2010
Here in the lab we are currently working on a design for the Bathys Bomb Timer. This watch is based on console mounted clocks of WWII Bombers such as the B17 and B29. After the war ended, some G.I.'s converted these clocks into wristwatches by adding a strap. We've decided to update this design using modern materials and the ETA 6948 manual-wind movement. Will release more details later in 2010, but for now here's a picture of the working design.
November 2009
Join Bathys Hawaii Owner John Patterson for an Event hosted by Little Treasury Jewelers in the Maryland/DC area on Nov 6th and 7th
For more information, please visit this link.
Join John Patterson at Ben Bridge Timeworks in Honolulu for a gala event hosted by Modern Luxury Magazine on Dec 10th.
Please join us for a night celebrating fine timepieces on the evening of Dec 10 from 6pm-9pm at the Ben Bridge Timeworks store. No invitation is needed to get in, though you will see a friendly gentleman at the door discouraging casual shoppers from wandering in. But tell him that "Dr. Patterson from Bathys Hawaii invited me personally"...and that ought to do it! Please give them a call at 808-951-5600 for more information.
March 17, 2009
Follow me behind the scenes as I Twitter from Baselworld: bathysclub.blogspot.com
August 17, 2008
Aloha, Starting immediately, I'll be posting the newest information and updates over on the Bathys Club Blog Site: bathysclub.blogspot.com This will be the place to find out what's going on in the world o' Bathys.
July 24, 2008
Aloha Everyone,
First off, my apologies that it has been so long since our last update
