Sanyo Digital Watches: A Blast from the Past

Рет қаралды 9,361

Күн бұрын

I give you Sanyo digital watches - a small niche within Japanese digital watchdom from a previous giant within the consumer electrical appliance and electronics field that produced some fun watches during the 70s and 80s. We will cover a good dose of their more general history growing out of Panasonic, and then deep dive into their LED and LCD watch catalog covering solar digital watches (with their amorton technology) , calculator watches (that built off their calculator business that competed with the likes of Casio) , radio watches (they were pioneers in radio) and more oddities.
Intro: 0:00
Early Matsushita history: 0:32
Founding of Sanyo: 1:31
Moving to the US: 3:06
Calculators: 3:46
LED watches - The Pulsar deal: 4:35
First LCD Watches: 5:01
Alarm watches: 5:44
Calculator Watches: 5:59
Radio watches: 6:20
Sanyo V: 6:42
Sports watches: 7:01
Slim watches: 8:25
Memory watches: 8:49
Analog and Pseudo Analog: 9:27
Solar: 9:43
I hope you enjoy the video!
Should you be enjoying the content and would like to support the channel - why not considering buying me a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/Illumina...

Пікірлер: 89

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

If you enjoyed this video on Sanyo - another similar brand is Ricoh that I covered here -> kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g-CjoMSfrLm7h4k.html

@degenerateWA 2 жыл бұрын

I want nothing more than to go back to the 80's now after watching this. The tunes, visuals, and history: all outstanding. Really appreciate all of the effort that goes into these productions🤘 Do I want to try my hand at retro calculator collecting? No... Crazy right?... Right?

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

I can see you now cruising down the road in your Sinclair c5 with your Walkman on and stopping off to do a few sums on your Sanyo solar calculator

@garethsigrist8714 2 жыл бұрын

Another great guide to a lesser known corner of the world of watches! I love that pseudo analog one 😍 Awesome work as always 👏👏👏👏

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks man! An obscure one but I thought it deserved a bit of deeper dive . Was challenging to try and weave a narrative together as there is minimal info on a lot of it!!

@KillingTimeWithNorman Жыл бұрын

Those crazy space-aged 'go kart' things were awesome! Kiler vid!

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

Thanks Norman. Ha ha yes you’ve got to love the craziness of Clive Sinclair - a bit of a British icon

@ednammansfield8553 Жыл бұрын

This video is really interesting especially as I didn't know that Sanyo produced digital watches. I always remember Sanyo did make radios, calculators and other domestic items as well as computers. Great research again and loved the content on this one 👏

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

That was also my impression of Sanyo - loved digging into the history of lesser known digital watch company

@marcelovasconcellos6067 2 жыл бұрын

Epic! Will now have to include Sanyo while I peruse Casiotron listings.

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Ha ha see you on the eBay battlefield!

@zillsburyy1 Жыл бұрын

8:36 i like that color of orange and thin AF!

@Daud76 2 жыл бұрын

5:59 My childhood calculator watch. Only mine had a blue border on crystal. Nice video, friend! Very well presented and their early history especially interesting. 😊

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thankyou! I really had to piece this one together as information thin on the ground. Was fun detective work!

@Daud76 2 жыл бұрын

@@IlluminatingWatches Most welcome. Your investigation skills are tops. 🔎

@cuckooforwatches382 2 жыл бұрын

Love all the information packed into this vid! Great stuff 👏

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thankyou! Ha ha they are definitely packed - I do try to cram in everything I can.

@christopherjohnson4276 2 жыл бұрын

All these videos are packed with good stuff. I will be rewatching this and searching ebay simultaneously later in the day 😆. Great job as always 👍 👏 ⌚

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Much appreciated! Yes I do pack a lot in. Can’t help myself. Just get pulled down rabbit holes - but I would guess most people viewing my videos are similar!

@eastcoastwatchconnection7949 2 жыл бұрын

I’m so glad I found this channel. Subscribed for life!

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks man! Saw your comments as you proceeded down the rabbit hole this morning and it made my morning!

@zsedc23 2 жыл бұрын

I see a big work behind this videos. Great job. Keep doing that! Thanks a lot.

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thankyou very much!!

@watchsixto 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome work mate definitely forgot about Sanyo watches forgot they put out awesome watches

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I learned loads. Watches a good excuse to learn about all sorts of things!

@dude8093 Жыл бұрын

WOW! Awesome video! what a pleasant surprise! Well done! Subscribed! I have a Sanyo chrono with a mini solar panel that i have just replaced to batery of! What a beaut! I have just figured out how to set the time. Now is the figuring out of how to set the correct day and make sure i didnt set a bunch of alarms by accident!

@dude8093 Жыл бұрын

10:57 Thats my watch! on the left!

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

Thankyou and welcome to the channel. Sanyo watches definitely not one of the most comprehensively covered niches of watch world, even digital watch world!

@dude8093 Жыл бұрын

@@IlluminatingWatches I agree! I still havent figured out how to set the day of the week.

@nikcopool6017 2 жыл бұрын

Never saw a review of watches like sanyo. I have three of those watches mentioned in the video, still in perfect condition. In fact, I was very pleased to see that there are those who remember Japanese manufacturing before the Chinese saturation. Very good video, thanks 👍😊👍👍👍..

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much! Pleased to showcase a brand that a lot of folks are less familiar with

@hitmiccs 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Love the history lesson - Sanyo watches are a little rarer to find, but it seems it's worth waiting to find one :)

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Much appreciated! Yes I actually like the one I’ve got.

@JulianM_Col 2 жыл бұрын

Catching up with your recent videos. I'm glad to see that the quality and depth of your research and material just keep increasing, as well as your subscribers, although I think that your videos deserve waaay more subs and likes. Sanyo was omnipresent in third world countries, their radios were cheap and resistant, and their logo is burned in my memories from the 80s. Amazing solar digital watches. Thanks for sharing!

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thankyou so much! Been working hard on the next video too , so hope you enjoy! Took a bit longer than expected!

@JulianM_Col 2 жыл бұрын

@@IlluminatingWatches I'm really looking forward to see your review of the best digital watch ever made, the cosmophase. What an amazing find! Regards

@jameslo303 2 жыл бұрын

The scientific calculator watch on the left at 6'13" is probably the best looking calculator watch I've ever seen

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

It’s a beauty ! But I tilt towards the citizen or orient ones.

@iandavidson99 2 жыл бұрын

You make the BEST watch KZfaq videos!

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Very kind! Not sure about the best, but hopefully I provide something a bit different !

@TickSweep 2 жыл бұрын

Great! really interesting stuff as always

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thaaaanks man

@momoiunder17 2 жыл бұрын

マニアックなサンヨーの時計を紹介する数少ない動画です。素晴らしい！

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

ありがとう！

@TimeToGoTravelAndTimepieces 2 жыл бұрын

This is great. Nice work!

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks man - much appreciated!

@stalkingwatcheschannel 2 жыл бұрын

Outstanding history lesson mate, their multifunction line was definitely interesting.

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Thankyou! With some of those multifunction watches it was difficult to tell 100% if they were legitimate or not - would love to have further info but not seen any catalogs or anything

@WesWatchRoom 2 жыл бұрын

Japan was really at the forefront of the digital watch revolution and that's awesome. Great work with this one mate, definitely an interesting and educational one.

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Ha ha thanks you never know when you may need to know about Japanese consumer electronics industry !

@yerkodiegoborjakvessitchva2183 2 жыл бұрын

HEY , HELLO MY FRIEND . HOW DO YOU DO ? ! ! : 😊👋☺ HOWEVER OR , OR ALWAYS , YOUR VIDEOS ARE AMAZING . I LOVE TOO THE DIGITAL LINE WATCHES SANYO...NO COMMENT . YOU KNOW . SO LIKE THE DOCUMENTAL HISTORY AND RISSING OF THIS JAPANESSE WATCH , SANYO ; THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR SERVICE . GRETTINS FROM SPAIN , MY FRIEND . CARE YOU SO MUCH ! ! . 😉👍 👋😊

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome Thankyou! Much appreciated.

@michaelturner4457 2 жыл бұрын

I used to have a Sanyo video-8 camcorder, and a Sanyo cassette walkman.

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Love old consumer electronics tech from the 70s-90s!

@zillsburyy1 Жыл бұрын

sanyo CX8C2 i think i had one of those in grade 8 in 1995

@lund905360 2 жыл бұрын

I love Japanese watches sanyo and richo and casio Orient citizen Seiko .

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

You clearly have great taste! Hope to do a video on Ricoh soon

@mountainjay 6 ай бұрын

I used to have a cool Sanyo radio watch with a headphone jack

@tuliodossantos9757 Жыл бұрын

Boa matéria parabéns

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

muito obrigado!

@hvrijsse 2 жыл бұрын

Didn't see my stainless steel Sanyo ana-digi, but it's impossible for you to show them all, of course.

@IlluminatingWatches 2 жыл бұрын

Do send me a picture on Instagram if you can!

@hvrijsse 2 жыл бұрын

@@IlluminatingWatches Done. Never use Instagram, but I remembered that someone once abused my e-mail address to create an account. Activated that one.

@BarnOwl61 Жыл бұрын

Very interesting item, but you must do something about the background music/noise. It is too loud and annoying.

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

Thankyou! Yes a few people commented the same so in more recent videos I’ve dialled down the background audio

@artvandeco4135 Жыл бұрын

hi, interesting vid on the sanyo's. I have a 200m snorkel diver watch which has a odd pill shaped battery...do you have any idea where i can get a replacement for that?

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

Thankyou! No sorry I don’t. The vintage digital watches facebook group may be a good place to ask if you share photos

@artvandeco4135 Жыл бұрын

@@IlluminatingWatches thanks for your quick reply. I have glued 2 small batteries together and fitted them with some blutac and the watch sprang into life. Everything works including the alarm so very happy.

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

Oh wow! You are clearly much more practical than me. I would have never tried that

@sum_amoggy107 Жыл бұрын

I have the same watch as seen at 8:00 - the 200M 'Snorkel' watch is model D200 and also have a similar 100M 'Sailboat' watch which is a D100. Both stainless steel, very nice. Barely any information about them after a good Google search. For the batteries I did the same and stacked 2x 315 batteries together and sandwiched in with foam or blutac. Great video BTW these Sanyo's don't get enough attention!

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

Thankyou! I felt there was definitely a gap on KZfaq on Sanyo watches so was happy to put something out there

@piotrekes Жыл бұрын

..any clue what was the name of the SANYO Amorphous watch , rather thin with the top right corner amorhpous battery , I had one back then , however it is gone and would love to find the same again...Cheers PS imitating black leather strip , dimentions 4x2 cm i suppose ......

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

Sorry not sure. Would be worth checking kokopellis Instagram as he has a big Sanyo solar collection and may be in there

@piotrekes Жыл бұрын

@@IlluminatingWatches Thank you

@sparkyguy6603 Жыл бұрын

i have a sanyo stainless steel watch with a calculator and alarm cant find the same one on the internet of the same colour found it clearing my dads old storage im only 21 so have no idea on this watch beacuse its like 35 years old

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

Ooooh cool! There are some lesser spotted Sanyos as it’s a less documented brand. Would love to see a photo if you are on Instagram

@victormedinaaguirre6887 Жыл бұрын

Please watches Yamaha reviow thanks from Lima Perú

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

I didn’t even know they made watches! Hi from the UK!

@kawataufik5098 Жыл бұрын

And for two to 3 hours the watch man put upside down the battery one battery put mina cê to positive if any damage he did anyone help me

@kawataufik5098 Жыл бұрын

I had Sanyo battery bought in year 2000 in 2022 I charged last was working no problem even all outside and button rusty I cleaned up ok not AA AND AAA BATR

@zeongr Жыл бұрын

I have one writing SANIO SPORT MELODIES CHRONO. Is this Sanyo or fake???

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

I don’t know actually! Don’t think I’ve come across it

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

I don’t know actually! Don’t think I’ve come across it

@edwardfletcher7790 Жыл бұрын

Sanyo was a rebranding exercise from the early 80's on. Aren't all of these watches rebranding of Casio modules and other companies ? Just like their TV's & even their VCR's were made by Sony. Matsushita is pronounced "Mat sush ta" The music is far too loud and annoying, it competes with and overwhelms your voice !

@IlluminatingWatches Жыл бұрын

Yes they seemed have less going on into the 80s. The Amorton technology was cool though. If you look for mispronunciations of Japanese words in my videos you will have a field day! Yes I’ve dialled down the music more recently after receiving similar feedback. Always learning!

@edwardfletcher7790 Жыл бұрын

@@IlluminatingWatches Thanks for responding in such a positive way 👍😆

@spankface 4 ай бұрын

What's the name of the 1st song playing at the beginning of the video

@kawataufik5098 Жыл бұрын

Any one know about the Sanyo LED MINE show number tes but watch not count not start stay in 10:00 any help or place KZfaq to explain my Facebook kawa taufeek