1982 marked the debut of this wonder, Seiko’s TV wristwatch. The watch featured a 1.1” blue-scale LCD display (in other words, a basically black & white screen) on which you could watch a favorite show. There was some ugliness behind the glamour, though. In order to operate in TV mode, you had to attach a plug onto the watch that led to a control box / tuner. The control box was about the size of a cassette walkman (which you’ll soon see in all its glory on RetroGadget) and was also the sole source of sound, which you listened to via headphones. The control box was meant to be stowed away inconspicuously and unobtrusively in an inside jacket pocket, while the connecting wire ran through your sleeve.

The Seiko TV watch was popularized in the 1983 James Bond film, Octopussy, which actually featured the watch with a full-color display, courtesy of some Hollywood special effects magic.

Only recently has there been another attempt at putting a TV on one’s wrist. Japanese electronics giant NHJ has a full-color 1.5” TFT model that doesn’t require all the subversive wiring and control box.