E-ink Watches - Watches That Stand Out

E-ink watches are the latest development in wristwatches, using the latest development in electronic displays. There have been many developments in watch design before, but this one is visually a very big change indeed, it could be the biggest. Previously the LED watches of the seventies caused a big change in watch appearance. Now it is the turn of the e-ink display to be the catalyst for a whole new range of wristwatch designs.

Previous changes in technology, although producing different ways of displaying the time, did not have a significant effect on the size of the display, they remained much the same. E-ink has changed the size and appearance considerably. Watch designers have been given possibilities to explore, this has produced some radical new watch designs.

Electronic ink or e-ink is a proprietary material that is processed into a film for integration into electronic displays. This revolutionary concept, electronic ink, fuses chemistry, physics and electronics to create this new material.

Designers of watches are making use of the fact that large curved e-ink displays can be formed now. Designers have used this to produce a range of wristband style watches, where the display curves around the wrist. The results are some very futuristic looking watches that will surely be seen in science fiction films shortly. But unlike the the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which prompted the production of the LED watch featured in it, these watches are available for you to buy first.

At present displays have been in black and white or grayscales, but later color E-ink displays available now will surely make their way into watches too. Presently the e-ink displays you are most likely to have seen are not in watches, but more likely to be found in e-readers such as Amazon's Kindle reader.

Another advantage of this latest type of digital display is its low power consumption. E-ink displays are what is known as bi-stable, once displayed it requires little or no power to maintain it, power is mainly used in the process of changing a display. A display can remain for weeks or months at little energy cost. This is particularly useful for e-readers, but also helps in watch displays too.

Watch design in these new wristwatches as wristbands has unisex appeal in many watches on offer at present. The color of wristband watches is probably going to determine their appeal to different groups for now, but designs aimed at men and women are bound to follow.

E-ink displays are supposed to look like that of printed material, easy to read because of a high contrast between black and white. Because of the way these displays work it is possible to change the polarity, so you have the choice of black text on a white background or vice versa. With a bigger display than other watches even without backlighting watches are easily read in most conditions.

Now, if you want a watch to stand out, the radical new design of e-ink watches will appeal to you. Designs are suitable for both men and women. Take a look at these unisex e-ink watches here.