It's the year 1976, what watch would you be wearing?
It's 1976, you drive a stylish new powder blue Lincoln Continental Mark IV Givenchy designer edition coupe. It's the year of the "personal luxury car" and Brougham-tastic transportation.
Making news in 1976, Disco is in full swing, Jimmy Carter voted President-Elect. Wide-lapels, bell bottom pants, polyester track suits are in fashion and jogging becomes a fad. It's the USA's Bicentennial celebration year, and in the movies, the first of the Rocky series is released.
Over the summer, Nadia Comaneci scores perfect 10s in Olympic gymnastics for Romania, and Bruce Jenner wins the Men's decathalon and brings home the gold medal for the USA from the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
What watch do you think you'd be wearing? In '76 LED displays were all the rage, with LCD technology gaining in popularity. Attached is one of my picks. (And one I actually own)
Now there are a lot of Crunchies that were born well after '76, so please, I'd love to hear based on what oldsters in your life had mentioned about that era, what you imagine you'd be wearing as well!
"Gotta have that watch!" Obsessive - Retro-Futurist - "Old-Age" Intellectual - Artificial Stupidity (AS) researcher - Darwin Award Honorable Mentions 2008, 2021 - Poet Low-rate and past winner of the...
Is this when the Royal Oak was actually current styling? It must have looked contemporary back then.
Timex ruled in Canada with cheap mech's while the digitals were too expensive. Most digital clocks at the time were flapping plastic cards.
Timex ruled in Canada with cheap mech's while the digitals were too expensive. Most digital clocks at the time were flapping plastic cards.
In '76, a 5th Grade classmate wanted to sell me a hand wound Timex for $5. The deal didnt go down. 😂
This one-which I bought new in 1976 and have owned it ever since. Restored a few years ago with OEM dial and bezel.
Before restoration
After restoration
As a Brit the world was very different to over the Atlantic.... I was 6 , my Heroes were Evel kneivel, Eddie Kidd and most of all Barry Sheene had won the World Champion title in motorcycle Grand Prix (& is still sadly our most recent Champ, & still my Hero).
I was wearing a wind up Timex (my first watch) which I later smashed up to see all the little cogs and stuff inside. My Dad had one of the first LED digital watches.
Just before Christmas '76, a 5th grade classmate showed up one morning wearing this: A TI Model 500! I went out to the local mall department store and bought a simliar TI 500 as well (below) . $21.95 (approx), I believe I paid. Emptied my savings !😂
TI would have made bank if it produced these with the flags of export countries on them.
If you were the sportin' type (and had the money) you might have been driving the car in the first pic and/or wearing the watch in the second:
1976 Porsche 911 Targa and 1972 Porsche Design Orfina (automatic?) chrono.
Since I was -10 years old in 1976, nothing. For purposes of the thought experiment, I'll go with my grandfather's Mido Multistar II:
Since I was -10 years old in 1976, nothing. For purposes of the thought experiment, I'll go with my grandfather's Mido Multistar II:
Very Cool, my Dad was wearing this when I was 10: Timex Q quartz
Speedmaster Professional. I hadn't lost it yet
1976 Lincoln Continental Mark IV Givency interior, now thats a luxury cockpit! Rides like a leather marshmallow ! 😂
Perfectly timed post, as I'm actually wearing the 1975 Texas Instruments Model 101 today!
To be quite literal, if the year is 1976, I'm not wearing a watch at all, since I won't be born until 1977. But in a cosmic sense, I think I'm always sort of wearing this thing.
This one-which I bought new in 1976 and have owned it ever since. Restored a few years ago with OEM dial and bezel.
Before restoration
After restoration
Damn, she's beautiful. Looks amazing.
I had one!
Hashtag metoo.
I was born in Nov 1974 so for most of the year I would’ve be only 1. So I’m approaching this like what would an adult version of me wear in 1976.
I dig the 70s color palette. I also probably would’ve rocked an older watch because I prob wouldn’t have had the money for digital nor would I be someone who was into trends.
I’m going with a handed down Doxa 300, In professional orange of course.
Mickey Mouse from Bradley Time....seeing that I was only 10 years old then.
From my US cultural perspective, I think I had it hammered in to me from an early age that big government economic solutions will tend to fail, and through inaction I have encountered few instances where they have actually succeeded. And I'm sure there are privatization schemes that have failed to live up to their expectations, that may be inconvenient truths to those who think the free market is the natural solution.🙄
Imo all depends on the sector and nature of the business. For the overwhelming majority of businesses state ownership is a non-starter but for some which are really hard to regulate like utilities and natural monopolies it's less clear cut - water supply, rail services, energy.
Also some massive European private companies started with significant state investment even if it's much smaller these days. E.g. Airbus and VW.
In 1976, I would have been 7 years old, so I didn't have a watch at all. I got my first watch (a Texas Instruments Model 550) at the age of 10 in 1979. So if I had been gifted a watch at the age of 7, I would imagine it would have been one of the TI watches that have already been mentioned in the replies above. 😀
Since we're doing this on an imaginary basis, I guess if I was the 54-year old me of today, somehow transported back to 1976, I would take $300 or so, and go buy myself a Rolex GMT Master Ref. no. 1675. That's the beauty of retro; Rolexes were in vogue, but the prices weren't astronomically high like they are today. 😎
If I had been alive it would have been my grandfather's (recently restored) Accutron day date in 14kt gold
I'd want to be on the cutting edge and wearing one of these bad boys. A Seiko 0634-5019 digital chronograph. If money were no object, of course. These watches were expensive when they were new. More expensive than an Omega Speedmaster, for example.
It looks similar to the Seiko M159-5028 or 9, worn here by a guy named Steve Jobs.
I would have been pining for red snoopy watch... but in the fantasy?
Extremely underrated comment here. You have great taste!
this one, i think
I got my BA in ‘76. Most likely had a Timex. Barely remember 1976…
Lol no can do since I was born in 1985.
I was probably wearing my Dad’s old automatic Tissot. Man, I wish I still had that watch!
The Florshime boots and a Timex was good to go.