WITTNAUER L200 LADY POLARA LED 1975
In the early 1970's only men could proudly wear a LED watch. Miniaturization of circuitry progressed however ladies watches did not appear on the market prior to 1975. This Wittnauer Polara from the 200 series was Hughes Aircraft first attempt to fit LED components into a slim ladies case. Unfortunately display diodes could not have been made smaller and in effect only two digits could be affixed to the ceramic board. This is probably the smallest circuit substrate ever made for LED watches. It is soldered in all four corners to a sheet of conductive tape that only connects to the batteries and command buttons.
Due to the double diode display the time is shown in an unusual manner. Upon pressing the command button at first the hours appear and minutes a moment after. This "flaw" is not that problematic for daily use however Hughes upgraded these modules a year later with a row of 4 smaller diodes that could display hours and minutes simultaneously. These modules can be found in a handful of watches including CompuChrons and some other private labels. 2 and 4 digit modules are fully interchangeable between the cases.
Keywords: wittnauer polara, wittnauer led
Market value: 25-125$ (model, condition, box)