Chapter 5

Some oddities and rarities

Very occasionally, the consumer world throws up something so bizarre that you wonder whether anyone actually bought it at the time, let how it has endured as a collectable… Here are eight of the strangest, most loveable or unloveable, forgotten or half-remembered, iconic and unedifying devices we may or may not have desired…

The Seiko Drum Machine Watch

The LED became the LCD, and then the calculator watch provided a new twist. But it wasn’t over yet. In a 1990s variation on the digital watch, Seiko produced the rave-inspired ‘Frequency’, a drum machine in the form of a wristwatch with a distinctive yellow or silver casing. It can sell as a vintage item now for over £300. Much sought after by old ravers.