Orient Pierrot Game watch

You’ll never see a game watch with the Seiko name on it — but that’s not to say they never made one, just not under the Seiko brand.

They did, however, make a surprisingly large number of game watches, under their Alba and Orient brands.

One of these was the Pierrot (clown) Game watch which is one of a series of identical watches, made different by using different LCDs.

The game involves segments dropping from top to bottom which turn into clown hats if you catch them. There’s a variation called Soccer that does the same thing but with soccer balls, and two called Space Wars which are the same but with space ships.

It’s a clever idea and one which they also did with the Alba Y765 watches (and other manufacturers too) so you can have multiple themes (sports, space, fun) without having to create totally unique games for each.

This particular watch I bought in new old stock (NOS) condition but with a non-repairable circuitboard. After looking for some time, I found a working Soccer and was finally able to have the Pierrot Game working. While the LCDs can be changed reasonably easily, they are held together by plastic that’s not getting any younger and there is always a risk of breaking some part that can’t be fixed – so I’m looking for another working circuitboard in the meantime.

The watch features 12/24 hour time, date, hourly chime, daily (melody) alarm and the game of course.

The game is very playable as it gets faster and more unpredictable the longer you play and, with a success tune played every 50 points, getting anything over about 150 points is very good indeed.

The Orient Watch Company is still in business today, although they haven’t made game watches in many years. If they were to restart production of these, though, they’d sell thousands as they are still a tonne of fun!