For a brief moment in time, in the mid-70s, the US was the world watch leader. A watch company named Hamilton made a sensation with the world’s first digital quartz watch – the Pulsar. The Pulsar was a one-of-its-kind watch that no one had seen before. It replaced watch hands with a dark screen that would briefly turn on a red LED lit numerals. It caught the imagination of the masses and would gain massive popularity to become the best-selling quartz watch of its time.
In 1975, Pulsar revenues soared to $25 million. This led to companies like Texas Instruments and Timex followed its suite. A strong completion and a price war waged which brought down the once a luxurious item in velvet boxes to blister packed watches available at grocery stores. By 1978, the more battery efficient LCD watches had taken over and they always displayed the time. By the start of the 1980s, the American companies closed their doors whereas Japanese companies took a lead role in their analog and digital quartz models.
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