For those who want something of that, but don’t want to pay top dollar (or yen) for the privilege, check out the Alpha Centauri all metal Red LED watch, available for under $20.

Tap the button at the bottom of the watch and the 124 red LEDs light up. You can glean the hour and minute from whichever of those dots are lit.

It’s definitely cool, taking up epic proportions of the wrist you’ve chosen to strap it around.

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Though I don’t need half the functions on the cool watches I’m showing off here (it’s a simple left turn from my bedroom to my computer room, after all, so getting back must be a right turn…) there’s still something makes me want to wear them. Not both at the same time obviously…

Anyway, these beauties are from Casio. First up is the PRW-1500-1VER. Not a good name at all, but cut it some slack for the feature list is fairly impressive.

First up, it’s made from Mineral Glass Hard glass which keeps it scratch free, is water resistant to 200 metres and temperature resistant to -10?C, features a solar rechargeable power cell, and has an electro-luminescent backlight with afterglow.

Other functions include barometer, compass, altimeter and thermometer. It can handle the time of 30 cities in 29 time zones, has numerous alarms and stopwatch functions, plus moon phase and tide graphs.

There’s a choice, though, because next up is the EQW-M1000. Yeah, the name’s only marginally better – actually, no, it’s just as bad – but it’s still a great watch.

It uses Casio’s Wave Captor technology – in other words, it updates itself up to six times a day for precise timekeeping. This one is a watch, pure and simple, without all the additional features of the PRW-15… the first watch, but it’s got a classy look.

More info on these from Casio

Dubbed the Casio G-Shock MTG-1500, the wristwatch is no ordinary gadget. Coming from the tried and tested line of G-Shock watches, one can expect the usual toughness. Even my lately unusually clumsy partner can bang this watch on a daily basis – against metal, concrete, or marble – and it wouldn’t matter. That’s what G-Shock watches are known for.

Yet the things that make this watch more geeky than “jocky” (if there is even such a word) are these: one, it is solar powered and two, it can be set to atomic precision.

Casio is probably not the first watch maker to come up with a solar powered wrist watch but the MTG-1500 beats them all with up to 6 months of no charging needed; that is, if you fully charge the batteries. This would surely come in handy in case you find yourself buried in your basement (for what reason? You tell me!) for months.

On the atomic end, it is the ultimate gadget for people with a thing for precision. Although the MTG-1500 does not have a mini atomic reactor or whatnot inside of it, there is a receiver installed that will synchronize the watch to the nearest atomic timekeeping station, of which there are only 5 in the world.

How much will this set you back? A hefty $500, sad to say. If I had this extra cash, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it. After all, what other watch gives you the bragging rights to use “atomic” and “solar” in one go?