Hamer Guitars and Electrifying The Wristwatch

It's times like this that I wish my son was still living at home.  He's a musician specializing in playing guitar-acoustic and electric. 

I could use his expertise when it comes to guitars and music.  I can't even play a radio, let alone music and especially playing music on a guitar.

But...as an artist and designer I can appreciate the beauty of a fine guitar and the craftsmanship that goes into making one.  And..I can appreciate the time and effort it takes to write about classic guitars and the knowledge it takes to pull off such a task.

That's why I'm so impressed by Steve Matthes' and Joe Moffett's new hardbound book from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.: The Ultimate: An Illustrated History of Hamer Guitars.

I don't know jack about guitars but after looking through this impressive book with full-color photos, advertising pieces, concert posters and full historical descriptions of various types of Hamer Guitars, I feel as if the inner guitar player in me has started to surface.

Now where do I place my fingers?  What do you mean I need to learn chords and read music?  Maybe this will be a little harder than I thought.

I remember my first electronic wristwatch.  It was a funky little digital display watch (a Timex I think) that flashed the time (and only the time) and was impossible to read unless in full light.  Which made it a real pain trying to tell time at night.

Later I would purchase another wristwatch only this one counted not only the minutes, but seconds, showed the month and day and (ta-da!) was lit so I could see it in the dark.

During that time (the early 1970s) I also had a digital display clock by my bed and a small portable alarm clock.  It wasn't until the mid to late 1980s that I purchased my first electrified quartz wristwatch with actual hands instead of a digital display.

Why am I writing all this?  Schiffer Publishing Ltd. and authors Lucien F. Trueb, Gunther Ramm and Peter Wenzig have just released Electrifying The Wristwatch; a massive hardbound book.

I never realized the history behind such a simple device.  Literally dozens of companies 
developed their own unique take on the wristwatch (digital or electric) and after decades, slowly but surely, standards began to develop until we have the electric wristwatch loved by millions today.

Brimming with photos, of not only the watches but their inner workings, the book offers an exhaustive history of the development of the electric wristwatch, its innovators and inventors and the various types developed.

Take the 'time' to read this book.  It's 'electrifying' and well worth the 'watch'.