# Digital Wristwatch in the Movie Gravity



## LambdaPrime

This is my first time posting here, and I was motivated by the movie Gravity.

In the movie, astronauts Stone and Kowalski both wear digital wrist watches on the outside of their spacesuits. The interface on the watch looks really slick, and the UI appears very clean.























These watches appear to be real, as Bullock is wearing it here in real life, although the face certainly may have been CG. It has a prominent cylindrical protrusion along the top edge of the watch case, and three buttons along the bottom of the face of the watch. The watch sort of reminds me of a diving computer, but it looks like no model I have ever seen, nor does it look like any model produced by suunto, etc.

Does anyone know what brand/model they are?


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## Sedi

After scrolling through endless google-pics I think it's not a dive computer - but I couldn't find anything else that even looks close. I was thinking it might be a GPS-watch and the protrusion is the antenna but I couldn't find one that looks like it either. Maybe it's just a prop. I hope somebody else might be able to identify it - and welcome to the forum!
A good site is also watchesinmovies.info but "Gravity" is not yet listed.

cheers, Sedi


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## ronalddheld

It migjht be easier to be a prop and CG any display data needed(unless there is a lot of frames worth).


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## marcsp

bump.


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## Mudman001

I have no idea. It looks to be way too big to ever wear on your bare wrist. 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 Active


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## Petar Kadakevliev

For me it looks mostly like the Suunto M* series ... & especially like Suunto M2, Suunto M4 & Suunto M5.
(Of course, the variants with the silver screen and black body ... they call it "Black/Silver"  ...)


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## Tsujigiri

I don't think it's a real watch. NASA has a list of watches they've approved for use in space, and I don't think astronauts are allowed to deviate from the list. IIRC the approved ones are mostly Ironmans and G-Shocks. But I've heard that the Omega Speedmaster Pro with the acrylic crystal is the only one that they allow to be worn outside of the spacecraft and space suits, and the watch pictured certainly doesn't look like a Speedy Pro. Are you sure it's even a watch? Maybe some kind of instrument they use made specifically for them?


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## xevious

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a prop watch specifically created for the movie. It doesn't look like anything I've seen any astronaut wear. I would have thought that astronauts wouldn't wear a watch strapped around their spacesuit wrists because of the extraordinary strap length required. But... it appears they actually do it (see HERE). My take is that if the watch is very deliberately referenced in the movie, they made a large prop watch for greater effect.


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## Gwen

xevious said:


> I wouldn't be surprised if it was a prop watch specifically created for the movie. It doesn't look like anything I've seen any astronaut wear. I would have thought that astronauts wouldn't wear a watch strapped around their spacesuit wrists because of the extraordinary strap length required. But... it appears they actually do it (see HERE). My take is that if the watch is very deliberately referenced in the movie, they made a large prop watch for greater effect.


Hello, I do not even think that there is digital watches for extravehicular activity. I think the LCD would freeze. Rare watches, allowed for the vacuum of space are mechanical. But I could be wrong.


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## Andrew McGregor

Gwen said:


> Hello, I do not even think that there is digital watches for extravehicular activity. I think the LCD would freeze. Rare watches, allowed for the vacuum of space are mechanical. But I could be wrong.


The vacuum should be a hint... stuff tends to get hot, not cold, in space.


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## xevious

Very good point, Gwen & Andrew. While some CASIO digital watches can handle low temps down to -20C, not sure how they'd deal with high temps. In any case, I have to believe that any watch subjected to such extremes will suffer some time drift and become unreliable until allowed to settle back to normal conditions.


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## lallicator

Bumping this thread since I want to know what the watch is as well! (Or a similar looking watch)


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## Sedi

lallicator said:


> Bumping this thread since I want to know what the watch is as well! (Or a similar looking watch)


Welcome to the forum!
IMO a Suunto Vyper comes pretty close in looks.









cheers, Sedi


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## lallicator

Sedi said:


> Welcome to the forum!
> IMO a Suunto Vyper comes pretty close in looks.
> 
> 
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> 
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> 
> 
> cheers, Sedi


Thanks! Unfortunately that watch doesn't look remotely like the one in Gravity! loll


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## dbradford

I seem to remember this being discussed on another part of the forum. The consensus was, that both the heat AND cold cycles would be extremly harmful to a digital watch worn in the vacuum of space, so would the high radiation, that it would fry the circuit board.

Dave in the Philippines


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## Sedi

lallicator said:


> Thanks! Unfortunately that watch doesn't look remotely like the one in Gravity! loll


Feel free to make a better suggestion.


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## lallicator

Sedi said:


> Feel free to make a better suggestion.


I don't have one -- that's why I asked here!

BTW I'm not interested in a watch that would actually work in space-- just one that looks as good as the one in the movie.


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## Sedi

So far I found only dive computers that looked remotely like that watch. and the Vyper was closest IMO. But you're right - it's not really close enough.

cheers, Sedi


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## lallicator

Sedi said:


> So far I found only dive computers that looked remotely like that watch. and the Vyper was closest IMO. But you're right - it's not really close enough.
> 
> cheers, Sedi


Would you mind linking some of these.

Honestly folks I'm looking to buy a cool watch that is

a.) Big (like the one in gravity)

b.) Has a big display (again, like the one in gravity)

c.) Not looking for anything fancy-- just something to tell time, stopwatch, etc.


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## Sedi

Only thing I did was a google search with the term "dive computer" or "Suunto" - you'll find plenty of big watches.
If it doesn't need to be too close in style but big with big display - I can recommend the Timex T49950 and T44951:
it doesn't get much bigger than this I think:




cheers, Sedi


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## oiljam

Tsujigiri said:


> I don't think it's a real watch. NASA has a list of watches they've approved for use in space, and I don't think astronauts are allowed to deviate from the list. IIRC the approved ones are mostly Ironmans and G-Shocks. But I've heard that the Omega Speedmaster Pro with the acrylic crystal is the only one that they allow to be worn outside of the spacecraft and space suits, and the watch pictured certainly doesn't look like a Speedy Pro. Are you sure it's even a watch? Maybe some kind of instrument they use made specifically for them?


Call me geekie but do you have a link to this approved NASA list, just curious?


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## Sedi

oiljam said:


> Call me geekie but do you have a link to this approved NASA list, just curious?


..:: General Research ::..
Not an official Nasa page however.

edit: AFAIK you can pretty much wear what you want in a spacecraft but only the Speedmaster is approved for EVA.

cheers, Sedi


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## oiljam

Sedi said:


> ..:: General Research ::..
> Not an official Nasa page however.
> 
> edit: AFAIK you can pretty much wear what you want in a spacecraft but only the Speedmaster is approved for EVA.
> 
> cheers, Sedi


Thanks Sedi, your knowledge and range of reference is impressive. That link is somewhat confusing however

Thanks again


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## Sedi

oiljam said:


> Thanks Sedi, your knowledge and range of reference is impressive. That link is somewhat confusing however
> 
> Thanks again


The link is confusing? Just click in the middle and you get to the main page - there you can scroll through the various watches that have been used in space. I know that there was a very good thread here on the forum about watches in space but I can't find it - I think it was posted my member "Schirra".

edit: oops, I just noticed that the site I linked to is in fact Schirra's homepage :-d.

cheers, Sedi


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## lallicator

Sedi said:


> Only thing I did was a google search with the term "dive computer" or "Suunto" - you'll find plenty of big watches.
> If it doesn't need to be too close in style but big with big display - I can recommend the Timex T49950 and T44951:
> it doesn't get much bigger than this I think:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> cheers, Sedi


Thanks for the effort Sedi, but this isn't exactly what I was looking for. This watch has a nice display, but it is hindered by the date crap. Not to mention the watch itself doesn't look as elegant as the one in the movie. I wonder if I e-mail the studio behind Gravity and ask them, will they respond?

Also, this is a closer version to the watch, but it is kind of small and weird looking.

Fashion White PU Strap Round Mirror Face LED Watch NK39 | eBay


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## Sedi

lallicator said:


> I wonder if I e-mail the studio behind Gravity and ask them, will they respond?


I'd give it a try. Or try finding out through the credits of the movie who did the costums. If you can then find the email adress of that person I guess he/she might be more than happy to answer the question (usually people like talking about their work). It's worth a try - if you do - please keep us updated.

cheers, Sedi


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## Pete26

I'm actually surprised that they didn't use Speedmasters as Clooney is an ambassador and has used them before in films. I haven't seen the movie but when I saw the add, I thought for sure Clooney at least will wear a speedy pro if in any movie at all. Maybe they wanted to avoid the cliche but seems silly. It would have been the perfect product placement as to the watch I suggest it's a prop.

Cheers

Pete


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## creed

lallicator said:


> Honestly folks I'm looking to buy a cool watch that is...


Garmin Tactic:










or Suunto Core Military:


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## zeyoner

Hi everyone new here and loved the movie. Would really like to get my hands on the watch. However I don't believe it may be a watch that can be found. I've included a snip of the watch from the movie and it looks like it may be cgi seeing that her hands look like cgi.


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## KiwiWomble

i would recommend the Tactix too (i have a fenix)

you can custimise the screen to show what you like, i have mine simple like this one (borrowed from the web, obviously a custom strap)


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## zeyoner

KiwiWomble said:


> i would recommend the Tactix too (i have a fenix)
> 
> you can custimise the screen to show what you like, i have mine simple like this one (borrowed from the web, obviously a custom strap)
> 
> View attachment 1308049


Nice watch love the strap!


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## Sedi

zeyoner said:


> Hi everyone new here and loved the movie. Would really like to get my hands on the watch. However I don't believe it may be a watch that can be found. I've included a snip of the watch from the movie and it looks like it may be cgi seeing that her hands look like cgi.
> 
> View attachment 1308038


Ah, that's probably the best screenshot so far and you're right - looks like CGI. I wonder if only the display is CGI (like the "BVLGARI" in "Minority Report" that actually was a Speedmaster X-33 with a CGI display) or the whole watch.

cheers, Sedi


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## watchma

> Originally Posted by *Tsujigiri*
> I don't think it's a real watch. NASA has a list of watches they've approved for use in space, and I don't think astronauts are allowed to deviate from the list. IIRC the approved ones are mostly Ironmans and G-Shocks. But I've heard that the Omega Speedmaster Pro with the acrylic crystal is the only one that they allow to be worn outside of the spacecraft and space suits, and the watch pictured certainly doesn't look like a Speedy Pro. Are you sure it's even a watch? Maybe some kind of instrument they use made specifically for them?





Sedi said:


> edit: AFAIK you can pretty much wear what you want in a spacecraft


You can pretty much wear what you want in a film , _cos its not real _


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## Sedi

watchma said:


> You can pretty much wear what you want in a film , _cos its not real _


You're not saying :-d:-d:-d.

cheers, Sedi


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## Nemo

Pete26 said:


> I'm actually surprised that they didn't use Speedmasters as Clooney is an ambassador and has used them before in films. I haven't seen the movie but when I saw the add, I thought for sure Clooney at least will wear a speedy pro if in any movie at all. Maybe they wanted to avoid the cliche but seems silly. It would have been the perfect product placement as to the watch I suggest it's a prop.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Pete


The screenplay requested for the characters to trigger a 90minutes countdown. That was the main requirement.


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## vovasmap

I found some watches (microcomputers) for diving:
DIVE COMPUTER - Buddy Compass, same as DIVER RITE - TRIO! -


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## Nemo

I have also noticed a speed master on Clooney character inner wrist. 
Astronauts love to wear many watches.


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