Hewlett Packard HP-01 HP-01

‘Cricket’, Reference HP-01 | A stainless steel calculator wristwatch with alarm, chronograph, count-down timer, calendar and memory function and bracelet | Circa 1977 Hewlett Packard

Dial: black Calibre: quartz Case: stainless steel, screw-down case back Case number: 1709A-28066 Closure: stainless steel Hewlett Packard bracelet and folding clasp Size: 41 mm diameter, bracelet circumference approximately 195 mm Signed: case, dial and movement Box: yes Papers: no Accessories: Hewlett Packard instruction card, booklet, stylus and presentation boxThe only wristwatch that Hewlett Packard (HP) has ever sold, the HP-01, code-named “Cricket”, was not a successful product. Retailed in jewelry stores, the bulky design was not embraced by the intended luxury clientele. However, the miniaturization of technology in order to fit the capability of a calculator into the form factor of a wristwatch was no small feat for the period. The watch could perform 6 interactive functions in total and featured 28 keys on the dial, and even included a built-in stylus on the clasp. The watch was considered such a marvel at the time, that when it was discontinued, the factory machinery was destroyed so the engineering techniques could not be copied. The HP-01 is truly an artifact of computing history, and also stands as a reminder to how far reaching the “Quartz Crisis” of the 1970s was.