This is the SKMEI 1972 operation instruction in the order you use it. The leaflet is a single page printed in Chinese and English side by side, with one figure and four short settings; the steps and the picture below are that leaflet's own, and this page follows the English column.
The 1972 is a bracelet-style watch with no crown. Its face is split in two: an hour dial on top, and a large digital display for the minutes underneath.
What the face shows
The leaflet labels three things on the face. The dial at the top is the hour, the large digits below it are the minute, and the button sits on the right edge of the case.
The hands on the hour dial are decoration only. They do not read the time, and in normal time mode they flash.
The one button
Everything the 1972 does runs through the single button on the right of the case, and it does only two things: a short press, and a hold of about 3 seconds. A short press wakes the display; a 3-second hold opens a setting. There is no separate key to save or cancel — the watch leaves a setting on its own.
Reading the time and the date
- Press the button once and the display lights up, showing the time.
- Press it again and the month and day take over the display.
Setting the hour, minute, month and day
The four settings are a chain, not four separate jobs. Each one is opened by holding the same button for about 3 seconds, and each one follows straight on from the last.
- Hour. Hold the button for about 3 seconds. The hour flashes. Short presses move it on to the hour you want.
- Minute. Straight after setting the hour, hold the button again for about 3 seconds. The minute flashes, and short presses adjust it.
- Month. Straight after the minute, hold the button again for about 3 seconds. The month flashes, and short presses adjust it.
- Day. Straight after the month, hold the button again for about 3 seconds. The day flashes, and short presses adjust it.
Then leave the watch alone. A few seconds after your last press it goes back to the normal time display.
A typo in the leaflet. The Day setting line in the English column ends "press again to adjust the month". The heading above it reads Day, the value flashing at that point is the day, and the Chinese column says the day as well, so the last value in the chain is the day.
Why the word "immediately" keeps appearing
Each step in the chain is open for only 5 seconds. Once the hour is right you have those 5 seconds to hold the button again and reach the minute; wait longer and the watch leaves the setting and drops back to the time, so the chain has to be started again from the hour. That is why the leaflet says "immediately" at every step, and why it never tells you to press a key to save.
Power saving. After the setting is finished and the watch has returned to the time, another 5 seconds without a press puts it into power-saving mode. Any press brings the normal time display back.
If something looks wrong
None of the following is a fault. Each row is a state the watch is designed to sit in.
| What you see | What is happening | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Digits are flashing and presses only change that one value | You are inside a setting, where a short press adjusts and a 3-second hold moves on | Let it sit for 5 seconds to leave, or finish the chain |
| The setting closed before you reached the day | Each step only stays open for 5 seconds | Hold again and walk the chain from the hour |
| The hour and minute hands keep flashing | They are decoration, and flashing is what they do in normal time mode | Nothing to fix |
| The button does nothing at first | The watch is in power-saving mode | Press once to bring the time display back |
Source: the printed SKMEI 1972 operation instruction supplied with the watch, which prints the Chinese and English text side by side. The figure, the 3-second hold, the 5-second timings and the four settings are the leaflet's; the wording here follows its English column. That column is thinner than the Chinese in two places: it does not say the display lights up on a press, and its Day setting line says "adjust the month" rather than the day. The explanation of why the settings chain, the power-saving note and the troubleshooting table are our own.