From easily available parts Riehl purchased in the fall of 1967, he breadboarded a small watch that used various micro-circuits, discrete components, and an odd display made with wire filaments for the various number segments. It worked, not that he was too surprised. And as his friends showed amazement, his mind jumped to a dream of building a production watch that could be the first of a new generation of electronic timepieces.

A few years later (and after many hours of "midnight engineering"), Riehl developed a successful design and found himself searching for a company to make the custom integrated circuit to control this new electronic watch. As early as May 1970, he had several working models of the watch - by now using a light emitting diode (LED) display. He traveled to the east coast of the United States to scout out an IC manufacturing house to make the watches for his company, Riehl Electronics (of Troy, Ohio).

He landed on the steps of Ragen Semiconductor (RSI) of Whippany, New Jersey, a subsidiary of Ragen Precision Industries, which had begun to make small quantities of CMOS integrated circuits for customers. Riehl paid Ragen to integrate his circutry but quickly found their expertise lacking. He ended up working with them to improve their processes and yields just so he could have some chips for his watch.

While the watch was actually a Synchronous Chronometer Calendar, Riehl created the acronym Synchronar®, a much more attractive name and one likened a bit to Telstar, a very early communications satellite that caught the interest of consumers. Synchronar® had the correct pizzaz for the name of a new-technology product.

This sleek and futuristic looking watch featured solar panels on the top to recharge some small internal nickel cadmium (nicad) battery cells inside. The display was made of red LEDs which could be viewed from the side of the case. The case was initially available only in solid gold or stainless steel.

In January 1971, when Riehl had shown his working models, he had garnered some good publicity about the watch in regional papers and nationally, via the UPI and AP news services. By July 1972, he had production watches available and sold some to Hammlecker Schlemmer, the upscale consumer product catalog company.

In 1972, a California company, Ness Time, promoted the watch and was given an opportunity to sell the watch exclusively, providing they find a manufacturer to produce the microcircuit for Riehl. When their efforts proved unsuccessful, Riehl went to Ragen, bringing with him the knowledge he had gleaned from his west coast effort. Eventually he became president of Ragen Semiconductor. In May 1974 the Ragen Synchronar® was officially announced to the world markets.

Sales started off good with Ragen selling through fine jewelers. However, over the next few years, sales (and profits) began to drop. As in pocket calculators, the market was becoming crowded with competitors who sold LED watches that may not have been made as well - but were enough for a general public clamoring for lower prices.

By 1976, LCD watches began to come onto the market in large quantities, reducing prices even more. LCD watches also reduced the power requirements and the need for the near-constant replacement of batteries in some of the LED watches on the market. Consumers started to move away from LED watches and that unfortunately included the high-end Synchronar®.

In January 1977, Riehl purchased the almost bankrupt Ragen Semiconductor, acquiring all of the remaining stock and spare parts of his Synchronar®. He renamed the company Riehl Time Corp. and focused on advanced circuits for the military and direct mail marketing for the watch. Some specialized electronic sellers like Trendsetters, Beacon, Starshine Electronics, and Future Concepts were also selling the watch.

By late 1981, Riehl Time was doing most of their own direct sales marketing and in 1982 grossed over $1 million in watch sales. They exported over 3,000 pieces to Japan alone.

Riehl continued his work as a design engineer and electronic problem solver. His new company, Custom Circuits, took over the assets of Riehl Time in 1985. Between other projects, he assembled some of the remaining cases and internals and sold them to collectors and those who appreciated such things as the Synchronar®. He also handled all of the service replacements.

Today, Roger Riehl hasn't forgotten the Synchronar®. He continues to improve the basic circuitry on the watch and is working on the design for the newest version - the Mark V. This model includes a digital frequency synthesizer for increased accuracy and reliability. He expects to sell an upscale version of the digital watch when the new module is completed (2004?).

The Synchronar® moved from the glint in the eye of an electronic inventor to one of the world's most beautiful electronic watches. Today, we're fortunate to enjoy a digital wristwatch that ranks in the top of its class - both in advanced technology and in its superlative design - the Synchronar®.