You’re staring at your wrist, and the date is three days behind. It’s annoying. Maybe you just bought a new Armitron Pro Sport at Walmart, or perhaps you dug an old analog piece out of a drawer after months of it sitting idle. Either way, you're pressing buttons and nothing is happening, or worse, you’re accidentally setting alarms for 3:00 AM.
Setting the date on an Armitron isn't actually hard, but the company has roughly a million different modules. Well, maybe not a million, but enough that the "standard" way doesn't always work for every model.
Basically, there are two worlds here: the digital world with its four-button dance and the analog world with its tiny clicking crown. If you get the sequence wrong on a digital model, you’ll end up in the "Chronograph" mode timing your own frustration. If you force an analog crown at the wrong time of night, you might actually strip the gears.
Let's fix it.
Armitron Watch Set Date: The Digital Method
Most Armitron digital watches—especially the popular Pro Sport and WR330 series—use a four-button layout. These are usually labeled (or implied) as:
- Top Left: Reset or Set
- Bottom Left: Mode
- Top Right: ST/STP (Start/Stop) or Adj (Adjust)
- Bottom Right: Light
Honestly, the "Mode" button is the one that trips people up. You’ve got to cycle through until you reach the actual time-setting screen.
Step-by-Step for 4-Button Models
First, hold down the Reset button (top left). You usually have to hold it for about three seconds. You’ll hear a beep, and the seconds will start blinking.
Now, don't just start mashing buttons. Press Mode (bottom left) repeatedly. Each press moves the "blinking" focus. It goes from seconds to hours, then minutes, then eventually to the year, month, and date.
When the month or date is flashing, use the ST/STP button (top right) to advance the numbers. If you go past the number you need, you usually have to cycle all the way around. There’s no "back" button on these things. It's a one-way street.
Once you’ve got the month and day of the month aligned, press Reset one last time. The blinking stops. You’re done.
The 2-Button Anomaly
If you have one of those retro-style Armitrons with only two buttons, the logic is slightly different. Usually, you hold the bottom button to enter the "edit" state and use the top button to toggle between time and date. It's a bit of a "press and pray" situation until you see the month digit start to flicker.
Dealing with the Analog Crown
Analog watches feel simpler because they have a physical knob (the crown), but they are actually more fragile. Most Armitron analog watches with a date window have a double-click crown.
- The First Click: Pull the crown out very gently. You’ll feel a tiny "notch." This is the date-setting position.
- The Second Click: Pull it out all the way. This moves the hands to set the time.
To adjust the date, pull to that first click. Rotate the crown. On some models, clockwise moves the date; on others, it’s counter-clockwise.
The "Danger Zone" Warning
Here is the part most people ignore. Never, ever change the date manually on an analog watch if the time is shown between 9:00 PM and 3:00 AM.
Why? Because during those hours, the watch's internal gears are already engaging to flip the date naturally. If you force the date to change manually while those gears are mid-shift, you can snap a tooth off a tiny plastic or metal gear.
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Pro Tip: If you need to set the date and it’s currently 11:00 PM, pull the crown to the second click and move the hands forward to 6:00 AM. Then, push it back to the first click and set your date safely.
Why Your Armitron Date Keeps Jumping at Noon
This is the most common "broken watch" complaint that isn't actually a breakage. If your watch date changes at 12:00 PM instead of midnight, your watch thinks it's the middle of the night.
To fix this on an analog watch, you need to advance the time by 12 hours.
On a digital watch, look for a small "PM" indicator or a "24H" (military time) toggle. If you’re setting the time at 2:00 in the afternoon and the "PM" icon isn't on, the watch assumes it's 2:00 AM. Consequently, when the clock hits noon, the internal calendar thinks it's midnight and flips the date.
Identifying Your Specific Model
If none of the above is working, Armitron has a "Style Number" on the back of the case. It’s usually a series of letters and numbers like 40/8209 or MD0627.
You can actually go to the Armitron website and plug that number into their manual search. It’s better than guessing, especially for the newer Armitron Connect smartwatches which require an app (Armitron Connect App) to sync the date via Bluetooth.
Quick Summary of Button Logic
- Mode: Cycles through features (Alarm, Stopwatch, Time).
- Set/Reset: Enters and exits the "flashing" adjustment mode.
- ST/STP: Increases the value of the blinking number.
- Light: Usually does nothing for the date, just keeps you from squinting.
Actionable Next Steps
If you've followed these steps and the numbers are still stubborn, try these three things:
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- Check the Battery: Digital displays often glitch or "freeze" when the battery is low. The date might be the first thing to stop updating correctly.
- The "Hard Reset": On some digital models, holding all four buttons down simultaneously for a few seconds will factory reset the module. You'll have to set everything from scratch, but it clears software hang-ups.
- The Crown Test: If the crown on your analog watch spins freely in the first click position without moving the date, the internal setting lever might be disengaged. At that point, it’s a job for a jeweler, or it might be time for a new piece.
Make sure you pay attention to the leap year if you're using a basic digital model; most of these aren't "perpetual calendars," meaning you'll have to manually nudge the date forward every March 1st.