Sinclair Sovereign: Difference between revisions

The Sinclair Sovereign was a high-end calculator introduced by Sinclair Radionics in 1976. It was an attempt to escape from the unprofitable low end of the market, and one of the last calculators Sinclair produced before moving on to computers.

The design by John Pemberton won a Design Council award, and there examples of the Sovereign in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. However, competition from cheaper and more power efficient calculators using liquid-crystal displays meant that the Sovereign was not a commercial success, and Sinclair moved on to producing computers soon afterwards.

It was one of the last Sinclair calculators, produced in an attempt to move upmarket in an increasingly mature market.^[1][2] Cheaper calculators with liquid-crystal displays instead of light-emitting diodes were becoming more popular, and had much longer battery lives of months or years.^[2] Such calculators were available for well under £10, with all the functionality of the more expensive models.^[3] Profit margins on the Sovereign were so small that Sinclair ended up selling the Sovereign at a loss, and it was not a commercial success.^[4][5]

The Sinclair Executive, introduced in 1973, retailed for £80 when introduced, but in little over a year it was possible to purchase a Sinclair calculator for {{GBP|20} and by November of 1976 a model was available for £4.95.^[6]

Sinclair would shortly stop producing calculators and instead focus on computers, starting with the MK14 in 1977.^[2][7] The loss of the calculator market was due in part to technological development leading to smaller and cheaper components, which put heavy pressure on profit margins. An import levy of up to 17.5% was placed on components, but the duty for calculators imported from Japan or Hong Kong could be as little as 5%, making it unprofitable to produce calculators in the UK.^[1] Sinclair also had some problems with reliability that negatively affected its reputation, but the Sovereign was sold with a "full and unconditional" five year guarantee.^[8][9]

It was made in England, like every other Sinclair calculator except the President.^[2][10] Asprey of London produced two Sovereigns in solid gold.^[1][4]

The Sovereign came in satin chrome and gold plated models, with leather pouches and fitted wooden cases.^[1][2] It had an 8 digit display using red light-emitting diodes, and was powered by two 1.35 mercury button cells.^[11] The Sovereign measured 36 by 141 by 12 millimetres (1.42 in × 5.55 in × 0.47 in).^[2]

The Sovereign was unusual because the casing was made from pressed steel. This allowed a variety of paint and plating options, including black painted, bright chrome plated, silver plated, and gold plated. In December 1976, the chrome plated version cost £30 and the gold plated version £60, including VAT.^[2][3] A limited edition silver plated version, inscribed to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977, was also produced.^[4]

The design, by John Pemberton, won the Design Centre Award in 1977,^[12] and there are examples in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.^[13]

As well as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, it had reciprocal and square-root functions.^[9] It used a Mostek MK50321N main integrated circuit, in common with the Sinclair Wrist Calculator.^[2][14] The calculator could cope with positive number between 0.0000001 and 99,999,999, and negative numbers between -0.000001 and -9,999,999. A number outside that range would lead to the screen flashing and all keys except the clear key being rendered inoperable.^[9] A memory could read information from the screen, and information could only be taken from the memory onto the screen. Five keys were used for memory operations.^[9]

• Dale, Rodney (1985). The Sinclair Story. Duckworth. ISBN 9780715619018. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

• 1976 Sinclair Sovereign LED pocket calculator at Youtube