Let's Do It Properly

I tried taking watch photos with a more professional setup today. I think they turned out pretty well, a huge step up from the previous attempts as I received some help on the lighting and composition of the shots; so good in fact that I think they're getting somewhere close to being comparable with those of established watch review websites. Enjoy the pictures!

 

Moar Bokeh

Remember when I said this blog was also about photography? Well, now you will. I told myself that I would pick up photography but I kept putting it off. After almost a year of procrastination, I started! Enjoy the pictures, I promise I'll keep working on my photography skills.

 

Shot of The Day



A Seiko 5 which has seen better days

Silly me, I thought that that the Kemmner Turtle would be the be-all and end-all of watches for me. A week and a half has past, and I have finally realized a great truth; there is no way out of this vicious cycle.

You buy a watch, thinking it will be your last, it arrives, it is indeed your last... for two weeks. After that, you're back hunting for your next piece.

Resistance is futile, so I've gone ahead and compiled a list of watches I need to have in my life.

So many wants, so little money. By now, everybody knows that lists have to be accompanied by pictures, so without further ado, my list of wants with lots of pictures. Enjoy!

(Pictures credit of various Watchuseek members)

Getat Panerai Homage

G. Gerlach Tritium

 

Orient Star Seeker GMT

Citizen Nighthawk PVD

Boctok Amphibia Scuba Dude

Seiko 5 SRP269

Seiko 6309-7040

Seiko SRP043 "Spork"

Seagull 1963 Reissue

Bokeh for You, Sir?

Kemmner Turtle

Technical specifications:

Movement: ETA 2824-2 Swiss Made
Lume: Super-LumiNova C1
Case: 316L stainless steel with brushed finishing
Crystal: Sapphire crystal with inside anti-reflective coating

Bezel: Aluminium with lumed indices

 Water Resistance: 200 metres

And So It Arrives..

A double post to make up for the lack of updates recently! Many things were waiting for me in the mail when I came back from Guangzhou. Firstly, there was this:

 

A paracord bracelet

 

And this:

 

 Screws and movement clamp tabs, not that I need these anymore since my watchmaker could fit the movement into my PloProf Submariner without these.

 

And most importantly, this:

 

What the hell is this? Let's unravel it..

 

Oh, it's _just_ what I've been waiting for all week.

 

So Santa lives in Bad Wildbad, Germany.

Ripped it open!

 

 And a very nice looking Banda watch case lies inside.

 

Also, a paper with the features of this watch to remind you what you bought.

 

Open up the Banda case and what do we have inside?

 

Namecard and a rubber strap in sight.

A spring bar tool, and two screwdrivers were discovered too after laying the contents out.

 Finally, the watch itself.

 Here it is, the Kemmner Turtle.

Very good first impressions, it's so pretty I don't even want to take off the stickers and use it (for now)!

And the obligatory lume shot:
 

Excellent lume.

First impressions have been excellent. The whole case feels very well finished. Crown action is one of the best out of any watch I have handled. Screwing down the crown is a breeze because of the large, easy to engage threads of the crown tube. Bezel action is fantastic too, very precise and firm clicks. Overall, it has been completely worthy of being my grail.

The package that this watch comes with is fantastic. More companies should do it like this, it puts a big smile on a customers face!

Full review will come soon, stay tuned!

It's Been A Long Week

It's been a long, dry week without any posts. The reason; I just came back from a week in Guangzhou vacationing.
 

You may have heard before of the wholesale markets in Guangzhou, there is one for everything there; clothes, shoes, mobile phones and (of course) most importantly, watches! Of course, a WIS like me had to check this place out if I had to put my life on the line to visit the place.
 

Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of the place itself. It is quite a hectic place; cramped walkways, lots of people to bang into with every other step you take, you get the idea. This place however, rewards those who can tolerate it.
 

  

I bought a bunch of 10 NATO straps in assorted colors, and guess how much this amounted to; an unbelievable price of SGD10, but that's not all! A single NATO strap in the Guangzhou Watch Wholesale Market can go for as low as $0.50 if you buy in large enough quantities. This might give you an idea of how much NATO strap sellers on eBay or your local watch shop makes per NATO strap they sell.
 

There is a huge assortment of other types of straps as well, every type and design of rubber (most probably silicone-based) and  leather strap you could possibly find on the Internet, you can find them here as well.

 

Some of the the more enterprising shopkeepers here are quite possibly famous eBay sellers like Helenarou, etrade2012ee, watchesu571 and the like. Of course, the prices you pay on eBay are going to be much higher. I bought a Parnis Submariner and Explorer II (pictures soon!) for around SGD68 each. I'm looking at the exact same thing on etrade2012ee's eBay store now, and it's going for SGD104, without shipping.

 

Whether you're into Parnis watches or thinking of setting up an online shop to sell watch straps, Guangzhou Wholesale Watch Market is a place not to be missed.

A Grail

I've been wanting a Kemmner Turtle for quite a long time. His Turtle watches sell out rather quickly so I had always missed the chance to get one, not today however. As I was surfing eBay today, I saw that he had one last Turtle with the configuration I had always wanted; red plongeur hands with black dial and bezel. I had to get it, this has been one of my longtime grails! Five minutes and some serious thinking later, I clicked the "Buy It Now" button.

This particular case is also used by brands like Armida, Boschett, Aeronautec, Marcello C., Kadloo, Nivrel among others. They're all Fullswing Industrial cases which can go for as little as US$55 per piece, albeit with a Miyota 8215 movement. Nonetheless, I am still quite pleased with this purchase, enjoy the seller's pictures!

 

Brushing Attempt

I didn't like that the bracelet on my submariner homage had a polished clasp and centre links. Today I tried a method which I saw on various watch forums; using a piece of Scotch-Brite to brush the polished parts down, and here is the outcome.

 

I'm quite satisfied with the results I must say. That's it for now, until next time!

A Submariner?

I went to my watchmaker the other day and he had this waiting for me. It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. The alignment of the dial and bezel are quite suspect, though not enough to try and detract me from enjoying this watch. It'll be my only mechanical watch for quite sometime too, enjoy the pictures!

 

Sterile Submariner Homage

Technical specifications:

 

Movement: ETA 2824-2 Swiss Made
Lume: Super-LumiNova C1

Case: 316L stainless steel with mix of polished/brushed finishing
Crystal: Sapphire crystal with inside anti-reflective coating

Bezel: Ceramic with lumed indices

 Water Resistance: 300 metres, supposedly

What's Next?

Here is what I'm wearing till I find a worthy successor to the SKX009, which I sold off yesterday. Quartz it may be, but I enjoy this watch just as much as I do my mechanicals. This watch also happens to be some ten times cheaper than my SKX009, something which fits the bill now given the financial crisis I am currently facing.

 

 

I do have a sterile submariner homage on the way actually, depending on whether my watchmaker is able to fit a spare ETA movement I had lying around into the case of the submariner. If he doesn't manage to then this trusty old Casio MQ-24 will have to satisfy my watch hobby for a little while.