Review of the Archules Bronx Hill II Double Monk Straps

Greetings readers of The Watch Post, I have good news to share with all. After close to three very lousy months spent job seeking, I have finally secured employment. And thus, my first steps in the corporate world are about to begin, which means it's time to put those sneakers aside for the weekends. During the weekdays I'll be all about Oxfords, Derbies and of course, monk straps.

With that, let's move on to review the Archules Bronx Hill II monk straps in tan which I bought sometime back. Let's go through some of the specs on this particular offering from them. 

• Constructed with cowhide leather
• Lambskin lining
• Cemented construction
• Rubber soles 

The Archules Bronx Hill II series goes for SGD $115. While I'd like the shoe to feature Goodyear welt construction, that would be most unreasonable to ask for at this price point. The Bronx Hill II comes with cemented construction which is understandable, however that also means there's nothing special to comment on in this aspect. One should be reminded that shoes with cemented construction are unlikely to be reconstructable and once the sole has worn out, that will likely spell the end of the shoe's life. Meermin would be a good direction if you require Goodyear welt on your shoe as a minimum.

Moving on, the shoe uppers are constructed from cowhide. The quality of the leather is very decent indeed, once again considering the price point at which this shoe is going for. The leather has some spots here and there, but these are just minor quibbles and won't detract from the overall aesthetic of the shoe, especially when you view them from a distance such as on your feet. The interior is lined with leather as well which is a nice touch for something at this price point, as I wasn't expecting any sort of lining.

The Bronx Hill II features a cap toe, with a chisel toe profile. It also comes with some sort of premade patination on the toe cap area which I think is really well done. While I don't have any Allen Edmonds or Alden shoes to compare with, the lasting on the Bronx Hill II is fairly slim and overall I'd say it makes for quite an attractive silhouette. Obviously, a definite improvement from square-toed shoes that I've been using in the past.

One point of contention I've had with this pair of shoes so far is the buckles used to tighten the shoes. The silver-colored buckles are a little to thin for the straps to be going through them. As a result, threading the straps through the buckles has been quite a frustrating experience for me. The stitching between the lining and the leather uppers often get caught on the buckles as I'm trying to do the buckles. I foresee the straps which go through the buckles becoming quite creased and deformed as this shoe is used for longer periods.

This shoe is surprisingly comfortable, even as I wore it out for the first time. Break-in time for the Bronx Hill II is nigh non-existent; I didn't suffer any blisters even when I wore this shoe out for the first time and the shoe was already relatively flexible. The cushioning system that Archules features seems to work well, and standing for extended periods won't be too much of a pain to your feet. The soles on the Bronx Hill II are rubber, which has provided me with good grip right out the box. I haven't got to test the grip in a wet environment but there is no reason so far to suspect that these soles will not rise up to the challenge.

Overall, the shoe has been satisfactory on most fronts. The construction, from leather quality to the profile and silhouette of the shoe have all been executed pretty well in my opinion. The comfort has been quite good indeed, with the cushioning system doing it's job well and there being little to no break-in time necessary. About the only gripe with the Bronx Hill II, considering it's price would be the buckles used to secure the straps. I think leaving the straps unlined or using buckles with a wider opening would have made the somewhat frustrating experience when doing up the straps a much better experience.

Archules does include an accessory pack which contains the following: plastic shoe horn, a tin of Kangaroo neutral shoe polish (I believe they will give you the relevant color of polish based on the shoe you bought) and a shoe brush (can't tell if the bristles are synthetic or natural, but it is of a pretty nice quality), all of which are contained in a small velvet drawstring pouch. Other things that are included in the purchase of the shoes include two drawstring pouches (one for each shoe) and a logoed zipper bag which contains the shoebox. All in all, I consider the package to be a rather good.

Archules does home delivery as long as you're living in Singapore and delivery is free. There is an express delivery which comes with an extra charge if you need that. They will bring two sizes for you to try on and you may select the size which better fits you. The second pair however can only differ in size from the first pair by either one size up or down, subject to availability. I personally found this service to be excellent, as I'm a size 41 in some brands and 42 in others. They also have a returns and exchange policy which seems rather friendly although I haven't had any personal experience with it.

The service standards from Archules are commendable to say the least. Singapore isn't exactly known for the best customer service or consumer protection laws. Archules has realized this and capitalized on this by providing better service and I guess you could say it paid off; I am a happy customer. The two size delivery policy will save quite a lot of sizing worries and overall I'd like to applaud Archules on providing a quality of service and product which has been pretty good.

So that's it folks, thanks for reading this review of the Archules Bronx Hill II double monk straps and I think as I start receiving my paychecks, I'll slowly be able to dabble into higher levels of footwear. I think I'll go with a Meermin next, and hopefully one day I'll be reviewing shoes from the big leagues such as John Lobb and Edward Green. Be sure to keep checking The Watch Post for when that happens, thank you and have a good day!

Review of Crumpler Dederang Heist

Good day, readers of The Watch Post. Today, I shall be reviewing the Crumpler Dederang Heist laptop bag after having used it for about two weeks. As with other reviews on The Watch Post, let's take a look at the technical specifications on this bag:

- Width: 40 cm
- Height: 29 cm
- Depth: 8 cm
- Volume: 10 Litres
- Empty Weight: 0.65 kg

- Neoprene padded carry handles and shoulder strap

- YKK water resistant zippers

- Wing design for structural strength

- 900D/300D Nylon ripstop construction for exterior

- 150D Ripstop lining, flamed polypropylene webbing

- Bonded nylon thread with bar tack stitching on all stress points

Now, the main reason I was attracted to this bag were its looks. It seemed as though someone mated the average laptop bag and a tote bag, resulting in the sleek, futuristic look which I simply think looks great. Let's continue digging within though, to see if Crumpler has managed to make form meet function.

Let's begin with the construction of the bag. I won't say that I'm the leading authority when it comes to nylon, as I've only one other nylon bag which is the 5.11 Tactical Rush 12. However, for the environment that this bag is likely to be used in (e.g. office environments), 900D is very much sufficient. Thread denier alone is of course, not a good indicator of durability or quality if the manufacturer does not know how to make a proper bag in the first place.

Rest assured then, that the Dederang Heist is really a solid bag, with sound contruction all over. The many stitches that reinforce stress points should put one at ease from knowing this bag is unlikely to fall apart even if you cram it with piles of documents as well as jam a laptop inside. I am of the opinion that this bag will easily last me at least five years of daily use, unless I start carrying this bag into the jungle.

My Dell XPS 15 rested snugly inside, it being a 15.6" laptop. I felt really safe when my laptop was in this bag thanks to the internal padding present in this bag, which is colored a nice bright orange so that you may easily discern the contents of the bag with a glance.

Apart from the laptop compartment, there is another pocket that runs the length of the bag which I've used to put my documents, a 650ml water bottle and an umbrella. There are also four smaller pockets which one can use to put smaller items in the main compartment. This bag will fit a surprising amount of stuff. I did find the lack of penholder pockets a little disappointing, this being a bag designed for office use. Putting a pen in one of the four smaller pockets is not the best solution since you might have to fish for your pens quite a bit.

On top of the aforementioned compartments, there is a seperate compartment which can be accessed by another zip. As well, I'd like to have seen some organization pockets here since being the big plain compartment that it is now made me have to fish for my items on occasion.

The zips are YKK zippers all-around, and are rubberized to make it harder for water to pass through. There is a little bit of a trade-off in that these zippers require a little more force than normal zippers to operate but I appreciate the amount of effort Crumpler made in keeping this bag water resistant.

The handles feel sturdy, more than enough to support the weight of the bag and any contents you may have inside. They are padded with neoprene on the bottom so that they'll go easy on your hands. I've carried this bag for extended periods by the carry handles and the neoprene does a great job indeed at keeping the handles comfortable to hold, even with a considerable load.

Likewise, the strap that comes with the bag has a portion which is padded with neoprene that keeps things comfortable. It has a rubberized Crumpler logo on the strap which keeps it grippy while on your shoulder. The strap does it's job of transferring the load onto your shoulders well.

To end off, I think the Crumpler Dederang Heist is a great-looking bag with good construction and materials. It'll contain laptops up to 15.6" and protect them very well indeed. I felt that content management could have been a little better though. The addition of pockets for pens and notebooks would be good in reducing the amount of effort needed to fish things out of the bag. Still, if you're fine with the plain compartments this bag has, the Dederang Heist is a laptop bag which I will wholeheartedly recommend. Crumpler seems to have long discontinued this particular bag but there seem to be a couple of online retailers which you can still buy this bag from.

So that's it for today's post, thank you for reading and in the next post, I shall be reviewing the Bronx Hill II double monk strap shoes from Archules!

Review of Zebra F-701 - Addition to My EDC

Today we shall be looking at a new addition to my EDC, the Zebra F-701 pen. Before that though, let me give some background information; I've been using Pilot G2's and other run-of-the-mill pens all my life, and I thought I'd change that by investing in a pen fit for EDC, which would serve to fill the pen slots in my 5,11 Rush 12 too. I wanted a pen that had good build quality, preferably metal construction, as well as good writing performance; nothing outrageously demanding in my opinion.

A quick search on Google showed that Fisher Bullet Space Pens, Parker Jotters and crowdfunded efforts on Kickstarter ruled the day. These were all great choices in their own rights; the Space Pen is known for the refills which can write in highly demanding environments, the Parker Jotter for their classic design and the multitude of Kickstarter pens for their custom craftsmanship and special designs.

The Kickstarter efforts were of course, way beyond my budget, nice as they were, while I didn't like the idea of fidgeting with a cap for the Space Pen. I already in fact have a Parker Jotter pen in stainless steel, and the Jotter's design just doesn't speak to me. I disliked that the barrel of the Jotter tapers towards the tip, something which I think will compromise comfort whenever there is considerable writing to be done. Where does that leave me then?

Enter Zebra F-701, the darling of many an EDC forum.

This pen has a reputation which precedes itself. The reason why is clear when you pick one of these pens up. It features a fully stainless steel barrel, which although isn't monocoque in construction (the knurled grip and smooth barrel are separable), feels very solid indeed. The weight is satisfying, reassuring and feels like something much more expensive than the price F-701's go for; the presence of the F-701 in hand is truly outstanding for the price. Top points to Zebra for the well-designed feel of this pen.

Writing with this pen has been a pleasure thanks to the addition of the knurled grip which is both functional and classy at the same time. It does its job well, allowing you to get a nice grip on the pen. The pen has remained comfortable to use for even for extended periods of writing. Perhaps the grip is a little less comfortable than the rubber grips on G2s but the tradeoff for the good looks is ultimately a plus for me. Of course, that is also dependant on how tightly one grips the pen while writing.

On the back end of the pen, we have a retraction mechanism which Zebra claims as being quieter than usual. It is indeed a little quieter than a standard Pilot G2 I'd say, and is a nice touch for those who like to click their pens on occasion. The retraction mechanism has a nice, springy amount of tension to it, and while may not be the most authoritative of clicks, is nice enough that I have no qualms. The plunger retracts fully when the tip is out, meaning that it won't rattle around when writing or turned upside down.

The surprising thing about the retraction mechanism is that it is plastic in construction, while its lesser brethren, the Zebra F-402 actually lays claim to a metal retraction mechanism. I certainly see myself hacking my F-701 to accomodate the F-402 retraction mechanism in the near future. Not that the stock F-701 mechanism is awful, it is actually quite decent, but I'd like my F-701 to have metal construction as much as possible.

Next, we come to the writing performance. The Zebra F-701 plays host to a fine ballpoint refill. For all intents and purposes, the stock refill is decent enough. The lines are clean, and is comparable with a typical ballpoint. It's by no means a great ballpoint, but that might be a problem rectifiable!

There are numerous topics on the Internet on people hacking the F-701 to fit Fisher and other refills. Having not tried a Fisher refill yet in my life, I don't know how these refills stack up against each other. Again, I'd certainly hack my F-701 to fit a Fisher refill in the near future.

The F-701 comes right out the box with a metal clip that is nicely adorned with the Zebra logo and the model number. It serves its purpose well enough, clipping onto shirt pockets and other objects firmly. The amount of tension is not too little such that it flops around after being clipped and not too much to make clipping a hassle. The clip feels solid enough and seems unlikely to break as long as it isn't abused. Hopefully, the tension will stay the same with usage. In a word, I have to say the clip on the F-701 is nice.

Coming to the price, the F-701 costed me SGD$8.30. I have nothing but good things to say about the F-701 and that would stay the same even if costed twice as much. At the price it goes for, the F-701 is astoundingly good value for money. Of course, there are some things that stop this pen short of being the best that it can be; plastic retraction mechanism and writing performance which is just average. Even still, I am thoroughly impressed with this pen, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a nice writing instrument but doesn't want to burn a hole in their pocket.

So that was the review of the Zebra F-701, thank you for reading and stay tuned for upgrades to the refill and retraction mechanism!

Review of Getat Luminor Panerai Homage

As promised in the last post, here is the review of the Getat Luminor homage which I received recently! Before we start, here are the specifications of my build again:

- Case Style: 44mm Luminor
- Dial: Sterile black dial

- Buckle Style: Pre-V

- Case Option: Brushed steel

- Dial Lume: Super-LumiNova C3

- Crystal Material: Sapphire

- Hands Color: Black with white seconds

- Hands Lume: Super-LumiNova C3

- Movement: Normal stainless steel

- Stitch Color: White

- Strap Option: Vintage wooden brown

I later changed the buckle for the premium style buckle as you will see in the pictures later. Allow me to also show you the timeline of events again.

21st June - Order placed, invoice received and paid for immediately

10th July - Tracking number received

23rd July - Tracking number starts working, status: "Item has been posted and is being processed."

24th July - Status: "The item is being processed for departure from Hong Kong."

25th July - Status: "The item left Hong Kong for its destination."

31st July - Status: "The item arrived at its destination country."

2nd August - Status: "Item was delivered."

From order to delivery, it took exactly six weeks for the watch to reach me. This is within the expected range of ordering from Getat, so I wasn't exactly lucky or unlucky. There are some lucky few who receive their orders in as fast as three weeks,  and unfortunately, some unlucky people who had to wait for as long as three months to receive their watches. As you can see, it's very much a luck of the draw thing.

If you do not have the patience of waiting months for your watch, all is not lost as there are a number of other sellers out there offering the same watch basically. Jackson Tse or Manbushijie (make sure to sign up to enjoy lower prices!) are reliable sellers who have the added benefit of being more responsive to your emails, unlike Getat, but keep in mind that neither of them will offer nearly as many customization options as Getat does. If you want customization, you'll have to wait.

As mentioned, this watch is an homage. It takes all of its aesthetic cues from the Luminor line of watches from Panerai. Some people are definitely going to have an issue with this but this is not what we are here for today!

Before we get on with the review, here are some things about the price to take notice of. Inclusive of the 10% summer sale which Getat was having for the month of June, I paid US$126 for the watch and later made a further payment of US$9 to Getat for the premium buckle, for a total of US$135. My conjecture is that the margins made on each watch is not very high, so there will be a certain amount of suspect QC especially when you consider that this is a custom job. You will be disappointed if you go nitpicking on a Getat watch with a loupe.

Now, onto the watch itself. The case which I ordered was a Luminor style stainless steel in a brushed finishing. It feels solid and has quite a good amount of heft to it. A surprisingly good quality case overall. For just an extra US$18, one can upgrade from mineral to sapphire crystal; a choice I took without having to think. The crystal is also slightly domed although there doesn't seem to be any form of AR coating on the crystal, but it does not really bother me.

Panerai is of course well-known for the sandwich dial, which is basically a dial split into two layers; top and bottom. The sandwich dial is present on the Getat, and is unique in that it is negatively textured; a fresh and refreshing departure from the usual textured dial.

Flipping it over to the back, you can see the nicely decorated Sea-Gull ST36 movement through the mineral crystal display back, beating away at 21600 BPH. There seem to be some who have gotten Hangzhou 9000 movements in their watches, but as far as I could see, I've identified mine to be a Sea-Gull ST36 movement. I came across a guide here which may be of help to you in identifying whether your movement is a Sea-Gull or a Hangzhou.

The movement is nicely adorned with blued screws (most probably chemically treated), swan neck regulator (although for decoration only as the screw isn't even touching the adjustment lever and is too short to actually work), Panerai-esque bridges, and Geneva Stripes which was of course, applied in China. I'm not complaining though, it is a pretty movement and I have no qualms at all that the decorations were applied by machine.

Further observation needs to be done to determine the accuracy at the moment, although it has kept time to the minute within a 24-hour span (It's hard to keep track of accuracy when the smallest division is five minutes!).

* Update *

Timekeeping has been absolutely fantastic so far, this watch seems to be losing one second every 24 hours! On a full wind which equates to a 57 hour power reserve, this watch lost just 3 seconds, simply fantastic!

We come to the crown guard, persistently an area of weakness for Luminor homages. The crown guard snaps back with a nice amount of tension but I can't foretell whether the amount of tension will remain tight and firm with frequent usage. When flipped out, the lever is quite floppy as many others have experienced. I'm fine with it personally as long as it's firm while locked in place. The dial moves a little when the crown is pulled out to time set mode, it is of no real issue to me but it serves to remind of the sometimes suspect QC that homage dealers are capable of.

I shall update this portion further after more rigorous usage has been observed regarding the crown lever but it is satisfactory for now. I should add that I wouldn't trust taking this watch anywhere near water as the crown guard assembly on these Panerai homages are to replicate the crown guard aesthetically, and not functionally.

I did mention my satisfaction with the lume on this watch in my previous post, although I left it to this review to determine the better of the two (as compared with the Kemmner Turtle). Fortunately, the C3 lume on my watch was applied clean and evenly, as some people had the misfortune of specks of dirt on the lume. It would seem that the Kemmner Turtle and the Getat are neck to neck in terms of lume intensity and longevity. Overall, the lume on Getat is very good; it wouldn't beat a Seiko Monster or SKX007/009, but doesn't lose by much too.

Moving over to the strap, I should add that this is an area where I was really pleased with. It is really thick and chunky, and the stitching is nothing short of fantastic. I really have to applaud Getat on the stitching, it is nice, clean and even. The strap has a good leather scent too, I can't find any fault with it really, good quality all-around! As you will see in the picture above, I opted for the premium buckle which is a monster of a buckle. Both strap and buckle really puts some additional weight on this watch. The buckle is screw-in type, and costs US$10 when paired with a strap/watch. This really puts some sellers of Panerai strap buckles to shame considering they sell similar buckles, only for US$30 or more.

+ Good overall build quality

+ Good lume

+ Nicely decorated movement

+ Excellent strap and buckle

+ Fantastic price

- Floppy crown lever

- Somewhat poor QC (Dial moves when crown pulled out issue)

- Waiting times

- Poor communication

The floppy crown lever and dial movement issue are minor to me, but I'll just put them as cons for the discerning buyer. There are some things one has to be ready for when buying from Chinese homage dealers; it may not always happen but be prepared for poor communication, long wait times and unfortunately from time to time, poor workmanship. 

Granted, $100+ is not a lot of money, but neither is it small change. It certainly is quite a lot to ask of potential buyers to expect the worst right from the moment payment is made. I myself wish that I could expect a certain guaranteed level of quality but sadly, this is just the way homage makers operate. Ordering from Getat is not an experience that everyone can tolerate, but if you can, then you are ready to make your foray into the homage scene!

In conclusion, I was fortunate enough to receive my watch in good order from Getat. The watch (less the service) has made me a satisfied customer of his and I foresee myself placing more orders with him, although the long waiting times and the sometimes shoddy build quality leave something to be desired. So that's it for the review of the Getat Luminor homage, thank you for reading!

Review of Seiko SNDC87P2

It's time for a review, and the watch in question today is the Seiko SNDC87P2 quartz chronograph, which runs on the 7T92 calibre. The P refers to the type of strap which it came with, and the P2 variant is a black crocodile-embossed leather strap. This watch has 20mm lugs and is 40mm in diameter (without the crown), a nice size when everything seems to be at least 42mm these days. It features a Hardlex mineral crystal and a solid screw case back. The crowns and pushers are not screw-down but still the watch achieves a water resistance of 100m.

Firstly, a little background on how I acquired this particular piece. I bought this watch late last year as a present for a friend, way before I was a WIS. Looks like it never really did click with him because he proposed a trade last week; this watch for the birthday present I got last year, and that's how this watch ended up in my hands.

I still remember why I chose this watch as a gift. The splash of red on the crown and the chronograph hands accentuated the plain and simple white dial. I found it attractive even before I was a WIS and thought that my friend might too. Unfortunately that would not be the case but let's carry on with the review!

Lume shot - Rather sparse, but forgivable as this isn't a dive watch

So, we've established that I find this watch aesthetically pleasing but what of it's quality? I'm afraid that's where this watch doesn't live up to expectations. It might be hard to see from the photo but the dial is actually a sunburst dial, with all three subdials featuring a different sunburst effect from the main dial. The chapter ring is numbered one to twelve in a squarish modern font with a lume dot for each hour.

All the materials used in the dial suffer from one common problem; plastic construction, and it shows whenever you look at the dial. The dial and chapter ring look plasticky no matter the angle you try to view it from. The sunburst is a bane rather than a boon; only serving to bring the plasticky feel out more prominently than to display the interesting show of lights that sunburst dials were meant to achieve.

I got this watch at US$110 so I'm not expecting a guilloche dial but this watch would really benefit if the dial was executed in a dark color with a matte finish. Something like that would hide the plasticky look of well... plastic dials.

Case finishing is what you frequently hear about Seiko; very good for the price. The sides are finished with a polish and the top surfaces brushed. No machining marks could be found so that gets a thumbs up. Overall, the case is excellent and has a level of finish you wouldn't expect in a watch priced like this.

It comes with a crocodile-embossed leather strap which isn't pictured in this post. It puts the watch more towards dress, and would be if the sunburst dial was actually executed properly. However, considering the rather cheesy sunburst dial and the squarish, modern looking fonts on the chapter ring, this watch is left a bit directionless, not dress yet a little too formal given it's strap to be a sport watch.

There is not a whole lot to write about the 7T92 calibre. It's a basic quartz chronograph which keeps and records time well. There is a hand position adjustment mode in case the chronograph hands ever go out of alignment, which may be useful if ever the need arises.

Conclusion

The design elements are a bit incohesive and could have been done better but quality and construction is quite good, with the exception of the dial. This is a decent watch overall, but look elsewhere first before buying this watch for Seiko has better quartz chronographs.

Review of the Kemmner Turtle

School commitments have been keeping me pretty busy lately, hence the lack of updates. Finally I have some time for one now, so let's start with the long promised review of the Kemmner Turtle.

I've owned the Kemmner Turtle for a little over a month now, and over the course of the month, the overall impression has been excellent. Let's start with the origin of the watch case itself; the Kemmner Turtle case is manufactured by Fullswing Industrial, which is based in Hong Kong. Roland Kemmner then sources these cases from Fullswing and sells them on eBay under the moniker 'erkahund'.

The Turtle is quite the substantial watch. The watch case is very solidly built and the entire thing weighs in at in at 198g with an unsized bracelet; quite a hefty piece to say the least. The watch case has a brushed finishing all over, and the overall finishing of the case qualitywise is very good. I wouldn't say it is fantastic, but it is very good indeed, especially at the price level we are talking about.

There is however, something which is fantastic about this watch; the crown action. The crown tube has really chunky threads which minimizes the chances of cross-threading. The crown itself is really solid and instills a real sense of confidence.

It is signed with a deep engraving of an attractively stylized 'K', in the same font as the one printed on the dial. Not your usual puny laser engraving, the engraving is really deep and adds to the quality of the watch.

 

Bezel action is really good too, if a bit loud. Very precise clicks with nearly no bezel play at all. One of the best bezels I've ever came across actually. It did start out a little stiff, but over the month loosened up slightly and is the tension now is just perfect.

 

The signed crown

It features a flat sapphire crystal with underside AR coating, which I hope its scratch resistance never needs to be tested. After a month of daily wear, the crystal is still flawless, which is the norm for most of my watches as I don't really bang them around.

Unfortunately, my example of the Kemmner Turtle (which is powered by an ETA 2824-2 movement) fared rather poorly in timekeeping (sometimes us WIS get so distracted that we care more about features such as whether the crystal is sapphire or mineral than whether it performs its primary function well). I believe the watch somehow got magnetized which is causing poor performance, leading it to gain one second every hour.

I will comment on this further when I have solved the magnetism issue (or whatever else it may be), but right now at least it's gaining the same amount daily, which indicates some measure of precision.

 

Shine Bright Like a Diamond

The lume on this watch is quite good. I would have preferred Super-LumiNova C3 lume as I'm a bit of a lume fanatic and I prefer my watches to shine as brightly as possible. I'm not really disappointed though as this watch has performed admirably in the lume department considering it's Super-LumiNova C1 and I'm really quite pleased. The indices, while they aren't applied, do give the impression that they are because the lume is applied quite thickly and gives the dial a textured feel.

 

Beautifully engraved turtle on the caseback

The watch feels great on the wrist, thanks to the solidly built bracelet. It is composed of solid end links and solid links, which are held together by screws. It comes with half links and four micro adjustment holes on the clasp; no trouble sizing no matter your wrist size. Completely brushed finished, which I always prefer over polished links of any sort, so that gets big points with me.

 

The caseback engraving is beautifully done. Once again, very deep engraving which adds to the quality.

Overall, I am thoroughly impressed with this watch. What I'm really impressed with is the quality of the products that Hong Kong case manufacturers such as Fullswing Industrial and Longio are capable of.

I haven't actually came across a German case manufacturer's watch such as Fricker but I did read on certain issues such as considerable amounts of play in the bezel from Fricker cases. Do consider that Fricker cased watches are easily in the $1000+ range and still issues like those exist; I think I'll be sticking to Fullswing for now.

 

The Kemmner Turtle is available every now and then from Kemmner's eBay web store and will set you back by about US$500, excellent value in my opinion.

 

 

To end it off, here's my favourite picture of the watch. Sorry for the recycled pictures! I've been a bit too busy to take new photos. So that's it, hope this review was a good read for you!

Review of Seiko SKX009

I've been a little busy so there hasn't been much time to document my collection of watches. However, I do have something to show, so without further ado, I present to you the Seiko SKX009; my daily beater.

 

 

The good points

This is a really remarkable watch in many ways. I won't go through technical details here, instead, here are my three biggest reasons why I love this watch so much:

 

1) Value - I bought this watch for a little over 200 SGD. That equates to about 160+ USD. The finish on this watch however, reflects something that one would normally find on a watch four or five times its price. Some of the more outstanding points of the finishing are:

 

 - The combination of brushed and polished finishing

 - Clean and very well-done machining

 - Fantastic bezel with minimal play, and it aligns exactly at the 12 hour mark
 

2) Accuracy - Mechanical watches will never be completely accurate. Mine however has been an outstanding timekeeper. I'm confident enough to say that my currently runs within COSC standards. The 7S26 movement loses an average of 2 seconds everyday.
 

3) Design - Legibility is fantastic. The large hour and minute hands make reading the time a real pleasure. The lume on this watch is simply brilliant; it is very bright and long lasting. The LumiBrite sucks up light like a sponge and is literally screaming to release its charge. In pitch black conditions, lume will continue to be visible after being fully charged for a good 6-7 hours.

The design of the casing is excellent. Sleek curves run along the side of the case, while the crown guards integrate seamlessly into the design of the case, giving the SKX007/009 series its signature look. It has a good amount of heft to it, making it feel much more expensive then it actually is. Overall, a very well thought-out case design.

 

 The bad points

There is some room for improvement though. The 7S26 movement only completes its day change cycle at 3 a.m. Between 12 to 3, you would see the day wheel skipping through the second language to arrive at the correct and final date.

Next, the crown has quite a number of issues:

1) It is quite wobbly when screwed out. Doesn't leave for much confidence in the crown mechanism.

2) The pressure from the spring of the screw down crown seems to be a little excessive, making it quite the battle everytime you have to screw the crown down.

3) The crown tube is a little too finely threaded and most of all integrated into the case! This means if you cross-thread while screwing the crown down and mangle up the threads, the only fix is to replace the entire case; a rather expensive affair to say the least.

The crown on this watch definitely needs some improvements, hopefully in the next iteration of the SKX009.

The final verdict

 

Overall, the SKX007/009 series from Seiko is simply fantastic. It is extremely good value for money. Aside for the crown which is a bit of a let down, this is one of, if not the best mechanical watch that one can get with a budget of slightly below $200. With that, it brings us to the end of the first watch collection post!