Time-Stopper...

... otherwise known to us layman as chronograph.

I helped a friend to procure an Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph LiquidMetal on Friday, as I had access to a great discount from the AD. He was very happy as the watch retailed at RM32k, and was his for the taking at just RM24k.

Seeing his jolly face getting the chrono had me thinking if I should take the chance, while the AD was giving the great discount and the government-imposed GST was not in place as yet, to add a chrono to my collection too.

I have had 2 forgettable chronos in the form of Tag Heuer Carrera Caliber 16 Chrono (alas, not 1887 movement!), and Hamilton vintage chrono 3828; and I hoped to get a chrono with more oomph! and staying power. And at the same time, I wanted the chrono to be on the affordable side so as not to break the bank. After all, I have to start budgeting for sonny's private school and the fees don't exactly come cheap- but education comes first, naturally.

I was therefore looking at 3 brands that rather tug my heartstrings - Bell & Ross, Omega, and Tudor, in alphabetical order.

From Bell & Ross, the chrono that seemed more interesting was the carbon orange version; but it's a BR03. When one wears a BR, it's always the kick-ass 46mm BR01 that gets the nod; the 42mm BR03 almost always seem to be in its big brother's shadow. And the BR canvas strap was not as comfortable as Nato or Zulu's.

So I guess I could struck this option off then.

From Omega, mention chrono and people would assume that you're looking at the Speedmaster. It has the classic design that has been largely-unchanged for the last 60 years, and could still be unchanged for the next 60 perhaps. For this model, I liked the previous model no. 3851.50.00 with Caliber 3313 movement and red accents; and current model no. 311.30.44.51.01.002 with 9300 movement.

Using the same 2 movements mentioned above, I also rather fancy the Seamaster Planet Ocean XL in the form of previous model no. 2918.50.82 (with bold orange accents) and current model no. 232.90.46.51.03.001 (LiquidMetal), which was the one that I helped to procure the other day.

The pull factor towards Omega was that I could purchase these new at a great discount from my regular AD.

And from the Tudor camp, the Heritage Chrono Blue (RRP : RM14,430 before discount) remained a piece that I adored and would like to add to my collection; although I do realise that it's very colourful outlook meant that it would not make a good corporate wear and may project a different intended image than that of a serious corporate player. But boy does it looked oh-so-beautiful!

It used to be sold at a premium; but grey resellers were selling these at great discount these days (the above example going for RM8,900 only!) as it's the Heritage Black Bay Burgundy Red that had proven to be the de-facto Heritage series watch that seemed to captivate collectors and translate that captivation into done sales in the end.

So the big question was... which one should I go for?

Decision, decision, decision...