Of Rolex And Nato / Zulu Straps

Pursuant to my earlier entry @ http://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2015/04/dream-team-10-watches-for-collection.html, I had quite a few e-mails asking if it wasn't too boring and playing too safe to have 3 Rolexes in my Dream Ten. One reader even wrote, "All 3 of the watches looked the same! Boring with a capital B!"

Well, to me, they all have their own characters. This is how I reckon.

The Submariner Classic is a great go-anywhere type of watch that would simply looked not out of place anywhere- be it at the office, at a cocktail function, or by the beach. True, at any one of those places, a quick glance around would have quite a few others wearing the Submariner Classic too. It was just that common. That was why I matched mine with the Tudor Black Bay's Nato, and the Tudor shield buckle added that extra oomph! to the Submariner Classic's character to have it stand out just that lil' bit extra.

The Submariner Hulk is an amazing piece to me, and I simply love the beauty and boldness of Rolex experiencing with the green ceramic bezel onto the green dial. There seems to be a different shade of green depending on how the light caught on to the dial. I searched online for pictures of the Submariner Hulk and saw quite a few interesting ones (copyright belongs to the respective owners) as per the following :

As you could see, the Submariner Hulk seemed to be a ladies favourite too. I would want to enhance its masculinity by pairing it with a Zulu Camo, and the one that came closest to what I have in mind was from Hadley-Roma USA. I can't find any pictures of the Submariner Hulk matched to a Camo strap; but rest assured that when I get my hands on my very own Submariner Hulk, I shall share pictures of the pair together.

As for the Explorer 2 Black, I thought that it was the most playful and adventurous of the lot- with its fixed stainless steel bezel and bright orange GMT hand. I had in mind to pair the Explorer 2 Black with the Zulu Bond, re-creating the scene from Sean Connery's James Bond where he had his Submariner Classic worn with the Nato Bond. Somehow, being an adventurous watch, I thought that the Explorer 2 Black would be a better recipient to be matched with the Bond strap.

There are new examples selling through grey retailers vide Mudah, but what I would like to get were pre-owned examples that were mostly safe queens and released by fellow collectors. I have been saving bit by bit; and when the opportunity arises, I shall then be ready.

My Dream Team : 10 Watches For Collection

This has been a busy weekend admist DIY home improvement works in my current home and supervision works at a new place that we intend to move into in the near future. The wound and blister on my hands were testament that I had been putting in my share of hard work. So I decided to kick back and open a cold Frenchie, while just thinking about watches for a while. They almost always seemed to calm me down.

I was thinking, if I had to maintain just 10 watches for my rotation and collection, I would go with the following list. And instead of getting new watches, I may just opt for good pre-owned examples so that the acquisition would be easier on the pockets, with the previous owner getting the hit from the depreciation.

Oh well, one can have a dreamful afternoon, can't I? Figured I earned the right to rest for a while after slogging away...

Automatic Movement :

1)   Rolex Submariner Classic; - owned

2)   Rolex Submariner Hulk; - looking for a good pre-owned example

3)   Rolex Explorer 2 Black; - looking for a good pre-owned example

4)   Tudor Pelagos Ti5; - owned

5)   Omega Speedmaster Panda; - owned

Winding Movement :

6)   Pagol 3055 Vintage; - owned

7)   Panerai 448 Vintage California; - looking for a good pre-owned example

Quartz/Hybrid Movement :

8)   Citizen Aqualand Promaster Depth Meter; - owned

9)   Tag Heuer Kirium Ti5; - owned

10) Casio G-Shock Rangeman Wave-Ceptor. - pending delivery

Pulled The Trigger : Casio G-Shock Rangeman Wave-Ceptor

Readers would remember that I previously had 2 Casio G-Shock Riseman (one normal and one with Wave-Ceptor). The Riseman was part of Casio's top-of-the-range Master of G series; and had in-built sensors to measure weather (barometer) and altitude (altimeter). Wave-Ceptor was another premium technology that enabled the watch to self-adjust its time anywhere in the world, as it could synchronise with the atomic clock signals from any of the 6 locations located at China, Japan, Germany, England, and USA. I have since flipped off both the Risemen.

At one point in time, I was into military-themed G-Shock and bought into the Camo range. I have since flipped off such Camo ones too.

I was reading some police product tests, and came across an article by Sergeant George with regards to the Casio G-Shock Rangeman. When I bought into the Riseman, this model was already available but on the costly side at circa RM2,000 (model with Wave-Ceptor technology). Further reading online sources revealed that the Rangeman was also available in military green colour (it was only in black previously), and still fully-equipped with its in-built sensors including barometer, altimeter, thermometer, and compass. This was indeed one bad-ass Master of G watch.

I thought about and decided to pull the trigger. Would now be waiting for 2 weeks for its delivery from Australia, and would conduct a review when it arrives in Malaysia.

The Japanese Duo - Professional Specifications (ProSpex) and Professional Master (ProMaster)

Seiko ProSpex and Citizen ProMaster... both professional specification watches as deemed so by their manufacturers, seated side-by-side just the other night, so I took a quick picture.

The Seiko Prospex was the more wearable size of the duo, at 44mm. The Citizen ProMaster was a huge fella and attracts way too much attention to one's wrist. Especially as it was now matched with a brand new sparkling orange Zulu.

First Impression Of The Speedy Panda

I chanced upon this NOS from a fellow watch collector, whom had picked it up from an Omega AD a few months back. According to the watch collector, it has been largely kept aside and its condition was as good as new; with full manufacturer's warranty. I had made many good friends vide watch flips and I believe that this gentleman would be a party that I would be keeping in touch with too.

Otherwise known as the Omega Speedmaster Date Chronometer, it was more commonly known as the Omega Speedy Panda amongst the WIS crowd. The nickname was derived from its white dial with black chrono (rendering it to look like a panda bear); and the series for the first watch on the moon now comes in 38mm (ladies), 40mm (unisex), 41.5mm (gents), and 44.25mm (gents). There has been a general transition of watches towards larger sizes, and the 40-42mm domain which used to be the male's domain, was largely-accepted as being unisex sizes with more and more ladies taking over this dial size.

Case in point was that you could chance upon more and more Rolex Submariner on ladies' wrists these days. Even with its 40mm maxi-dial reiteration, the ladies were slowly but surely coveting the Submariner into a unisex watch these days. I picked up this Submariner example from another fellow collector, and matched mine with the Tudor Nato strap to make it more toolish, as the case of the Submariner was quite shiny for a tool watch.

The Speedy Panda being reviewed had a 40mm dial, and its movement were from the Omega Caliber 3304 (currently powering the 38mm ladies Speedmaster-series). The movement was modified from Swiss' ETA Voljoux 7753; so one could be assured that reliability, dependability and parts would not be an issue unlike many in-house movements. Readers would know that I came from a watchsmith background and I generally have a liking towards such proven and easily-serviced movements. So yeah, I would admit that I was not a movement snob.

As usual, the Speedy Panda came in the normal Omega fanfare. Strip everything aside and we could then gauge that the Speedy Panda was a very handsome watch. The red accents on the dial upped its sportiness value by quite a few notches north.

The Cordura strap was very easy to take off, and it was well-made and soft to the touch. I found it to be a very comfortable strap; although it looked a bit small at 19mm tapering downwards.

Finding straps for it may be a tad cumbersome given its 19mm width. The clasp was a typical Omega clasp- smooth to operate as knife on butter, and you get a sense of its quality. This same clasp type could be seen on some other Omega models including the Seamaster Aqua Terra.

The Speedy Panda at 40mm was rather a good size for my wrist. A tad smaller from my normal preference but I'm sure that I would adjust to its size in due course.

Lume was rather good for a non-diver watch actually. Here it was, trying to take on the Pelagos. You got to give it credit for its guts.

A quick Google on the net revealed that the watch was selling from circa RM13k - RM15k new, mainly from grey retailers. Expect to pay a slight premium of circa 15% (RM15k - RM17k) at Omega ADs, although finding one may be a challenge given that it's discontinued and the Panda has always been high on the collectible list.

Surprisingly, the Speedy Panda matched with Cordura fabric strap had a higher asking price compared to the bracelet version, as the Cordura strap was deemed to be rarer and more collectible. Cordura was a hardy material and was commonly used for military wear.

Overall, I have always wanted to add a Speedy to my collection and have always kind of thought about the vintage Speedy Reduced that was previously offered to me by another collector, but already sold off when I arrived back in Malaysia a week later.

The Speedy Panda has earned a good spot in my winder case, and I shall cherish this piece in my horological journey. Let's all wear our watches in good health, readers!