There had been quite a no. of e-mails on our Project Homage : Save-The-Ocean 63MAS and I am trying to run through the orders and suggestions, so if you have yet to get your reply, please be patient for the interim period. This other e-mail caught my attention. Our reader (let's call him as "H") wanted in on Project Hommage too- that was not an issue. I'll just chalk him in for a piece too.
He was also interested in creating an MM300 homage and apparently, had second thoughts about overseas orders. He described about parcels being detained at KLIA and honestly, even I had such experiences before.
Most of the time, one would just pay the tax for the watch or parts; but the customs officers also previously shared that there were many items being under-declared so they would randomly select parcels to be opened up for inspection. The recipients of the parcels would have to be there then, unless they appoint an agent for the clearance.
As an example, say you have a new Seiko MM300 SBDX023 in the parcel and it was declared for RM3,000 value. If the parcel was selected for inspection, the customs would then check for the value of the said watch. RRP : RM15,050 x 5% = RM752.50. So you would need to pay a tax of RM752.50.
I normally order Seiko watches and parts direct from Japan so retail or street prices there could be lesser. I would then work out if the JP price + MY tax would be lower than MY retail or street price. If yes, then I would proceed with the online order. Watches would attract a 5% tax while parts at 10%.
MM300 is a great collectible's watch!
When it was an SBDX001 and selling at RM5k, it was a great buy. Back then, it was a basic watch with aluminium bezel insert and Hardlex mineral crystal.
When it became the SBDX017, it was upgraded with better lume and Diashield-coating to withstand scratches better. Price crept upwards to RM8k and it was a good buy still.
When it was now upgraded to SBDX023 with great lume, ceramic bezel insert, sapphire crystal, and DiaShield-coated, it became the version of MM300 that collectors had been waiting for. However, the RM15k price tag was too much for most collectors to bare. At this price point, one could moved to Tudor pieces and there's the Swiss-made ego-booster for some collectors; although I was the exception to such marketing now.
So how would one have the best of the MM300 cake and eat it at the same time? Well, that would to build your own MM300 homage of course.
One approach was to select Seiko cases e.g. Sumo (above) or SKX007, and mod to incorporate MM300 dial and handset. I have done that on various occasions, which could be searched and read in this blog.
Another approach would be to select good Seiko MM300 homage cases and mod to incorporate MM300 dial and handset. And when I go on this angle, I would want to make my own modded piece be different or better than the original version. For instance, since MM300 SBDX023 had lumed indices from 0-10 mins, I would want to have a fully lumed bezel insert for my homage. Or I would want to have a bronze case that Seiko does not offer for its MM300. This way, Seikoholics could see from one look that my MM300 was different (read : improved version) from the actual article. Same-same but different.
The thing about playing with mods was that... once you went on this route, it's hard to be impressed with stock watches as easily. Commercially-made stock watches were all but the same, and everyone with cash could afford to buy the same piece. Modded watches had more soul in them, and no two pieces were the same as real handiwork had gone into their making for the build.
As one of the collectors of my Seiko mod watches learnt, he bought a piece and kept coming back as he "love it.... am falling in love with mods and special design watches". Resistance is simply futile ;p
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