Oris Aquis Date (Model No : 73376534154MB)

Why the teaser for the Oris Aquis Date? Well, keep your eyes posted here for the subsequent updates...

#PrayForMH370

Alex woke me up from a rare Sunday afternoon nap to ask me how to spell "Miracle". I groggily answered him. After a long while, he came in again and asked if I could teach him to draw MH370. That got me awake and I went out to see what he was doing. We ended up doing a Father-and-Son colouring session together. ‪

 

Boys and G-Shocks

My boy started wearing the el-cheapo RM5 watches from Daiso Japan- I never bother changing the batteries, when they ran out, I just buy another one (it's cheaper than replacing the battery really). Then I got him a Thomas and Friends peek-a-boo watch that was made in Japan, and he started to take a liking to watches. Now, when he goes out, he sometimes want to pick a G-Shock from some of those in my watch cabinet. Imagine a hefty G-Shock on the wrist of a 5-year old; but somehow, he likes it!

Add an affordable compass to the band of the G-Shock Riseman and you get a RM5 fix that made the Riseman upping the ante to the Rangeman's Altimeter-Barometer-Compass territory.

Certina DS Podium Chrono GMT on Casual Friday

This being a casual Friday and I was dressed in batik attire, I was thinking which piece I should utilize to work this morning, After a quick look-through, I decided that, "What the heck! I should just take the Certina DS Podium Chrono GMT that was still cocooned safely in its box, for a walk in the park."

I was initially thinking of trading off the timepiece as per my posting at Malaysia Watch Forum @ http://www.malaysiawatchforum.com/index.php/topic,12511.msg109607.html#new so I had left it in its box. But I thought that I might as well just gave it a try first- who knows, I could grow to like the simplicity and reliability of quartz watches. No more worrying if the time had run for my automatic watches in their winders, or having to adjust the time for the pieces not in the winders.

Initial feel was good. It had some weight (which I like, and also the chief reason why I don't really like quartz in general as the watch hardly feels that it's there on your wrist) and the rubber strap was super-comfy.  It's soft to the touch and wraps around the wrist smoothly. Button operations were smooth and adjusting the date and time was done in a jiffy.

And so here it was, nicely strapped on my wrist and it is really starting to grow on me...

The Star Everlasting Love Contest - Certina Swiss Timepieces Giveaway

I received a couple of e-mails from fellow readers asking if this was my first Certina timepiece and what motivated me towards the purchase. Well, frankly, I must say that the timepiece was more of a belated Valentine's gift of love and it wasn't from my spouse.

(NB : Under normal circumstances, an admission like this would have earned me the right to kneel down on durian shells... just kidding there :)

No, do you remember that The Star ran the Everlasting Love Contest which had Certina Swiss timepieces as its giveaways as per the following :

Grand Prize x 1:
Certina DS1 (couple watch) worth RM5,120

1st Prize x 1:
Certina DS Eagle worth RM4,460

2nd Prize x 1:
Certina DS Action worth RM2,870

3rd Prize x 1:
Certina DS2 worth RM2,280

Consolation Prize x 13:
Certina DS Podium worth RM1,750 

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/SME/2014/02/12/Swiss-brand-makes-a-strong-return-to-Malaysian-shores-marks-anniversary/

"ALTHOUGH Certina has been in the watch industry for more than a century, the Swiss brand is making a stronger presence than ever in the Malaysian market.

“We have been around for a long time,” said Certina vice-president Bryan Ho.

Ho said the watches were sold in Malaysia back in the 1970s, until the brand became a member of the Swatch Group in 1983 and it then focused on the European region.

About six years ago Certina returned to Malaysia with vim, signing sponsorship deals with major sporting events.

Certina is currently the premium partner of the Swiss Sauber F1 Team, official partner and timekeeper for the FIA WRC World Rally Championship as well as supporting Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen, who is also their brand ambassador.

Ho said 70% of the Certina range today comprises sporty watches, catering to its male market.
“Our customers lean towards sporty designs that often come with rubber straps that are lighter and can can be worn every day for all occasions,” he said.

He was quick to add that the brand also has a ladies’ range incorporating diamonds and a collection of timepieces with leather straps or stainless steel bracelets, which are dressy and elegant for a dinner party.

Certina, according to Ho, has a strong following among young working adults because it is Swiss quality at an affordable price.
 
The latest from the brand — DS Action, DS Eagle, DS Podium GMT and DS Prime Lady Chrono — come with its new logo of a turtle on its caseback.

“We were using the turtle as our logo back in the 1960s and we are now bringing it back to replace the Certina brand name on the caseback,” said Ho, adding that the turtle symbolises long life and served as a good reminder of the brand’s history.

To celebrate its 125th year in the watch industry, Certina came up with the DS-1 Automatic Anniversary Edition.

The designs, for men and women, come in a retro case reminiscent of the first 1960 DS‑1 modelsIt houses a new and original dial in sport-classic design, complete with an elegant silver-shaded sunray finish.

Its transparent caseback lets watch connoisseurs admire the finely crafted movement,

There are only 1,888 pieces of the DS-1, which is only available as a couple set.

The number “1888” marks the year Certina was founded by brothers Adolf and Alfred Kurth.

This Valentine’s Day, The Star is organising the “Everlasting Love” that offers readers the chance to win the limited-edition Certina DS-1 Automatic Anniversary Edition."

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2014/03/15/Everlasting-love-etched-in-time-Valentines-Day-contest-winners-bring-home-Certina-watches/ 

(From left) Star Publications (M) Bhd Advertising and Business Development general manager Chin Seow Ping, Ho, Certina assistant marketing and merchandising manager Cassandra Yaw, and Star Publications (M) Bhd Advertising Sales and Business Development manager Phua Yen Li showing the watches for the contest winners.

"WINNERS of a Valentine’s Day contest themed “Everlasting Love” took home timepieces from Swiss watchmaker Certina.

The contest, organised by The Star, required contestants to come up with creative and interesting captions for a drawing of a couple on the contest form.

During the prize-giving ceremony, the winners came with their loved ones as well as family members."

Well, from the above, I guess that it was somewhat conclusive that the Certina DS Podium Chronograph GMT that I have was one of the pieces coutersy of The Star's Valentine's Day contest and winners all recently received their prices. In fact, the GMT could be one of the pieces held by Certina's Ms Cassandra Yeow or The Star's Ms Phua in the picture above. 

I have yet to utilize and therefore review the watch (it was still sitting pretty in its box in my watch cabinet), but I'll come along to the GMT soon enough...

Certina DS Podium GMT Chronograph (Model No : C001.639.27.057.00)

Launched in June 2013, the above model is the latest addition to Certina's DS Podium GMT Chronograph line-up. Its sporty new moulded-rubber strap brings even more character to a precise and highly versatile timepiece, with second time zone and 12-hour chronograph features.

Movement is via one of ETA's bread and butter ie Quartz G10.961. Swiss-made and reliable as heck, this should ensure that the DS Podium GMT ticks happily away.

The oversized (42mm) 316L stainless-steel case joins sporty contours and virile black PVD detailing. White tachymeter-scale numerals on the black bezel complement white and red dial elements beautifully set off against the black dial surface.

This racing-inspired dial includes a twin-function counter for 12-hour and 60-min. chrono timing in a single indicator, a small-second counter and a special 24-hour GMT time-zone counter with a silver-shaded snailed surface finish.

The assembly is protected by a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.

A red central hand displays chronograph seconds against a brightly brushed sloping rim, and a bevelled date window is set inside the bottom edge of the small-second counter, at 6 o'clock for balance and visibility.

The broad HM hands, red triangular 24-hour/GMT hand, indices and Arabic numerals are all treated with Superluminova for optimal readability under all lighting conditions.

The DS Podium is water resistant up to a pressure of 10 bar (100m), thanks to CERTINA's famous DS Concept, a reminder of which is indicated by letters "DS" over the tip of its protected crown.

 
This timepiece retails for RM1,750 in Malaysia and I have just added this timepiece into my collection so keep your eyes peeled here for the upcoming photos hereafter.

In parting, hope you wear your watch in good health. Cheers...

Tough Solar : G-Shock Riseman GW-9200J

I was looking for a watch with barometric function for weather predictability given my outdoor activities and chanced upon the G-Shock Riseman GW-9200. This baby was charged by solar (like my Citizen EcoZilla), had barometer, altimeter, temperature reading, world time, alarms, stopwatch, yada yada yada. Everything but the kitchen sink has been packed into this tough watch; and in a sense, the watch would probably be much like the Swiss army knife of the timepiece world.

I was pretty amazed with this watch and started researching further on the subject. Apparently, there were 2 models for the Riseman ie GW-9200 and GW-9200J. The former was manufactured in Thailand and the latter manufactured in Japan, or so you would have deduced. Apparently, the GW-9200J was manufactured in both Thailand and Japan, with the one really from Japan and for the Japan domestic market commanding a higher price and highly-sought after by G-Shock collectors.

Confused yet?

Both these Risemen were made in Casio's Thailand manufacturing plant...

While this piece was truly manufactured in Casio's Japan plant for JDM.

The dragon caseback is the more affordable non-atomic version, while the flying squirrel caseback is the more expensive atomic (Multiband 6) version.The one that was Japan-made obviously was the one that commanded a premium pricing amongst collectors.

The hunting then started. Not many shops carry this model so I had to hunt and ask around a bit. But it all paid off when I managed to source for both the Thailand-made and Japan-made Risemen with one becoming my hard-wearing, terrain-conquering sweat piece; and the other cocooned safely in the safety of my watch cabinet.

An advert that I found on Mudah on the real deal. Most of the rest of the Risemen were non-airwave interceptor units :

I shall utilise the review from Andy of Gadgeteer as per the following :

I’m the kind of person who can only wear one watch at a time.  That is, I don’t wear one to work, another one for play, and yet another for dress.  So it’s important to me that whatever I wear does everything I need.

Unfortunately for me, I’m drawn to gadgets, and I can be hard on my toys.  For this reason, I’m a big fan of the Casio G-Shock products.  Today I’m writing about my latest purchase, the Casio G-Shock GW9200-1 “Riseman” watch.

The GW9200-1 Riseman comes in a nice, cylindrical tin box. There are way too many features to list individually, so here are the main ones:

• Multi-Band Atomic Timekeeping (US, UK, Germany, Japan, China)
• Tough Solar Power
• 200M Water Resistant
• Altimeter
• Barometer
• Thermometer
• World Time
• 5 Daily Alarms (1 with snooze)
• Countdown Timer (1 minute to 24 hours)
• 1/100 second stopwatch (24 hours)
• Measuring modes: Elapsed time, split time, 1st-2nd place times
• Hourly Time Signal
• Approx. battery life: 9 months on full charge (without further exposure to light)
• Size of case/total weight:  51 x 48.9 x 15.9mm / 60.9g

Note how the glass face is recessed around the G-Shock's trademark "armor".

There are other Casio “ABC” watches (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass), namely the Pathfinder/Protrek series, but the Riseman does not have a compass.  What you gain, however, is a watch that is more in line with the G-Shock styling with the protected, recessed mineral crystal glass, and the plastic resin body that hides minor wear marks quite well.

The round, silvery thing on the side is the sensor.

The red button activates the altimeter mode.

At first glance, the Riseman has a funny lump on the left side, which houses the sensor for the altimeter, barometer and thermometer. (Edit:  There is only one sensor placed in the “lump” and that is a barometric pressure sensor. The watch then has a US Standard Atmosphere 1976 barometric formula based standard conversion chart in its memory that enables the watch to derive altitude readings from the current barometric pressure readings.  Thanks to Watchuseek Forum member Joakim Agren for the correction.)

Unlike most Casio G-Shocks, the Riseman is controlled with six buttons instead of the usual five. Where’s the sixth button?  The big red one on the right labeled “ALTI”.  More on individual functions later.

Riseman on my 7-inch wrist.

Looking at watch on wrist from the left.

Before I put it on, I imagined a watch with so many features would be huge.  Turns out that wasn’t the case.  Very average for a G-Shock.

Family portrait! (Left to right): Casio 5600 series, Riseman, Casio 6900 series.

Stack 'em up! 6900 (top), Riseman (middle) and 5600 (bottom)

When compared to other classic G-Shocks, such as the 5600 series (GW-M5600 solar atomic shown) and the DW6900 (“three eyed monster”), the GW9200-1 Riseman falls somewhere in between in terms of bulk.



The Riseman’s face is split into several sections.  The bottom digits display the time.  The middle portion shows the year and month/date.  The top section shows the day of the week.  The red circle shows the barometric trend for the last 24 hours in two hour intervals per dot.  Increasing pressure generally means improving weather, and decreasing pressure equates to degrading weather.  Your results will vary!

The solar panels that charge the battery surround the LCD display.  Current battery level is displayed via tiny LCD segments for L, M and H (Low, Medium, High).  To save power, the Riseman has a user-selectable feature that turns the LCD off after a preset interval of no light, such as when you turn the lights out to sleep.  This power saving feature can be also be activated if you wear long sleeves covering the watch long enough.  I’ve never found this to be an issue as the watch comes back to life quickly.

Screen shows the last sync'd time.

Since this watch has an atomic clock sync feature, a small three-lined indicator to the right of the red circle that appears when the watch has successfully synchronized.  Unlike the battery indicator, the receive indicator is either on or off.  There is no intermediate indication for a low or medium signal.  However, you can manually perform a time sync by pressing and holding the START button (lower right) and the time display flashes your relative signal strength from L1 (lowest) to L3 (strongest).  This is handy when trying to determine where in the house you can leave the watch to sync overnight at midnight, 1AM, 2AM, etc until the Riseman obtains a suitable signal.



Pressing the MODE button cycles through the various watch modes.  The first one is the barometer.  In this mode, the current barometric pressure is displayed on the first row in either hPa or inHg, depending if you prefer metric or imperial units.  The second row displays current temperature (C or F), and the red circle displays the recent barometric trend, user selectable as the 24-hour dot matrix graph or an easy to read arrow.  What’s nice is that the Riseman constantly displays the current time at the bottom line.  One problem is that as you wear the watch, the temperature displayed is most likely skewed due to heat from your wrist.  Taking off the watch for a few minutes assumes a more accurate room temperature.



The next mode is the world time display.  The city code shows on the top line (LAX, NYC, etc.) and the bottom row shows the time in that time zone.  The middle row shows your local, current time for reference.



Pressing the mode button again gets you to the stopwatch.  Pressing the START button starts and stops the stopwatch.  The RESET button (upper right) clears to zero.  You may notice the red circle shows the elapsed number of hours.  The Riseman is rare in that it’s one of the few Casio G-Shocks to measure up to 24 hours, as well as displaying the current time in the middle display.  This feature is more rare than you’d think.



The next mode is the countdown timer.  You start and stop the timer much like the stopwatch.  The countdown timer can be set for a maximum of 24 hours and also displays the current time in the middle display.  When the time reaches zero, the Riseman beeps.



The alarm is the next mode.  There are four individual alarms you can set, and one individual alarm you can set with a built-in snooze feature.  In a break with Casio standards, pressing the big red ALTI button toggles each alarm on or off.  If you’re familiar with G-Shocks and don’t read the manual to the Riseman, you’ll get confused at first as I did!



Small three-letter abbreviations appear on the bottom row to indicate Snooze (SNZ), Alarm (ALM) and hourly signal chime (SIG).



The last mode serves as an altimeter high/low playback.  It shows the “min” and “max” recorded altitudes with the time stamp.



Speaking of altitude, the digital altimeter can be accessed in the timekeeping mode by pressing the red ALTI button.  I have not calibrated this watch yet so it shows my altitude as a negative.  A quick elevator ride proved to me that the altitude does change as expected.



No do-it-all watch would be complete without a backlight!  Pressing the big “G” button brings up an electroluminescent backlight.  This can also be programmed to turn on with a flick of the wrist.



The back of the watch is no slouch, either.  It’s surrounded by a plastic trim piece that must be removed to access the battery hatch.  Notice the dragon pattern on the back.  If you have a “flying squirrel” on the back instead of a dragon, you’ve got a version originally slated for sale outside the United States.

Edit:   The Flying Fire dragon case back is found not only on US models but on all International atomic versions and on all non atomic version. The Flying squirrel is exclusive to Japanese domestic markets models and only found on the atomic versions. The Japanese versions do not support metric and imperial conversions for the different measurements given by the sensors, they are strictly metric only.  (Thanks to Watchuseek Forum member Joakim Agren for the correction.)



The strap is made of the same durable resin type material as the watch case.  A dual-hole buckle gives it a real tough look.



I like how the tip of the strap has a small bump at the end that helps the keeper from sliding off.
Do I like the Riseman?  Oh yes I do!  In fact, it’s the only watch I wear, and it does everything I need it to do.

Online Review : Ocean Forty-Four Automatic Mini-Review

Credit to Watch You Seek :

Packaging and Presentation:

I purchased my Ocean 44 from Gnomon in Singapore and not from Steinhart directly. I’ve bought many watches from Gnomon in the past without any issue whatsoever so I was comfortable buying from them. The Ocean 44 came well packaged in a cardboard box which was more than enough packing material to keep it safe. Watch comes in a plain white outer cardboard box and a very nice black pressboard inner box with a faux alligator leather insert on the hinged lid. Inside the box is a nice grey felt with a grey pillow. Packaged with the watch is a movement booklet which details the movement used as well as all other movements used by Steinhart. No bells and whistles but more than enough to satisfy the tool diver aficionado. 8/10

Case:

My Ocean 44 has a stainless steel 44mm case with 22mm lugs. The case is brushed on the top and polished on the sides. No bells and whistles with the case but I wasn’t expecting any so no disappointments. There are a couple minor issues with my case which bear mention. The finish on the caseback itself seems unfinished. Mine has sharp edges which has actually shaved the hair off of my wrists from being worn. The plus side is the engraved caseback is very nice with the famous Steinhart Ocean seahorse and rider! The etching on the top of the crown is also quite sharp and could have benefited from some polishing compound. The crown itself screws down very smoothly requiring 5 complete turns. The lug holes are very close to the edge which always makes me leery of a springbar failure. For me, the case is the ideal size for my wrist and personal preference. It’s definitely toolish in construction however it is also sleek enough to be worn in a semi-formal situation. Crystal is a flat sapphire with AR coating on the underside. 8/10

 
Dial and Hands:

It’s obvious that the design cues are straight from the Rolex DSSD diver…and there’s nothing wrong with that. The dial is very refined with nice silver framed lumed indices. Hands are a standard silver Mercedes set. The dial itself is the same size as is found in Steinhart’s 42mm model divers therefore may look a little small to some with the 3 o’clock date window set in far from the case sides. Personally I think the dial is just the right size for the watch. Lume isn’t nuclear but it does maintain throughout the entire night so that I can still read the time at 5 in the morning. My Ocean 44 had a couple minor issues with respect to finish but nothing major. There was some dust on the dial as well as one particularly annoying speck on the seconds hand. This did not bother me in the least as I was intent on swapping out the Mercedes hands for MoD hands so I just asked my watch guy to blow out the dust. The real stand out feature of the dial is the engraved rehault. Again, taking it’s design cues from the Rolex DSSD. I really like this feature however I wish the wording had been better thought out. “Ocean Forty-Four” at 12 o’clock is fine however “Professional Dive Watch” at 6 o’clock seems a little silly…I know that it’s a watch, I don’t need that aspect advertised on the dial. Maybe “Professional Dive Grade” or something similar would have been better. 9/10 (with modded MoD hands) 

Bezel:

It was the bezel that actually first attracted me to the watch. Bezel insert is sapphire and is really an amazing feature at this price point. Ironically it’s the bezel insert that gives me the most consternation. The numbers are printed on the back of the bezel insert in silver. In bright light the insert appears almost black due to the angle. As much as I really like the notion of a sapphire bezel insert I think I would prefer something that is consistently visible and readable…without having to angle my wrist “just right”. The bezel action is actually much better than I anticipated. It is 120 clicks and rotates extremely smoothly without any back slop whatsoever. It really is one of the best rotating bezels that I’ve encountered. 8/10

Bracelet:

Bracelet is all business! Flip lock clasp, solid end links and screwed links. Clasp is brushed with a polished flip lock with the Steinhart logo etched into the flipper itself. Bracelet is brushed on top and polished on the sides. The only thing that would make the bracelet perfect would be a diver’s extension. 9/10

Movement:

Movement is the venerable ETA 2824 which require no introduction or detail. Mine is maintaining a consistent +3 seconds over 24 hours which is the best 2824 in my collection. I’m a real stickler with respect to timing so I could not be happier with this one! 10/10

 
My overall impression of this watch is extremely favorable. It’s probably one of the best value for dollar divers out there in this style. There are a few minor quality control issues which I am sure can be resolved but for the cost of the watch I was not expecting perfection. I would highly recommend this watch to anyone! 52/60

Confirmed Purchase : Steinhart Ocean Forty-Four

My purchase from Steinhart was made under the following motivations :

1) I wanted a Swiss movement in the timepiece. No doubt the brand is Teutonic but importantly, the watches are Swiss-made and I prefer the ETA 2824-2 with 25 jewels which are known to be reliable and dependable workhorses.

2) The Ocean Green that I ordered yesterday was utilizing the ETA 2824-2 movement, which was great. However, it was on back-order and it could be months before my place in the queue comes to fruitation. Plus the aluminium green bezel was reportedly easy to be scratched from online reviews.

3) I then decided that it may be a good idea to switch to the Ocean Black DLC. It was essentially the same watch as the Ocean Green, but it had been subjected to the Diamond Like Carbon Coating process, rendering it to be much more scratch-resistant. However, the aluminium black bezel had the same problem as my consideration above. I wrote in to Steinhart if they could install the ceramic black bezel (Euro 30 option) for me straightaway as the changing of the bezel was not a straight-forward affair as per other divers' watches. However, the ceramic black bezel was out of stock.

4) As I was thinking about it, I realized that the Ocean Forty-Four was utilizing the ETA 2824-2 movement AND the bezel was a sapphire crystal one. Voila, it had all the pros that I wanted in a watch, and I needn't spend extra on optional upgrades. And yes, it was in stock!

I quickly surfed for some online reviews and there were many positives ones- in fact, fans of the Ocean Forty-Four were happy that its bracelet was broader and not tapered inwards as per the Sea-Dweller's; and therefore improved upon an already great watch.

I also read how it was quickly out of stock and how many paid to be in the queue. And seeing that the stars were aligned perfectly and it was just in stock, I quickly changed my order and made the necessary payment.

Now I have to wait for 8 working days (hopefully on time) to get my hands on the Sea-Dweller, I mean Ocean Forty-Four. Excited? You bet I am!