8-month old Ball Hydrocarbon NEDU for RM5,800?! (SOLD)

When I bought my Ball Hydrocarbon John Hembel edition on 21/7/2014, I wrote that I were also interested to get the Ball Hydrocarbon NEDU in white dial, which was quoted at circa RM9,000 at my regular AD.

Well, a reader e-mailed me that there was a 8-month old piece going at RM6,500 as advertised on the Net; and I proceeded to get in touch with the seller. The seller was rather keen to sell actually, and straight to the point reduced the price to RM5,800, which was a rather good price.

However, the massive discount came with the following :

1) The rubber strap (RM600) and receipt was missing;
2) There was a rather noticeable ding on the lug (and I know that the ding would naturally draw one's attention to its way, which was a shame);
3) The warranty card seemed to have different ink for the date and shop, and the shop sold pre-owned watches too looking from its site, so it was hard to judge the actual age of the watch due to various coincidences;
4) It was not a white dial after all.

I were prepared to go at RM5,000 for the NEDU given the above, but the seller wanted his asking price. I'm quite sure that it would be sold pretty soon to a less fussy buyer given the relatively low price; but I'm a rather fussy collector who really love and care for my watches. That was why most of my watches had nary a scratch and look new at all times.

Thus, my search for the white dial NEDU continues. Anyone wanting to look for a blue dial NEDU at just RM5,800, drop me an e-mail and I'll point you to the right direction at no terms. After all, sharing is caring...

Update : I received 3 e-mail queries on the Ball Hydrocarbon NEDU and duly-referred them to the actual advert so that they could liaise with the owner on the sale. My posting was made on 28/8/2014 circa 1.00 pm. At 7.30 pm the same day, the watch was updated as "Sold" by the owner. Hope that it was one of the watch enthusiast whom I referred over, that had the good fortune to net the sale.

Watches Flipped Since the Start of This Blog

Like many watch enthusiasts, I have been flipping watches for a while. But just out of curiosity, let's examine some of the more memorable watches that I have flipped since the start of this blog in 2013 :

1) 2007 Seiko Perpetual Calendar (Out of warranty);

2) 2012 Oris Artelier Date (Out of warranty);

3) 2013 Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph Calibre 16 (Wristwatch Annual 2013) (Under warranty);

4) 2013 Seiko Sportura Aviation Alarm Chronograph (Wristwatch Annual 2013) (Under warranty);

5) 2013 Seiko Monster Dracula (Under warranty);

6) 2013 Citizen EcoZilla (Under warranty);

7) 2013 Ball Fireman Night Train DLC (BNIB);

8) 2014 Oris Aquis Date (Under warranty);

9) 2014 Casio G-Shock Riseman Wave-Ceptor (Under warranty);

10) 2014 Certina DS Podium GMT (BNIB);

11) 2014 Orient Mechanical Force (BNIB);

12) 2014 Hamilton 3828 vintage chronograph (new old stock);

13) 2014 Steinhart Ocean Forty-Four (BNIB);

14) 2014 SevenFriday P3-01 (LNIB);

15) 2014 Edox GMT-Class 1 Titanium (LNIB);

16) 2014 Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military (BNIB);

17) 2014 Seiko SKX009J1 (BNIB).

The monies from the sale of the above watches went towards the purchases of some interesting pieces. Amongst them were the following :

1) 1972 Rolex Datejust vintage (pre-owned serviced with warranty);

2) 2005 Tag Heuer Kirium Ti5 (pre-owned serviced with warranty);

3) 2012 Ball Hydrocarbon "Mad Cow" (pre-owned serviced with warranty);

4) 2014 Edox Les Vauberts (BNIB);

5) 2014 Steinhart GMT-Ocean Ceramic (BNIB);

6) 2014 Glycine Combat Sub "Root Beer" (BNIB);

7) 2014 Tudor Heritage Black Bay (LNIB).

There were some other watches purchased as gifts for family and friends, but these don't count as they were not really for my own consumption.

And since the start of this blog, daily accumulated readership has crossed the 25,000 threshold and hopefully would be increasing still.

It shall be interesting to see where this journey continues from hereon. Here's wishing that all of us wear our watches in good health!

Pulled The Trigger : Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT (Model No : SUN023P1)

Readers would recall that I were interested to get a Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT (model no : SUN023P1) in my blog entry @ http://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2014/07/thinking-of-seiko-watches.html. However, at the time of writing, the said watch was still largely not available in Malaysia and there was only one online AD selling the said watch from USA.

Well, it looked like the said watch has since reached our shores and a fellow forummer informed me that it was retailing for RM2,300 in ADs. I further searched online and found that there were quite a few sites selling the said model; and I like purchasing Seiko watches from European ADs as the watches there typically come with 2 years warranty.

Rakuten was a popular site for the latest Japanese watches but they seemed to be selling the watch at a premium as it still cost 120,000 Yen (circa RM3,700) after discount, perhaps due to the demand higher than supply at the interim period.

My next step was to look at European sites for the additional warranty. After conversion, the SUN023P1 would cost circa RM2,650. There was a RM120 cheaper option in the SUN021P1, which had different colours but I still prefer the SUN023P1.

So I decided to bite the bullet and just pulled the trigger... and an order for the Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT model no. SUN023P1 was thus made. That, and for a price of circa RM1,500, it's a real bargain too! Keep your eyes peeled here for the upcoming review in due course!

Update : I received an e-mail notification that the watch was out of stock and the monies duly-refunded vide PayPal. A fellow forummer has since updated me that the said watch was also available at a known watch shop in KL and price could be cheaper than RM1,500. Looks like I would need to make a stop at the shop one of these days.

Pictures : Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military

I have been asked a few times for pictures on the aforetitled watch. Well, here I am in the middle of the Borneo rainforest now with satellite Internet access, so why not just do it now, eh?

The Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military ("OVM") is a nice homage to the Rolex Mil-Sub 5517, and I must admit that it has a fair bit of wrist presence. It has a nice 42mm case (which I am a sucker for such a size), a robust ETA 2824-2 movement and an affordable price tag. So what could one possible complain about this watch?

Well, if I have to state one thing, do note though that the fake orange "patina" lume may not be everyone's favourite- as it could looked a little too trying to look like a vintage, at times. For such "vintage" effect, I prefer the milkish-cream white lume used by my Tudor Heritage Black Bay ("BB").

But then again, the OVM cost circa 1/8th of the BB's price tag, so I guess it ain't really a fair comparison to compare them side-by-side.

By itself, it does pretty alright- after all, can one find another watch that looks so much alike to the Mil-Sub 5517 in the market?

Yeah, I didn't think so. So, all hail Steinhart for bringing the masses a step closer to owning an almost impossible grail watch design.

Hope the pictures help to make up your minds, to some readers whom wrote in to me on the OVM.

Freebies for 8th Blog Reader : MTV World Stage Malaysia 2014

My family and I had initially planned to go for the MTV World Stage Malaysia 2014, but my ad-hoc business trip meant that I have to give it a miss. And since I am not going to the MTV event, my wife has decided to give it a miss too.

And therefore...

I now have 2 extra passes to the MTV World Stage Malaysia 2014 to be given away to a lucky blog reader. The 8th person to e-mail to me with the title "MTV" would get these tickets. No terms and conditions and whatsoever not, just a request to self pick-up from my wife at the Mont Kiara/Sri Hartamas area latest by this Friday afternoon. I will e-mail back to the 8th person to request for your mobile no if you are indeed the lucky one, and my wife would thereafter liaise with you on the collection.

I am overseas and my wife is mainly good to drive around our area only, so I can't deliver the passes elsewhere. So only write in if you're prepared to drive down here.

Good luck and Godspeed...

Maiden Wear : Tudor Heritage Black Bay Burgundy Red

And she's real sweet...

Glycine Combat Sub Paired With Tudor Nato Black Strap (from Heritage Black Bay)

Safe Queen : Rolex Datejust Model No. 1601 - part 2

Continued from http://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2014/08/safe-queen-rolex-datejust-model-no-1601.html.

After taking the photos, I decided to retrieve some new 20mm watch straps that I had recently acquired to mix and match with my vintage Datejust 1601.

1) Here she was in its initial genuine bracelet glory :

2) And here she was with Alex's choice i.e. Tudor Advisor Nato interwoven satin strap :

3) And when paired with reptile leather strap with gold buckle :

4) And finally, Nato tanned leather strap :

Which one would you go for, mate?