Friday 26 September 2014

Seiko Marine Master 300m model no. SBDX001 @ RM5,100

I am a regular business traveller so it's no surprise that I could chance upon some good deals at airports and cities abroad sometimes.

And I was pretty surprised when I was surfing late one night when I was at Jakarta when I chanced upon a few adverts with regards to the Seiko MM300 (new ones, mind you) selling at circa Rp19 juta - 20 juta. After the conversion, the watch was selling at just RM5,100.

I was surprised at the low prices that this model was selling in our neighbouring country and contacted 2 sellers to check if these were genuine pieces. After chatting with them, I found out that the model has always been selling at around that price; but the depreciation hitting the currency caused the watch to be remarkably cheaper these days.

Should I pull the trigger then?




Rolex Datejust : 40 Years Apart...

... but just as beautiful and captivating.


Readers would know that I adore my vintage 1972 Rolex Datejust. The picture above depicts my wife wearing the vintage Datejust against her modern female Datejust.


Well, how would my vintage Datejust 36mm stand next to the modern 2012 Rolex Datejust 36mm? There's 40 years apart between both these Datejust, but both of them look everlastingly attractive.

For sure, the 2012 Datejust felt heavier and more solid on my wrist, thanks to its more modern interpretation and the solid bracelet. In every other way, it was an improved version compared to the vintage Datejust...

... but the vintage Datejust managed to hold its head high during the comparo. Somehow, it exuded a strong sense of presence and there was strength in its history. Stare at both of them, and they looked the same yet vastly different.

I would happily have both of them side-by-side in my winder.










Thursday 25 September 2014

Fortis B-47 "Big Monster" model no. 675.10.81K


I recently chanced upon an advert for the aforementioned Fortis watch, which the seller wanted to sell at 50% of its RRP : RM5,200. Judging from the remaining warranty period, the watch was app 15 months old todate and the discount was a very generous one. The advert was placed in Feb and 8 months later with the watch still unsold, the seller was willing to go down to RM3,700. I thought that I would be interested to get the limited edition watch, purely because it was priced too low not to get it, compared to its RRP.


However, a quick Google revealed that the current RRP was actually at a very modest RM4,993. That meant that the discount on the 1+ year old watch was far lesser than earlier thought. If the buyer had indeed purchased the said watch at an RRP : RM10,400 in 2013, it was definitely shocking that the 2014 new watch price has since depreciated to 50% of its initial price. There must be very limited demand for the said watch, so the question was how much more would it depreciate to given another year or so..?

Shocking indeed...

The Journey through My Humble Collection

I was reading through my own blog earlier and thought that I would organise the types of watches that I owned into a few groups as per the following :

Vintage (prior to 1983) :

1) 1972 Rolex Datejust 1601;
2) 1978 Pagol Sub-Second Date 3055;

Quartz/Solar :

3) 2005 Tag Heuer Kirium Ti5;
4) 2007 Seiko Perpetual Calendar SNQ043;
5) 2013 Seiko Sportura Aviation Alarm Chrono;
6) 2013 Citizen Eco-Zilla;
7) 2014 Certina DS Podium GMT;
8) 2014 Casio G-Shock Riseman Wave-Ceptor;

Dress/Sports/Aviation/Misc :

9)   2012 Oris Artelier Date;
10) 2013 Tag Heuer Carrera Chrono Caliber 16;
11) 2013 Ball Fireman Night Train DLC;
12) 2014 Hamilton vintage chrono 3828;
13) 2014 Bell & Ross BR01-97 Reserve De Marche;
14) 2014 Edox Les Vauberts;
15) 2014 SevenFriday P3-01 DLC;

Diver :

16) 2006 Omega Seamaster Chronometer James Bond;
17) 2012 Ball Hydrocarbon John Hembel;
18) 2013 Omega Seamaster Chronometer Planet Ocean;
19) 2013 Seiko Monster Dracula;
20) 2013 Tudor Pelagos;
21) 2014 Seiko SKX009J1;
22) 2014 Orient Mechanical Force;
23) 2014 Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military;
24) 2014 Steinhart GMT-Ocean Ceramic;
25) 2014 Steinhart Ocean Forty-Four;
26) 2014 Oris Aquis Date;  
27) 2014 Edox GMT-Class 1 Titanium;
28) 2014 Glycine Combat Sub;
29) 2014 Tudor Heritage Black Bay.

I may have left out a couple of watches here and there but generally from the above list, my preferred genre for collection was certainly made up of Diver watches. Some of the watches that I would hope to add into my Divers after building up my war chest include the Rolex Deepsea D-Blue. Until then, I had best to continue working hard to climb the corporate ladder, and flipping watches to save up to further build upon and enhance my collection. Let's all wear our watches in good health!

Friday 19 September 2014

2006 Omega Seamaster 300m Chronometer aka "Bond Seamaster"

This dependable classic is famously known as the "Bond Seamaster", having been immortalised in 3 James Bond movies namely 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, 1999's The World Is Not Enough, and 2002's Die Another Day. Other Seamaster models only had 1 appearance in 1 movie, but this came out on the silver screen in 3 movies- quite an achievement for this chronometric watch.




This Seamaster model no. 2531.80.00 has its fair share of collectors worldwide. Watch is unpolished and in its original condition, with scratches to reflect its age but nothing that a round of polish could not remove. Comes with bracelet and extension links, and original Omega box. Specs as per the following :

- WITH MANUFACTURER SERIAL NUMBERS
- Blue Dial
- Self Winding Automatic Chronometer Movement- Caliber: Omega 1120, Power Reserve: 44 Hours
- Unidirectional Rotating Bezel
- Scratch Resistant Sapphire Crystal
- Brushed with Polished Steel Case & Bracelet
- Pierce Brosnan Bond Watch
- Manufacturer Box
- 300 Meters / 1000 Feet Water Resistant
- Luminescent Hands and Markers
- 41mm = 1 5/8" Case, 7" Adjustable Bracelet
- Deployment Buckle




Note the unique and mesmerising "wave" patterns on the dial. Actual pictures as per the following :

























The lume is still going strong despite years of "secret service".






This model is very popular and its high resale value is testament to that. These are some of the current adverts for this Omega model as Googled earlier today :









This is one Omega that one should definitely view in person to appreciate the fine craftmanship even further.