Clash of The Titans : Seiko Prospex

There had been quite a no. of e-mails in my mailbox that expressed concerns if I was stopping work on the blog. Well, the good or the bad of it, depending on how you enjoyed this blog thus far, was that it was still alive and kicking. It was just that life has been quite hectic of late - what with steering the ship the best that we could in this economic climate, plus supervising the renovation of a couple of houses for rental thereafter. And the fact that the rental ceiling has been floored during the period of renovation, due in part to the depressed economy associated with the negative news of 1MDB and a possible government bailout and Moody's possible de-classification, ain't exactly happy thoughts that would motivate me to put pen to paper on my blog.

But I digress. There may be some hard times coming ahead for the country as a whole but we would just need to persevere on and survive the interim period. The fundamental of the country is still strong, and with good planning, sound policies and some good luck, we could just turn the tide around. Malaysia Boleh!

Back to watches then.

Last year, I wrote about my interest to get the Seiko Prospex SRP639K1 with RRP : RM1,922.50. To me, it was a rather handsome watch with striking colours that made it looked like the IWC Aquatimer's sibling. The stainless steel shroud protector on the Seiko made it a pretty beefy and badass watch, and it was going at 15% off last year as it was a newly-launched model. The street price then was RM1,630.

Given the slow economy coupled with GST, sales of watches had been slowing down. Suddenly, a watch shop had gone on Groupon to do a clearance on its stocks on this model at a massive 40% discount to sell at RM1,159. Hard to believe?! Well, here it was :

A quick check online revealed that this price was indeed cheaper than the other offers online, one of the next-best offer as per the following :

And while it may looked really tempting, before you shout, "Shut up and take my money already!", there was another new Seiko Prospex (Tuna) in town, and it was the model no. SRP 655K1 with RRP : RM2,650. A quick check at the AD over the weekend showed that stocks were starting to trickle in and there was 0% discount at the shops given its relatively new launch. Expect to pay full asking prices for these special edition Prospex Tuna.

There was therefore a real street price difference of circa RM1,100 between both Seiko Prospex models at the interim period, with both Baby Tunas looking equally attractive. If you were to choose between one of them, which one would it be then?

A Journey Through My Horological Collection (Continuous Updates)

An update on the watches that are/were in my collection, as per the following :

Current :

1) 1978 Pagol Sub-Second Date 3055;
2) 2005 Tag Heuer Kirium Ti5;
3) 2012 Rolex Submariner 116610LV;
4) 2012 Rolex Explorer 2 216570;
5) 2013 Tudor Pelagos Ti5;
6) 2015 Citizen ProMaster DepthMeter Suppa;
7) 2015 Omega Speedmaster Panda;
8) 2015 Casio G-Shock Rangeman Wave-Ceptor.

Previously-flipped :

Vintage (prior to 1983) :
1)  1972 Rolex Datejust 1601;

Diver :
2)   2006 Omega Seamaster Chronometer James Bond;
3)   2007 Seiko Perpetual Calendar SNQ043;
4)   2012 Ball Hydrocarbon John Hembel Limited Edition;
5)   2012 Rolex Submariner 116610LN;
6)   2013 Seiko Monster Dracula;
7)   2013 Omega Seamaster Chronometer Planet Ocean XL;
8)   2014 Citizen Eco-Zilla;
9)   2014 Citizen Eco-Zilla Suppa;
10) 2014 Seiko Diver Pepsi SKX009J1;
11) 2014 Orient Mechanical Force;
12) 2014 Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military;
13) 2014 Steinhart GMT-Ocean Ceramic;
14) 2014 Steinhart Ocean Forty-Four;
15) 2014 Oris Aquis Date;
16) 2014 Edox GMT-Class 1 Ti;
17) 2014 Glycine Combat Sub;
18) 2014 Tudor Heritage Black Bay;
19) 2014 Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT;
20) 2015 Maranez Rawai;

Aviation :
21) 2013 Seiko Sportura Aviation Alarm Chrono;
22) 2014 Bell & Ross BR01-97 Reserve De Marche;
23) 2014 Seiko Prospex Field Monster Limited Edition;

Dress/Race :
24) 2012 Rolex Datejust Diamond;
25) 2012 Oris Artelier Date;
26) 2013 Tag Heuer Carrera Chrono Caliber 16;
27) 2014 Hamilton Vintage Chrono 3828;
28) 2014 Edox Les Vauberts;
29) 2014 Certina DS Podium GMT;

Sports/Fashion :
30) 2013 Ball Fireman Night Train DLC;
31) 2014 SevenFriday P3-01 DLC;
32) 2014 Casio G-Shock Riseman;
33) 2014 Casio G-Shock Riseman Wave-Ceptor;
34) 2014 Casio G-Shock Military Camo;
35) 2014 Casio G-Shock Digi-Analog.

Query on Rubber B VulChromatic for Rolex Submariner

Just like to tap some real life information from readers of Rubber B on their Rolex timepieces.

I am an Isofrane convert and generally likes nothing better than to fit Isofrane on my diver watches. However, I really like how the Rubber B fits nicely to cover the gap where the solid end links were. Plus the VulChromatic version has a nice strip of colour to match the Sub bezel, which was pretty cool by my book.

Question was... the Isofrane was relatively affordable at USD99 while the Rubber B costs between USD240 (solid colour) - USD280 (VulChromatic), so how do any current users found these Rubber B straps? Are they soft and comfortable on the wrist, and do they have the vanilla flavour too? If you have any pictures, would appreciate that too. I just don't want to spend USD280 to get the Rubber B strap, only to regret not opting for the Isofrane Nato Green later.

Thanks in advance!

Phi Phi Don Island : Greens Everywhere

So here I am in Phi Phi Don Island for some time-alone with the missus. We have a nice suite by the beach, the kids are at home in KL, and it has been a couple of days of sun, sea and beach. And more days to follow suite - sweet!

If any of you readers are here at this time too, give me a holler vide the PM or e-mail, and we could have drinks at the pubs by the beach. One round of Chiang Beer on me, at the very least.

Being a watch blog, I'm sure that you're asking what watch have I taken to follow me on this trip. Most of my collection are diver watches, so I am spoilt for the choice really.

However, you may well be surprised by the choice I made- Casio G-Shock Rangeman Military Spec. I actually planned to bring the Tudor Pelagos being a versatile daily wear of my personal favourite these days.

However, the Rangeman arrived vide courier from United States just before we were to depart; and I noted that the battery was low on the watch. The battery was re-chargeable vide solar power, and the beach was all about worshipping the sun after all. Plus the Rangeman was a Multiband 6 watch, so it would be easier not to change the timezone to and fro, as the time would be automatically updated when the watch senses the time calibration signals from any of the 6 atomic time-keeping stations in the world.

(NB : Upon arrival, I noticed that the time had not automatically changed and further Googling revealed that the function works when you were in one of the countries where the stations were located i.e. Japan, China, UK, Germany and USA. Anywhere else, you have to manually set the change in home city. But the good thing was, it also informed the wearer on the sunrise and sunset times of the area- and going by what I have seen, was pretty accurate.)

2 days of snorkelling had the watch on Full battery charge, which would power the watch for a full 7 months assuming that there was no further exposure to sunlight. Cool, right? And because it was shock- and mud-resistant, I would have no worries about the need to baby the watch. The built-in digital compass was spot-on, thermometer was useful, altimeter was used during a spot of rock-climbing, while the barometer predicted no rain for these few days and surprise, surprise, it had been sunny all the while.

Even my fellow snorkelling partners remarked that it was a very handsome piece.

My only complain, if any, was that I had chosen the military spec with blacked-out negative display, which would be a very useful feature so that you could remain hidden during covert missions. However, for normal use, it meant that you have to tilt the dial to a direct angle before you could read the time properly. I would prefer a normal display actually, but with the same military green case.

I also brought along the Submariner Classic as a fellow reader had asked if I was interested to trade with his Submariner Hulk. He wrote to me vide PM and e-mail a couple of days ago, and we worked out the mechanism towards the swap with the following parameters :

- both Subs were of acceptable presentation to each other;
- the RSC verification cost would be shared between both parties;
- we could meet either in Bangkok (where he was on holiday) or KL (where I was located).

Personally, I prefer the Submariner Hulk but it was not easy to get a piece in ADs, and the Hulk was always at a premium. So, when another reader offered me his pre-owned Submariner Classic back in KL, I took up his offer and voila, now another reader has offered to swap the Classic for his Hulk. It has all worked out nicely for me.

So, you would gauge why I had written the title as Greens Everywhere. The Casio Rangeman Military Spec was a green piece, and the Rolex Submariner Hulk was another green piece. So... greens everywhere, get it?

Interesting Offers From Readers

Over the long weekend, there had been 2 rather interesting offers from fellow readers.

A reader offered to swap his Submariner Hulk with my Submariner Classic. His request was for both parties to meet at RSC for both watches to be sent for verifications; and if all goes well, it'd be a direct swap. Tempting.

Another reader noted that I was interested in acquiring the Panerai Radiomir California Limited (PAM448). He had a Panerai Luminar Marina Logo Acciaio (PAM00005), which was also a hand-winding movement, so he e-mailed to ask if I would be interested. Interestingly, he was also interested in a trade with the Submariner Classic.

Very interesting offers from fellow readers indeed.