My Dad used to be a watchsmith- and I grew up watching him taking watches apart for servicing and repair works, before re-assembling all the tiny parts into fully-working items of marvel again. It's no surprise then that I was intrique into the world of watches since a young age.
P/S : This is a watch site from an enthusiast to fellow enthusiasts, so you won't be bothered by adverts here. Just pure watch-reading fun, if you're into this. Enjoy the ride...
Well, I was looking through my watch accessories' cabinet earlier and found some watch straps that could do with some real wrist time rather than being kept in solitude in the cabinet. So here goes :
- 22mm blue leather strap (blue threads) matched with deployment clasp @ RM100Sold
NB : I bought this strap to match with the Ball Genesis blue dial watch, and it was a good fit in style. However, after taking initial some pictures, I changed the Ball to a pair of Nato James Bond and that was the combination that stayed.
My son and I went out to shop for Mummy's birthday gift today. The end result was as per the below picture; and with the aforementioned title, it would be no surprise what was underneath the wrappings and all. But the real story was how we arrived at the Apple Watch.
Our household were big Apple fans. We have the iMac, MacBook Pro, Apple TV, iPhones, etc. The only missing Apple product in the household was an Apple Watch. I have always been more of a mechanical watch fan, in a traditional sense. I could tolerate quartz watches, and I even loved some of those in my collection to bits e.g. Rangeman (with its A-B-C features) and Stop2Go (with its only-one-in-the-world 58+2 second caliber).
I have not been a fan of the smartwatch genre, seeing these as more of a fashion fad. But since the Apple Watch's release in April 2015, it has been going from strength to strength in attracting wearers and I have also seen a few important figures ditching their Swiss watches in favour of the Apple Watch. To say that I was not curious, would not be an honest statement. I have been saving some monies on the side to get her a nice gift and with Series 2 lined for launch later the year, I was itching to gauge how a smartwatch like Apple Watch, would transform the watch-wearing experience.
And since my wife was a gym junkie, and there were many exercise and health apps for the Apple Watch, I put 2 and 2 together and decided to go get an Apple Watch for her. I could then observe from the side to see if she would put her Swiss watches into the background.
Going into an Apple store, I was informed that there were 3 main types of Apple Watch as per below :
I liked the Watch Edition with the rose gold and modern (magnetic) buckle, but I was then informed that it was going to be a special order. How special? Well, special in a way with a RM80k price tag like this :
It was all I could do to refrain from fainting. Another RM18k and I could have gotten a real classic in the form of Patek Phillipe Nautilus 5711, and that was a mechanical watch that would stand the test of time. I still think that the smartwatch would be the replaceable and disposable technological piece that we have seen with smartphones, HDTVs, and the likes.
No Sirree, I would not be spending those type of amount on a disposable smartwatch. So my choice was limited to either the Watch Sport or Watch. The Watch Sport was good enough for the gym junkie as the apps were the same, but the quality was a lower notch with aluminium case, and mineral glass. Watch would upgrade to stainless steel case, ceramic caseback, and sapphire glass. So I delved into the Watch options and found that the one closes to the Watch Edition were as per the following :
The one that I chose for my wife was the 38mm Stainless Steel case with Soft Pink Modern Buckle, with a price tag of RM3,499. Searching online, I found that it was cheaper to buy it locally as overseas prices were in USD, and after conversion was even higher than the local pricing.
Talking about straps, that would be one costly strap to replace in the future as it retails for RM1,199. Since I intended for her to use as a gym tool, I added in a rubber strap retailing at RM199. The salesperson recommended 3 colours that most people purchased : Black, White, or Product Red. My son chose Walnut, and I went with his choice. I just hope that his mum would be just as pleased with the colour selection, as the salesperson mentioned that it was a new colour and that no other customers had chosen that colour before. (If you scroll back to the earlier picture, you would see the 42mm Stainless Steel case with Walnut leather strap.)
The other options in the Watch selection were as per the following, ranging in price tags from RM2,499 to RM4,799 :
I planned to surprise her with the early Birthday gift after church tomorrow, so here's hoping that she would like the gift. In any case, the plan was in motion so we would just go with the flow now. Wish me luck, will you?
There was an interesting debate in a local watch forum that wearing a luxury watch would enable the wearer to get special treatment. The debate was sparked by this article @ Daily Mail UK, and some forummers thought that our watches would open special doors.
Just chipping in my 2 sen. I think that generally, the watch that we wear does influence others' treatment towards us, but only in limited circumstances only. I travel regularly for work duties, and it was all too common that the rest of the biz class passengers would be sporting Rollies on their wrists- the most common being the DJ and Sub. The stewardess tend to treat us in a similar manner with smiles and a twinkle in their eyes, never mind the fact that I sometimes wear affordable throw-about Japanese watches. In fact, given my friendly nature, they have even given preferential services to me (let's not elaborate further there) disregarding the watch that I may be wearing then.
Having said that, I did notice that other fellow passengers tend to open up more during the times when I was sporting a Rollie. Tried with other Swiss brands (Omega, B&R, etc) but Rollie seemed to be the preferred currency to open up doors with strangers mid-flight, and I have made many good networking along the way. Businessmen especially, may see that a fellow Rollie-wearing person to be a pragmatic, reliable, and down-to-earth type of person- someone whom they could internalise with. And it's all thanks to Rollie's marketing efforts. If they had engaged pop personnel like Kim Kardashian or Marilyn Manson as their brand ambassadors, then it'd likely be the opposite ball game altogether.
The above would not hold true for WIS though. There was an occasion that I had on SevenFriday (it was not readily available in Malaysia back then, and certainly not replicated like mushroom after a rain, as per today) and another passenger in another seat sporting a Pam, specially requested for my permission to sit next to me to have a look at my watch. And from the conversations that follow suit, we met up to talk about watches whenever we travel to each others' country; and we helped each other to get more contacts in the industry.
In hotels, restaurants, etc, I found that the service personnel may glance at your watch to get a general feel of whom were they liaising with; as would they glance at your clothing, luggages, etc. At the end of the day, I have gotten many free upgrades to suites, etc but that was more attributed to having a friendly nature. Customers tend to treat service personnel as punching bags sometimes, and these front liners do appreciate some friendly conversation and cheeky banter at times. And they sometimes requisite by getting you better tables, better rooms, etc at no additional charges.
The watch that we wear was but an extension of ourselves. When I wear my Rangeman, I normally feel more adventurous. When I wear my Stop2Go, I may feel a bit cheekier and relaxed. When I wear my Sub, I simply want to blend in with the crowd. When I wear my SD4k, I feel just that bit better and more confident in my negotiations, especially when my counterpart was wearing a Sub. Silly, I know, but if works, it works.
If you really want that special treatment in Malaysia, luxury watches still get seconded by titles.
Ferrari has 16 Constructors' Championship titles and counting.
Well, we were all packed up and looking forward to another nice beach holiday in a few hours- only this time, the island was relatively more isolated and less commercialised. I'm sure that there would be spots of sea activities as per the norm, and what better watch to have with me but the Hulk matched with Rubber B. It wears comfortably on my wrist, and I am sure that it would perform flawlessly in its domain.
This was a shot from a Rolex fan, Martin and it was simply too good not to be shared.
Selamat Hari Raya Haji and happy holidays to all my fellow readers! I wrote about an impending Mondaine Stop2Go piece @ http://andywristwatches.blogspot.my/2016/07/the-next-addition-mondaine-stop2go.html; and just as how accurate Swiss railways were on the dot, the overseas shipment arrived at my doorstep in time for my blog entry during this long weekend.
There were 3 main models in the Stop2Go line-up as per the following :
a) Silver case/White dial with leather strap and signed buckle;
b) DLC case/Black dial with rubber strap and signed clasp.
I decided to go for the classic design with the modern twist i.e. DLC version, as I do not currently have a DLC watch in my collection. The last DLC watch that I had was also for the railway industry i.e. Ball DLC Night Train, which I had since flipped.
For a medium-cost Swiss quartz watch that cost some RM3,500 inclusive of GST and delivery cost to Malaysia, the watch was rather well-made. The packaging was acceptable for its class with inner and outer boxes, and it further came with the standard 2-year warranty atypical of Swiss watches.
For around the same cost i.e. circa RM3,500, one could have gotten a mechanical watch from other entry-level brands e.g. Mido, Certina, Glycine, etc BUT the special part about this Stop2Go was in its unique caliber.
Travellers whom had utilised Swiss railways would have seen Mondaine clocks peppered all over its railway stations, and the second hand typically complete the 60 second round in 58 seconds, with the additional 2 seconds used for syncing all the clocks to exact time vide an electronic pulse. Therefore, the second hand would looked as though it had stopped for 2 seconds before the minute hand moved. And due to the quicken second hand revolution, it looked as though it was an automatic movement rather than the typical tick-tock-tick-tock quartz movement. For the Stop2Go watches, Mondaine created a one-of-a-kind caliber in order to emulate the Stop2Go clocks that it was famed for. You won't find any other watches with such an interesting function elsewhere.
I matched the Stop2Go DLC with a carbon fibre strap with white threads, that seemed to match the watch to a tee and brought out its simple beauty even further. The watch wore nicely on my wrist, and the 58+2 second mechanism was very engaging and I often found myself looking intently for the second hand to reach its full round. It was truly a fun watch in every sense, with a cheeky disposition
And in place of a regular crown, the watch utilised an electric switch that was a norm for railway controls, which required special turning as detailed in its manual. This was such an interesting watch that I would say that it would make a great addition in my watch collection.
