Seiko Turtle : Pepsi vs Coke vs PADI

Readers would know that I recently netted the Seiko Turtle Pepsi and truly liked the piece. It was nice to have the vintage turtle piece, modernised to the current acceptable size and very much wearable without fear of vintage WR gaskets and parts.

While looking around at a watch shop, I chanced upon the Seiko Turtle Coke. The red minute hand really caught my attention and the salesperson informed that they had only received one piece todate. It was retailing at RM2,010 and he was willing to give me a 15% discount due to my repeated purchases. To say that I was not tempted at all would be giving the bulls.

I had a thought about having both pieces and then transplanting the red minute hand into the Turtle Pepsi so that it looked like the PADI version. Hmmm, worth a shot?

Tudor Heritage Advisor & Tudor Pelagos Blue

My missus wanted to have roast duck today, so the whole family went to Village Roast Duck at a shopping mall in Klang Valley, for lunch today. It was a good lunch; but would have been better if the attending waitress was less of an actress. Imagined, there were 5 of us seated at the table and we ordered a fair bit of dishes that would have made waiting our table a profitable one for the restaurant. They served 4 bowls of complimentary soup (every client gets it); and I asked that my maid be entitled to a bowl too and the waitress put on a long face at my request. 

I mean, if I could be seated at the same table with my maid and ordered nice dishes that she could share with us and eat together, does that not meant that she was part of the family and should be treated equally? There's something wrong with the social fabric if the propaganda by government and some quarters had turned us into racist bigots. Give me back the old Malaysia when all races and nationalities could integrate so well together, and or currency was still respected and held in awe by money exchange traders overseas. But I digress...

Anyway, after lunch, we had a walkabout and I went into some watch shops that I have frequented previously. One of the managers told me that business had been very slow (and weekends were the times when they net the real sales) and offered me 15% off the Tudor range. Now, that was a pretty decent offer and I took a look at the Tudor Heritage Advisor (RRP : RM22,000), which was reduced to RM18,700. Interesting mechanical alarm clock on wrist, I would say.

They also had the Tudor Pelagos Blue and Black, at RRP : RM16,800. Readers would know that I have a soft spot for the Pelagos, especially so after I have sold off my Pelagos 2-liner. The manager informed that the Pelagos was the best-selling watches in their shop and that they could only extend 10% for the model, and for today only as a one-off offer. Still a good price nonetheless, given that some places only allocate between 0-5% for the Pelagos. At RM15,120, that would meant getting the new Pelagos at the old Pelagos' price. I was rather tempted, and I further know that Pelagos could be easily flipped off at the end of the day if I decided to off-set the piece. However, having it on my wrist and seeing the busy and cluttered 5-liners, I had to turn away and decline the offer. Rolex has some of the best dials in its diver range; so why can't they do the same for Pelagos? A simple 2-liner like previously, and in blue, would have made it pretty desirable and buyable. Why oh why do you make it so complicated, Rolex/Tudor?

Exclusive : Ball Engineer ii Genesis 125th Anniversary Limited Edition - First Real World Pictures @ Malaysia

Ever since I wrote about the pre-order for Ball Engineer ii Genesis 125th Anniv LE back in December 2015, I have received an average of 2.5 e-mail queries per month on the said watch. And each time, I sent back a standard reply that I have not received the watch as yet and could not comment on the real world review as requested.

Well, more than 4 months have passed since my order and voila, I received an e-mail 2 weeks back that my watch was had been shipped to Malaysia and was pending the custom clearance. Yeah, ever since the GST was imposed, it had been a tedious exercise purchasing goods from abroad. I used to buy watches from overseas due to better prices and as watches were tax-exempted prior to the GST implementation, it was easy to buy, write my review, then flip the watch off before the next arrival. But it's no longer as easy these days and it was very much a hassle if one gets called to KLIA for the GST payment and clearance.

Ball SC's interior design was akin to 50 Shades of Red. 

Need a Security Pass to go in.

Anyway, that was how I found myself sitting patiently at the waiting lounge of Ball Service Centre Malaysia, while the customer service representatives prepared the watch for me. It was quite a wait actually, and there were more and more customers coming in for their watch collections. We were said to be amongst the first batch in Malaysia to receive the Genesis. Chatting with the CSRs, I gathered that the most popular combination in Malaysia was 43-Blue-Bracelet, which was the exact combination that I pre-ordered. Looks like I am a Malaysian through and through.

Package retrieved and pending the journey home.

After lunch, I began to explore the package that Ball SC had passed to me earlier.  The box was different compared to the other 2 Ball (Hydrocarbon and Fireman) watches' generic boxes that I had. Not sure if this box was specially for the 125th anniversary or if all new Ball watches now came with this drawer-like box.

The watch by itself had quite a presence. The numerals were huge, and the micro gas tubes were 1mm thick (!); which should shine like torches in the dark. I would know later the night. Plenty of polished surfaces on this watch, and it was pretty bling-bling. With the 40mm, it would have made a nice dress watch, I believed; although the dial was too sporty to be a dress watch. In a way, you could say that it was neither here nor there. It's not a real diver's watch (although Ablogtowatch referred to it as one) as it had no unidirectional bezel and WR was only 100m. It's not a real dress watch as it was just sized too big to be one, and those large numerals were more akin to pilot watches. Yet, it's not a pilot watch as it clearly lacked the huge onion crown for easy access while with gloves. So I guess it was really a scientist or engineer's watch (like the Milgauss) since it was sporty but elegant, and had shock resistance up to 5,000Gs and anti-magnetic protection up to 4,800A/m.

The blue dial was a really nice shade of blue. It looked like black in darker areas, and would changed into a darker shade of blue against the light. I have had other blue dial watches, but not this shade of blue; so I considered the tinge of blue to be rather unique and attractive. The classic colour ensured a sense of evergreen classiness, so you could wear this watch as a daily-beater should you choose so.

The caseback had really excellent engravings depicting Ball's 125th anniversary of railway history, and was amongst the most beautiful caseback that I had seen. And Ball had engraved my name between "Swiss Made" and the serial no. as part of the pre-order special; and the engraving was smooth to the touch and lined up perfectly with the rest of the engravings. According to the CSRs, the engravings were made at Ball's Swiss plant and quality control was highly-controlled there. Add to the fact that this was the first watch where Ball engraved the owners' names on the casebacks, and it was altogether a rather nice gesture.

The bracelet was pretty comfortable, and even my missus agreed so. It had full and half-link adjustments, so one could have the bracelet adjusted nicely to one's wrists. The clasps were the butterfly type, which depicted a sporty-elegance there.

This particular combination i.e. 43mm blue dial with bracelet, was already out of stock worldwide although other combinations were still available in limited numbers. Truly a nice watch to add up to one's collection!

Hamilton Pan-Europ Chrono at RM3,040?!

I had some time to kill while waiting for my flight so I went to look at watches around the airport. The salesperson recognised me and informed me that they were doing a clearance sale on Hamilton this week. 

"Do you have Pan-Europ Chrono, mbak?", I asked. 

She replied in the affirmative and showed me these 2 pieces, at 40% sale from the RRP. After conversion, the price went from RM7,600 to RM3,040 per piece!

I knew a good deal when I saw one, so I informed her that I would take 2 pieces each. I know fellow collectors back home whom would take these off my hand easily, with a small profit my way even.

But alas, at the counter, her colleague informed her that the "4" on the tag denoted "April stock", not "40% discount". The manager came forward to apologise and offered me a 20% discount, which I politely declined.

2013 - 2016 : The Flip List

This was the list of the watches that had been flipped since the start of this blog in 2013. Most were bought new, while some were bought pre-owned. And if you were starting on the pre-owned route, one golden tip to strictly adhere to, was to always buy the seller and not just the watch. I sometimes buy watches just for catch-and-release, so that I could view, hold and write about them; then they move off to real owners whom would give them wrist times.

Current :

1) 1978 Pagol Sub-Second Date 3055;
2) 2013 Rolex Submariner 116610LV;
3) 2014 Panerai Luminor Marina Logo Acciaio 00005;
4) 2015 Omega Speedmaster Panda;
5) 2015 Casio G-Shock Rangeman Wave-Ceptor;
6) 2016 Rolex Sea-Dweller 116600;
7) 2016 Seiko Turtle Pepsi;
8) 2016 Ball Engineer ii Genesis LE;
9) 2016 Moto Kuore Mk1 Burgundy.

From the above, I have yet to receive the Ball and Moto Kuore watches, which were on pre-order basis, so I'm not sure how were these watches to be like and would do the reviews in due course. My fave watches were Submariner, Sea-Dweller and Speedmaster; and I aimed to be more selective in future purchases to keep the collection manageable.

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)   2013 Tudor Pelagos Ti5;
9)   2014 Citizen Eco-Zilla;
10) 2014 Citizen Eco-Zilla Suppa;
11) 2014 Seiko Diver Pepsi SKX009J1;
12) 2014 Orient Mechanical Force;
13) 2014 Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military;
14) 2014 Steinhart GMT-Ocean Ceramic;
15) 2014 Steinhart Ocean Forty-Four;
16) 2014 Oris Aquis Date;
17) 2014 Edox GMT-Class 1 Ti;
18) 2014 Glycine Combat Sub;
19) 2014 Tudor Heritage Black Bay;
20) 2014 Seiko Prospex Kinetic GMT;
21) 2015 Maranez Rawai;
22) 2015 Citizen Promaster DepthMaster Suppa;
23) 2015 Seiko "Bluefin" Tuna 50th Anniv;
24) 2015 Seiko "Dracula" Tuna 50th Anniv;
25) 2015 Seiko "Bluefin" Tuna 50th Anniv;
26) 2016 Prometheus Poseidon Bronze;
27) 2016 Magrette Vantage Bronze LE;

Aviation :
28) 2013 Seiko Sportura Aviation Alarm Chrono;
29) 2014 Bell & Ross BR01-97 Reserve De Marche;
30) 2014 Seiko Prospex Field Monster Limited Edition;

Dress/Race :
31) 2012 Rolex Datejust Diamond;
32) 2012 Oris Artelier Date;
33) 2013 Tag Heuer Carrera Chrono Caliber 16;
34) 2014 Hamilton Vintage Chrono 3828;
35) 2014 Edox Les Vauberts;
36) 2014 Certina DS Podium GMT;

Sports/Fashion :
37) 2005 Tag Heuer Kirium Ti5;
38) 2013 Ball Fireman Night Train DLC;
39) 2014 SevenFriday P3-01 DLC;
40) 2014 Casio G-Shock Riseman;
41) 2014 Casio G-Shock Riseman Wave-Ceptor;
42) 2014 Casio G-Shock Military Camo;
43) 2014 Casio G-Shock Digi-Analog;
44) 2015 Rolex Explorer ii;
45) 2015 Casio G-Shock Military Camo2.

Airport Limo : Haze and The City

Am engaged overseas over the next few days for some business matters, and off to a good start when the airport limo came with such a no. Travelling with Hulk for this trip.

Saturday Timepieces

Seiko Turtle : A morning ride in the mist haze.

SD4000 and Speedy Panda : And a romantic dinner with my Missus.

Sold : Rolex GMT-Master ii "Batman" model no. 116710BLNR

Helping to pass off a great deal on a brand-new, current-dated Rolex GMT-Master ii "Batman" model no. 116710BLNR from overseas Rolex AD. You could hardly find a better deal in town. Could deal directly at Rolex Service Centre, Menara Dion for verification, if required.

Full set with box and papers. Looking for a fast deal @ RM34,800.

Prices of brand new BLNR as per local grey resellers at RM40,000 :

Flowchart on Buying Another Watch

Usage of above steps are at your own risk only.

First Day Out

De-stickered all the manufacturer protective stickers, a quick wash in warm water, and she's ready to start her life as my companion. I'm a happy man indeed.

"I Am Joey."

Goodness, I was just reading about celebrities and their watches; and found an exact celebrity whom loved his Rolex Sea-Dweller 16600 (the non-ceramic version, which was THE version before mine came out) and Rolex Submariner Hulk.

Matt LeBlanc was best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani in the sitcom Friends, and his Sea-Dweller was said to be a regular during filming of the sitcom from 1994-2006. During his older years, he began wearing his Rolex Submariner Hulk as his regular piece. He also had a Rolex Daytona that he wore from time to time.

Pictures from Internet.

Tag Heuer Kirium Ti5 : Complete Quartz Overhaul / Replacement

Full boxed set, no less.

Date change was smooth as butter now.

Sale : I was offered the genuine Kirium bracelet in brand new, ready stock @ RM1,434. I was informed that it was selling at circa RM3,000 last year. Will pass the deal on to the new owner.

This is how the watch would look like with the Kirium bracelet.

Update : Tag Heuer Malaysia was able to fix the problem in a jiffy and I was assured by their great customer services, especially to Cik Hadzia from the customer services. She was really a gem and made the whole experience a nice one. Further, I found out that the whole movement replacement only costs RM500, which showed that maintenance of a quartz watch was so much more affordable and simpler compared to a mechanical's. I just sent a Rolex automatic for general servicing and the quotation was in the north of RM2,000. This, compared to Tag Heuer's whole replacement cost at only RM500, was simply va-va-voom! Further, I found out that the Kirium was one of Tag Heuer's best-selling models so they have lots of space parts in stock. So owners of Kirium could be rest assured that their watches would be well supported for many years to come (I was informed that they still have parts for at least 25 years after the production stops.)

I was supposed to hand-over the Tag Heuer Kirium Ti5 to its new owner, and took it out from the watch box where it had been resting for a while. The truth was, as the automatic movements required actual wearing for the running, I tend to select the automatic watches for wrist times. So letting go this top-of-the-line Kirium (titanium grade 5, marvellous!) to an owner whom would wear it and cherish it was a win-win solution.

One proud info on this Kirium was the fact that its model no. was WL1180 and serial no. AQ1168. Sounds like "Aku 1-1-6-8" which in BM and Cantonese mixed languages would meant, "I would prosper daily". That's just me, though.

After giving the watch some TLC polishing, it was shining like new. But I discovered that the date was stuck between 16th and 17th. I tried turning the crown but to no avail, the date flywheel seemed to be stuck. I compared the time to the Malaysian Standard Time as per the National Metrology Laboratory and time was still good. Only the date flywheel was stuck.

So I quickly contacted Tag Heuer Malaysia-LVMH and discussed with them on the problem. Apparently, it was not a serious problem and what the watch required was a servicing. I know many owners whom would be surprised that even Swiss quartz movements require servicing, just like automatic movements; but it was true. The difference was that servicing of quartz movements was relatively cheaper in comparison to automatic movements. And they would re-check on the gaskets and such so that the water resistance features were not compromised. Alternatively, I could opt for the watch to have a complete quartz overhaul/replacement and it would be as brand new, internal-wise.

Sounds like a plan, and I like to keep my reputation intact for the watches that have passed through my hands. So I decided to have them do their magic on my Kirium Ti5, and it should be in better terms in due course.

And in case you were worried about the costs involved, it was pretty transparent so no worries. Generally, allocate approximately RM1k for the whole job including replacements and you would have a top-notch Swiss movement beating in your Tag Heuer watch again.

For a watch that still sells for RM9,300 for new old stock (and it's very hard to find the Kirium in titanium grade 5 form), spending 10% of its value on the maintenance still makes sense as the maintenance would ensure a problem-free watch for years to come.

Of course, the watchsmiths could probably do the job for just a small portion of the LVMH price; but when it came to Swiss timepieces, I would prefer going back to the authorised SCs for peace-of-mind. The job was quite conclusive, and included the following :

Every precision mechanism requires a full overhaul after a certain period. The frequency of maintenance for your TAG Heuer watch depends on the model, climate and conditions of its use.

As a general rule, your quartz watch should have a complete TAG Heuer service every 4 to 6 years. While your watch is with us, our skilled masters watchmakers will dedicate all their attention and energy to its maintenance.

Preliminary Operations

• Bracelet removal
• Case opening
• Diagnosis of movement
• Check of the working on testing devices
• Check of the functions of the movement (time setting and pushers tests: Start/Stop/Reset)
• Functions and visual inspection
• Estimate

Case and Bracelet Operations

• Complete case dismantling (bezel, crystal, pushers)
• Case and bracelet cleaning in ultrasonic vibration for one hour
• All gaskets replaced

Movement Maintenance

• Movement dismantling (dial and hands removal)
• Replacement of the worn components
• Battery replacement
• Check of the functions of the movement (time setting and pushers tests: Start/Stop/Reset)
• Complete reassembly of the case
• Case closing and locking of the case back

Quality Control Operations

• Water-resistance according to model specifications
• Hour and date setting
• Final check of the movement and of all functions over 48 hours in several positions
• Bracelet refitting with replacement of spring bars
• Check and adjustment of the clasp
• Final inspection

Packing and dispatching your watch