"Is your Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean XL from its Professional series?"

After I posted on my Omega Seamaster Professional Planet Ocean XL (apparently, the Professional bit was very significant as I had a couple of e-mails that asked if my Planet Ocean was from the Professional series- I mean, ummm, aren't all Planet Ocean from the Seamaster Professional series?), I had a number of queries with regards to the said watch.

In the meantime, I have taken the watch out of the winder on Wednesday and took some pictures of it while I was bored on the flight. You judge for yourselves if its condition was truly remarkable.

Let's all wear our watches in good health!

Re-visited : Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 45.5mm

Quite a few parties asked about the brand new RRP pricing of the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean, and a few informed that they saw 2 sets of different pricing at the Omega Authorised Dealer for the same watch.

I doubt that the ADs would have typos on the very important pricing, so I would take a guess and believe that the watches were actually 42mm and 45.5mm ones. From the glass cases, they may looked similar so the readers could have got mixed up in that regards. To prevent the misunderstanding, you could march to the AD and asked for the regular PO or the PO XL The latter is slightly costlier compared to the regular version, while additional premium is placed on the PO XL James Bond Edition.

The below screen prints were from grey retailers, so their prices had been discounted downwards. Expect to pay circa 10-15% premium for Omega authorised sets from the ADs, but you do get the additional peace of mind of Omega manufacturer warranty. For me, when one buys a luxurious timepiece, I would prefer to buy from the AD (check the warranty card and papers) for the peace of mind plus the fact that I would be assured that it's a genuine timepiece.

42mm, 2500D caliber, stainless steel caseback with engravings.

45.5mm, 2500D caliber, stainless steel casebook with engravings.

45.5mm, 2500D caliber, stainless steel casebook with engravings.

45.5mm, 8500 caliber, sapphire crystal caseback.

Personally, I prefer the 2500D movement (currently used in Omega Seamaster Professional 300m Co-Axial with Ceramic Bezel) as per below :

This caliber is thinner and easier to service (if you should opt to service it vide watch smiths outside of The Swatch Group); so for a huge 45.5mm watch, the thinner profile would ensure a better fit on one's wrist.

In any case, I always find the Planet Ocean to be a handsome watch and with its features, you'd be hard-pressed to find another professional diving watch with 600m WR, helium escape valve, chronometer certified, solid links, and with great wrist presence, in its price range.

Pulled The Trigger : Maranez Rawai Brass-Green California

So, there I was reading through e-mails from fellow readers when I saw a few e-mails with regards to the new Maranez Rawai. Now I knew that Maranez was a micro-brand based in Hong Kong, that has a few watch models paying homage to Panerai designs of the past. The movements used in their watches were the dependable Seiko NH35 hacking automatic- Japanese' equivalent of the Swiss workhorse ETA 2824-2 in bare form.

The readers asked if I could do a review on the Maranez Rawai, and I thought that I would look into that some day. Thereafter, while I was surfing through a watch forum site, I read a thread about Maranez Rawai again; and at that deja vu moment, I thought that I should just take a look at this micro-brand's new model and gauge for myself what was the hype all about.

I went to their site and read that the said Maranez Rawai's specifications were as per the following :

Model: Maranez Rawai
Movement: NH35 automatic
Case diameter: 45mm excluding the crown - lug to lug 56mm - height 18mm - weight on leather strap 166g
Case material: Brushed brass with stainless steel case back
Bezel: 120 clicks brushed brass with  lumed pin at 12 
Crown: Screw down brass crown 11mm
Crystal: Acrylic (double domed)
Dial: Black, green,blue, or brown, indices with Super Luminova
Water-resistance: 300m/1000ft                                         
Strap: 24mm leather one dark and one light brown
Buckle: Brushed brass

Now, there were 2 types of metals for the model i.e. stainless steel and brass/bronze, with many customisation options for dials. Normal RRP sans promotion was USD349 (circa RM1,300). A very decent price for a brass watch, in my humble opinion.

I decided to go for the Brass-Green California option, which looked as per the following :

From the pictures of the Maranez Rawai, you could gauge that it was paying homage to the Panerai Egiziano. Of course, that was a limited edition rare piece that had a gigantic 60mm case as per the following :

There were other homages from other brands on the Panerai piece, and I believe that Maranez's piece were more similar to RWC's homage piece as per the following :

If I had chosen Maranez Rawai in Stainless Steel-Black Sandwich, it would have looked rather similar as per the following :

Well, I still prefer the Brass version with California dial for the differentiation, as I was not looking at picking up a clone for the Panerai Egiziano. I would perform a review on the Maranez Rawai pursuant to receipt of the said watch. Do keep your eyes peeled on this blog, fellow readers.

PS : I had barely put up this post and in less than 2 hours, 5 fellow readers asked if I could assist them to put in a purchase too. That's an additional 5 Maranez Rawai watches in various guises. One of them explained that he had his watch withheld in custom before so he was more worried about online orders from overseas. I supposed I was lucky in that regard, as I have a business entity to bring in the watches into Malaysia legally. All for a good cause.

6/2/2015 : Menjunjung Kasih Tuanku; Daulat Tuanku.

6th February 2015 would always be a memorable and historical day to me and my family. Because this is the day that we were invited to the Palace, where kDYMM Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah bestowed me with the award of Darjah Indera Mahkota Pahang, which carries the title of Dato'.

Never have I thought that my past and present contributions and sacrifices, would bring about this unexpected but delightful honour to me and my family. I was totally humbled by this once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially having been blessed to share a meaningful conversation with kDYMM and getting his kind blessings.

This award has spurred and motivated me to continue to put my best foot forward, and to do my very best for my beloved country as a whole.

Menjunjung kasih Tuanku. Daulat Tuanku.

And being a WIS blog, the entry would definitely capture which memorable watch accompanied me on this exciting journey today. Well, my better half, whom was humbled to be graced with the title Datin, wore a current Datejust with red rubies; while I had my vintage Datejust from the 70s.

This vintage Datejust also accompanied me when I was invited to Istana Negara for the conferment of my Mentor's Tan Sri-ship; so this was a very memorable watch indeed. I have learnt lots and am still learning daily from my Mentor, whom I treat and respect as if my own father.

All in all, these were excellent picks to go with this historical conferment Ceremony. What a day indeed!

Datukship / Dato'ship

World-renown martial arts actor cum producer, Jackie Chan was conferred an honourable Datukship earlier today. He flew in to Malaysia to attend the Ceremony at Istana Negara or National Palace, to receive his respectable and distinguished title.

I was in the very same hall where the Ceremony took place for conferment of titles, back in 2013 when I accompanied my Mentor, whom was conferred with his Tan Sri-ship. It was indeed an honour to be accompanying my Tan Sri in the royal presence of DYMM Yang Di-Pertuan Agung on the said historical day.

Fast forward to 2015, and I am very blessed and honoured that my nomination towards a Dato'ship had been reviewed and approved by the State in 2014; and I shall be conferred this prestigious title shortly. And the watch that I shall be wearing for this memorable occasion, is my vintage Rolex Datejust from the 70's.

Daulat Tuanku...

Federal Territory Day

This being the Federal Territory Day, I decided to bring my Boys to the National Monument to explain about the braved ones whom had sacrificed their lives for the nation. A good day to instil yet more patriotism to my lovely Boys.

Happy Federal Territory Day, everyone!

The Journey Through My Humble Collection

After flipping off circa 30 watches from last year @ http://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2014/12/food-for-thought-xmas-watch.html, my humble collection was indeed humbled and as of today, stood as per the following :

1) 1972 Rolex Datejust 1601;

2) 1978 Pagol Sub-Second Date 3055;

3) 2005 Tag Heuer Kirium Ti5;

4) 2013 Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean XL;

5) 2014 Tudor Pelagos;

6) 2014 Seiko Prospex Field Monster Limited Edition;

7) 2015 Citizen Promaster Aqualand Depth Meter;

8) 2015 Maranez Rawai.

Scaling back the no. of watches meant that all the watches would have deserving chances towards actual wrist time, instead of spending time in the winder cases. Although, I have to honestly state that I have been wearing the Promaster and the Promaster only, since I received this huge watch over the weekend. I guess it's only human nature to do so- after all, it's new to my stable, and the fact that it's a handsome watch that seemed to attract attention everywhere it goes, helped in the daily selection.

Wearing it under the cuffs like today, may reveal a bulge given it's thick profile; but still very much wearable. I'm waiting for the Suppa BN adapter that I have ordered, to arrive so that I could mix and match 22mm Nato and Isofrane straps on this baby. We'll see how she looks in due course.

In the meantime, let's wear our watches in good health!

Picture from Internet.