SMS : Is Glycine A Good Choice?

I have just flipped off my Glycine Combat Sub, which was acquired recently and updated accordingly in my advert on MWF. A forummer whom I previously dealt with asked me if Glycine was a good brand and the reason that I was flipping it off in such a short period of time.

Well, I know that he swings by my blog often so I shall answer here instead.

I bought my Glycine Combat Sub "Root Beer" because I had been on the hunt for a Root Beer watch for quite a while; and at the point of purchase in August, the model was newly-released. Other older models had a healthy discount, but not the Root Beer at that point in time. So the watch had snobbish appeal of being I-have-a-piece-that-just-hit-the-market with it, plus in a colour that I had wanted to add to my collection for a while. And lastly, it was rather rare to find a new diver watch with lug holes these days.

The watch looked superb in the showroom, which was the reason I whipped out my credit card to purchase the one and only Root Beer in the showroom.

But at home, when placed next to the many other diver watches in my collection, then the Glycine started to look less special and I was therefore motivated to let it go to a more appreciative owner.

If there weren't so many pieces of diver in my collection, I would no doubt have kept the Glycine. A timeless design (as all divers were), sapphire crystal, lug holes for easy strap-changing, and most importantly, a very reliable and dependable Swiss ETA 2824-2 movement - the watch basically had a lot going for it.

With a release price of RM3,923.99 and discounted to RM3,400 during my purchase, I believe that it made a good value-for-monies purchase. After all, it was a long-established Swiss brand with a huge following (albeit overseas) and supported by DKSH's 2-year warranty for peace of mind. Unlike mini-brands like Steinhart and Helberg, which may cost a little less but has much, much lesser brand recognition and wrist presence, and especially troublesome is when one needs to send back these watches to Germany for warranty claims.

I would rather take this Glycine over the mini-brands then.

I took a look at Mudah and found that it's pre-owned value was generally quite stable and it held its value well, perhaps helped in part by the fact that there were not many Glycine pieces in the secondary market. A 1-year old Combat Sub that looked like mine was still selling at RM3,500, so I guess my purchase at RM3,400 was a good deal. My buyer, whom bought it for RM2,400, had an even better deal even.

So would I recommend Glycine for fellow watch collectors?

A definite yes, for a piece that sings to you.

E-mail : What-if 3 Watches Only

A reader wrote to me to ask what was my recommendation if he wanted to trim down his current watch collection from circa 50 pieces to just 3 pieces, for daily-beaters.

Well, I don't know what watches does he have for now; but if I were to put myself in his shoes, I would recommend 3 watches of the following genres :

1) Dress : Rolex Datejust, period. You could wear it for meetings or functions, and it wouldn't be out of place. It was a classic design that had lasted the trials of time, and would continue to do so, IMHO, for many, many years to come.

2) Diver : Rolex Submariner (40 mm), Tudor Heritage Black Bay Burgundy Red (42 mm), Tudor Pelagos (42 mm), or Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean XL (45.5 mm). Depending on your size preferences, you could pick any of these watches and you would't go wrong either way.

The Submariner would be the de-facto classic piece but the thing was, everyone else seemed to be having one (whether genuine or otherwise). Size was a tad on the small size by today's standards for a diver's watch.

The Black Bay Burgundy Red had a touch of vintage diver, while the Pelagos was an unassuming tool watch. Both were good choices but movement snobs may prefer in-house movements compared to the ETA 2824-2 movements used in both watches.

The Seamaster Planet Ocean XL had the size (and therefore, very visible watch presence), with a touch of sportiness yet toolish appearance. Could be the best compromise of the above concerns.

3) Aviation : Bell & Ross BR01, period. You must pick the manly BR01 in 46 mm footprint, not the more sissy-like BR03. Any series would do as long as it was the de-facto BR01. Macho couldn't be more evident here.

So there you have it, if I were to retain only 3 pieces of daily-beaters, these would be the watches in my watch winder.

The Swatch Group Malaysia Sdn Bhd : Before & After (Part 6 & Final)

Readers would know that I collected back my Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean XL from Swatch Group Malaysia yesterday where it had been sent for a full servicing and maintenance, and for replacement of parts such as bezel, click, spring, seal, hands, etc. Plus a professional polishing later, the watch looked as good as new.

And better yet, after the full servicing and maintenance, Omega was giving the watch an additional 24 months of warranty on the movement - now, that really instills confidence for owners of Omega watches and I dare say that I would be adding more Omega pieces into my collection in the near future.

Omega. The right time for life.

SevenFriday Replica in the Market : RM950 only!

I knew it was only a matter of time before pirates jumped on the bandwagon for SevenFriday. After all, it was a popular watch (unique design and affordable for a Swiss watch) and had a easy off-the-shelf-and-cheap-to-buy Miyota movement (okay, chalk off the earlier Swiss watch part), and was being sold at a rather high premium compared to the prices of the parts. I mean, Steinhart was a real Swiss watch selling at less than RM2k with an ETA 2nd-grade 2824-2; and SF was going at a RRP of almost RM4k with a non-hacking Miyota movement?! The writing was on the wall at quite an early stage.

From what I read online, replica SF enter the market very recently but was still recognisable from the font 'Seven'; the rear engraving (less legible wordings and rough workmanship); lower quality leather strap; no aluminium warranty card; and most likely come without the crate-like SF box which was a USD75 option on replica sites. And thus far, all the replicas' serial nos. seemed to start with the alphabet A, although it was only a matter of time before they incorporate other alphabets.

[Correction : I saw a Mudah seller advertising new SevenFriday watches at only RM1,500 and contacted him for purchases, if it was genuine watches. He confirmed that his was 1 to 1 replicas using genuine Miyota movements, and his replicas supposedly came with the crate-like SF box and he was keen to sell at just RM950 per piece! Still no aluminium warranty card though and alphabet was "A".

But the leather strap was of sub-quality - for instance, the leather strap for original P3-1 was red on the underside, but the replica's was black; where the original was soft to the touch, the replica's was relatively hard and unwieldy.]

And with grey resellers dumping the goods of genuine SF (look at Mudah where you can get new pieces for less than RM3k), I would rather hold on the purchase for a bit more as the prices slide downwards with the novelty wearing off, rather than spending RM1.8k (now reduced to RM950) on a replica. A replica can never beat a genuine piece, IMHO; although in this case, if the replica comes with an ETA movement at that price, it may just tip the scale to its favour amongst some WIS.

Personally, I find that SF is more like a fashion watch, which novelty wears off pretty quickly. It was meant to be a fun and quirky piece not to be taken seriously. It's a Swiss brand with a Japanese heart, assembled in China and couriered from Swiss (if you ordered online from HQ). I had a piece when it was all the rage then, but it didn't quite sing to me after I got it. For circa RM3k today, I would rather go for an entry-level Swiss-made watch or medium-level Japan-made watch. SF could however, up the ante by slotting in an ETA movement. Then the fun starts.

Tudor Heritage Chrono grey vs blue (RM7,999?!)

Readers would know I have a soft spot for the Tudor Heritage Chrono. So imagine my surprise when 2 different adverts appeared on Mudah for a 2013 Chrono grey and 2014 Chrono blue, both under warranty, with similar asking prices at RM7,999.

I contacted both the sellers and the Chrono grey seller was the first to respond. He confirmed that he was the rightful owner and sent me pics of the intended watch on sale.

I must say that RM7k was a good price for the Tudor Chrono grey, especially since the watch was less than 1-year old. The owner of the Chrono blue had yet to revert to my query at the time of writing, although my preference was actually towards the blue piece.

So, which one would you choose to take - the Chrono grey at RM7k or Chrono blue at RM8k (assumed no further discount)? Tempting offers indeed.

The Swatch Group Malaysia Sdn Bhd : Before & After (Part 5)

I got a pleasant surprise from a very nice customer services officer (really nice voice over the phone) from Omega Service Centre Malaysia earlier, informing that my Omega Planet Ocean has been fully-serviced (full maintenance) with new parts fitted, and tested to be fully-functioning as per the factory's specifications.

I thereafter logged onto the live update from Omega Service Centre website @ https://cis.omegawatches.com for tracking repairs internationally; and true enough, it was ready for collection. That meant that they had managed to beat their earlier-scheduled delivery by 19 days, so here's a pat on the backs and a jolly "Good job!" to the Omega technicians whom had managed to carve a ear-to-ear smile on this satisfied customer.

And since the watch was under warranty, all the parts, lubrication and labour were free-of-charge, which was truly welcomed. All the necessary tests were done so I now have a Planet Ocean that were as good as the day it came out from its factory in Switzerland, waiting to adorn my wrist again. Pictures and review to follow through pursuant to my collection from the service centre.

Hooray!

The Swatch Group Malaysia Sdn Bhd : Before & After (Part 4)

Yet another live update from Omega Service Centre website @ https://cis.omegawatches.com for tracking repairs internationally. Pursuant to my last blog entry with regards to the repair works, the technicians have further ordered for new hands for hour, minute and second; and all parts inclusive of seal, springs and hands have since arrived from Switzerland.

With all the parts present, the repair work is on-going now and I should be looking forward to an as-new Planet Ocean very soon. I have been rather impressed at the live updates by Omega thus far indeed, I must say.