First Impression : Seiko Prospex Field Monster Limited Edition Brass (model no : SRP580K1)

Readers would know that I pulled the trigger for the Seiko Prospex Field Monster Limited Edition (model no : SRP580K1) @ http://andywristwatches.blogspot.com/2014/12/pulled-trigger-seiko-prospex-monster.html on 2nd December 2014. Well, exactly a week on, a parcel arrived vide PosLaju and I had a good mind that it was bearing this very watch.

The packaging was done very well with layers and layers of protective plastic, so the watch box was well protected against the harshness of transit. I had ordered a fair bit of watches online, whether overseas or locally, and this was amongst the best protective wrapping that I have seen to date.

The outer case and inner box bore the letterings "Seiko Limited Edition" boldly on the facade. Inside the box, you would find the international warranty card and user booklet, standard Seiko issuance.

The watch came with calf leather, which was very soft and comfortable. I would have preferred the thread to be in bronze-gold colour too to match the dial, but I believed that many others may prefer the more conservative outlook that it currently had.

The buckle was in bronze-gold too, and made to look as though patina had set in (i.e. not glittering gold in colour). The outer buckle was stamped with "Seiko" while the inner side had "Stainless Steel-B" indicating bronze.

The sunburst dial was 44mm without crown (or 47mm with crown), and in typical Monster design. Instead of unidirectional bezels as per Air Diver Monsters, the Field Monster had bi-directional bezel with engraved compass markers. The hardlex crystal was good to protect against standard scratches, although a sapphire crystal would have been preferred.

I especially liked the aviation-inspired date markers and second hand. Being a Field Monster, the water resistance was good for 100m instead of 200m as per Air Diver Monsters, and the crown was similarly not the screwed-in type.

The case protector looked good in bronze-gold.

And the indents that matched between bezel and case, looked even more eye-catching in this colour combination.

The rear showed the mechanism along with the crystal-etched "Seiko Prospex Limited Edition". And now for the obligatory wrist shots.

Generally, I liked the look of this Prospex Field Monster and for a watch below the RM1.5k mark, I believed that it was very good value-for-monies and should be included into one's watch collections. I would further update photos on its Seiko Lumibrite later tonight

All in all, I was pretty satisfied with this Prospex Field Monster purchase.

First Impression : Casio G-Shock Camo (model no. GD-120CM-8)

In my previous blog entry, I wrote about my desire to get a cheap knockabout watch otherwise known as Casio G-Shock, and was considering between 2 pieces of Camo 2014 models as detailed in my previous blog entry.

Well, I had a lunch function at a hotel in KL earlier this afternoon; and upon my return home, I saw a G-Shock box on the sofa. A note by the side said that it was a gift from my HM and chosen by my 5-year old son, less that I spend too much time considering which G-Shock to get. I must say that my son has good taste, either from HM or myself #chuckle.

A nice Sunday surprise then... Looks like I should write more on this blog #wink. 
Anyway, let's get back to the watch in hand.

Turning the box around, you could see that the G-Shock was imported by Marco Corporation Malaysia. Point to note was that all Casio should come with a 1-year international warranty but as Marco was the authorised dealer for Casio in Malaysia, it would only recognise products brought in by its Company. Therefore, its product would have an additional Marco-issued Malaysian warranty card with a unique serial no. And you could register the serial no. online at Marco e-warranty site, to extend the warranty by another 6 months i.e. from 12 months to 18 months. I have done the e-warranty registration and this Camo's warranty would be from 7/12/2014 - 6/6/2016.

Warranty : 7/12/2014 - 6/6/2016 (18 months)

The cardboard box and the aluminium tin box were decorated with the standard military-issued camouflage pattern that adorns the actual watch in the box. The watch was nicely-wrapped and protected by soft sponge to avoid scratches from knocking against the box.

Taking out the G-Shock, I noticed that the Camo was very light indeed. Compared to the other G-Shock that I had, I supposed that the technological improvements had enabled them to use better and lighter resin and module, with better printing all over the watch. I like the fact that even the inner dial was printed with the camouflage design.

You would noticed that the Camo had negative display. You need to reflect the display against the light source in order to read the display properly. The negative display of today has marked improvements over the previous versions.

The buckle was matt silver, and the outer side had G-Shock stamped on it while the inner side showed that it was Casio Japan.

I liked the printing on the resin band. And the double buckle pins with squarish pin holes on the band added a modern touch to the classic G-Shock design.

I was wearing the Omega Planet Ocean XL (45.5mm without crown) when I received the gift, so I took it off for a side-by-side comparison against the 51.5mm Camo.

And here was the Camo with its Illuminator function. It was bright enough to read the display. You could choose whether to have it lit up for either 1-second or 3-seconds vide the Illuminator adjustments.

Other standard functions included world time 29 time zones including (48 of the coordinated universal time), auto calendar which has been formatted until the year 2099, 3 multi-function alarms, and a 24-hour stop-watch and timer countdown.

The Camo could be read at 12 or 24-hour format, and its digital format showed hours, minutes, seconds, month, date, and day. Further, the Camo had water resistance durability up to 200 meters, battery power for up to 7 years, as well as durability against impact.

And here were the obligatory wrist shots from various angles.

Overall, I have no complaints towards this Camo, and I am glad with the purchase towards this cheap knockabout G-Shock that looked really rugged and military.

And here was a picture of the Camo on Mr Fantastic's elongated hand. Well, actually it was my hand but I have no idea how the picture had my hand stretched like that. Ho hum...

Note that there were also replica G-Shock Camo sold on Mudah. Could you see if the below G-Shock Camo was original or otherwise?

Picture lifted from Mudah

It's a replica selling at between RM55 - RM70. Note that where mine said "Casio Illuminator" on the upper-top of the dial, this version said "1/1000 Shock Resist". Nowhere on the watch did it has the brand "Casio" imprinted anywhere. Looks almost like the real deal, right? I wonder how was the quality of the replica watch though.

Casio G-Shock Camouflage : Which One?

Since the Casio G-shock Riseman was out of stock, I was thinking of picking up a Casio G-Shock Camouflage from the 2014 collection instead. Which one do you reckon I should go for?

And other pictures go G-Shock Camo watches as seen on the Net :