the new cube 2.0

Seiko SRP233K1 Limited Edition

jiehong — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:43:20 +0000

This is a very quick purchase, decided the moment I had a good feel of it.

What attracts me to the this model is
- Red, I just love red.
- Better movement, hacks, hand winds. I would have ignore if it’s a 7S.

Front

It is a limited edition run of 3 colours, red, rose gold and yellow gold, 1300 pieces per colours. Rumours had it that Singapore has only 200 sets.

Wore it for the whole of last week and I will continue wearing it through Lunar New Year.

Love the red.

Back with the LE inscription.

Side profile, although it’s plastic, the red just makes it look so good…

Close up

Finally, a pretty good quality wooden box is given.

Grab them while they are still available !

Aquadive Vintage NOS Diver Review

jiehong — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:51:17 +0000

Vintage NOS Diver

The reason why I bought this is because it’s a limited edition series build from new old stock parts that Aquadive kept in their inventory.

Quoting Aquadive:

We have in our possession a very limited number of new old stock pieces of this classic 60s diver. A piece of dive watch history, a piece of Aquadive. This genuine NOS (New Old Stock) Aquadive has a Swiss hand made case equipped with a bidirectional rotating bezel and a classic aluminum insert. The cases were found fully assembled with a heslite domed crystal in the old Aquadive inventory. We have carefully re-assembled them by hand using all new gaskets. This watch had/has a depth rating of 660ft, and is equipped with a new Aquadive dial with applied superluminova markers. It is operated by a new Swiss Made genuine ETA 2824-2, 25 jewel movement replacing the original movement in order to guarantee performance for years to come.

The white rectangular hands looks good matching the hour indices.

As usual, I just love domed crystals.

From the top, it really reminds me of the Vostok 2nd generation Amphibian.

A very cheeky “WATERPROOF” caseback.

Although it’s small, like I mentioned in an earlier post, it’s built in the 1960s, don’t expect a 40-50mm size watches in those days.

Aquadive Bathyscaphe 100 Review

jiehong — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 05:49:06 +0000

Finally, I got some time with my camera + natural lighting after yesterday’s unboxing armed with just my iPhone 4S.

Aquadive Bathyscaphe 100

I am very impressed with the solid built of the watch, there’s definitely a lot of wrist presence with the Bathyscaphe 100.

The whole dial design, hour markers and the choice of hands makes it very attractive as a modern diver yet retain some of the old designs.

The whole crown operation feels really good and solid with brushed finishing for the case.

The white indicators for the bezel insert is something unique for me.

Top down, it’s just beautiful.

Yes, I got #8, lucky 8.

Side by side with popular Seiko Marine Master 300 (MM300)

Both watches have the same feel and aura around it.

Side profiles, both are hefty and wears a little higher.

Although the MM300 feature a monobloc case, the Bathyscaphe has a higher water resistance at 1000m with a HEV.

To me, they are both great watches.

Arrival of Aquadive Bathyscaphe 100 and Vintage NOS Diver

jiehong — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:02:51 +0000

Finally, just a week since I placed my order @ www.aquadive.com

The unboxing begins…

Big box…

What’s that..

CDs or DVDs with a NATO strap

Ah, now I remembered, I ordered 2 !

Enough with the unboxing teasing…

Here they are….

With my Doxa that I’m wearing today.

Bathyscaphe 100, big and hefty, 22mm lugs, definitely putting on the omega mesh…

Vintage NOS, didn’t expect it to be this size, slightly smaller than the 2nd generation Vostok Amphibian, same kind of pillow case. It’s definitely small as compared to the Bathyscaphe 100, but by itself, it’s definitely the right size for a vintage diver built back in 1962.

Wrist shots

The Bathyscaphe 100 comes with a Isofrane rubber strap, the vanilla is driving me a little crazy thou.

The Vintage NOS diver comes with a Tropic rubber strap.

Love how they share where they are made in. http://www.aquadive.com/makingof

AQUADIVE 200 vintage NOS

Case including caseback and bezel made in 1962 in Switzerland
Crystal made in 1962 in Switzerland
Movement made in Switzerland
Dial made in Switzerland
Hands made in Switzerland
Strap: NOS Tropic rubber strap (unknown origin), NATO straps are made in Far East
Watch box China
Warranty Card made in the EU
User manual made in the EU

AQUADIVE BATHYSCAPHE 100

Case including caseback and bezel made in Pforzheim Germany, DLC coated in Switzerland, next generation will be made in house in Pforzheim
Crystal made in Switzerland
Movement made in Switzerland
Dial raw dial originates from Far East, coating and printing are carried out in Switzerland
Hands raw materials are made in Austria, SL coating and finishing in Switzerland
Bezel insert: raw ceramic bezel made in China to European Standards, coating and finishing and quality control in Pforzheim Germany
Strap: made in Italy
Bracelet: supplied by an EU based company in Pforzheim/Germany and made in their manufacturing facility in (undisclosed) according to German standards
Watch box Far East
Warranty Card made in the EU
User manual made in the EU

These are just quick snaps with my iPhone 4S (amazing photo quality), will post up a review soon with more close ups.

Citizen NP3010-00A

jiehong — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:34:53 +0000

I hope this will be the last piece for 2011.

I went to K2 to service my Aqua Dive Caribbean, then as usual, Mr Goh will bring some of his latest goods for us to take a look.

He brought out 2 Citizens, saying he just got it like that day or the day before.

Initally I was attracted to the black dial, but I don’t really like the open concept, so I took a closer look at the white dial and I was hooked.

The models are:
- White dial NP3010-00A
- Black dial NP1000-04E

What really attracted me to the white dial is the dial layout, the weight, the size, as a whole, the watch just stand out to me.

Of course, the blue hands are always a bonus.

I was trying very hard to capture the shiny reflective sub-dial, I believe it’s MOP or similar material.

The details and finishing on the dial is amazing for that kind of price range. I guess the main factor that got me is the price, it’s an offer that you couldn’t resist.

Here you can see, it’s a “Made In Japan” model with sapphire, again additional points awarded. If you look closer at the back, do you realise there’s no screwed down caseback ?

The rotor is very attractive, I’m not a fan of display case back but this really looks good, however you can tell that the finishing is still rather coarse as compared to any GS or Swiss counterparts.

Still, it’s good to remind oneself that the price is well worth it.

I’m assuming from the sides that the watch is a 2-piece case, with screws on the back securing the case together.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the watch itself. A very nice dress watch for me that I can rotate with the Seiko Cocktail for formal events.

A parting wrist shot.

Features :
- Textured dial with date and 24hr indicator
- Luminous hands and markers
- Display case back
- Water resistance 100m (10bar)
- Citizen 4166 Movement
- Sapphire crystal

Size:
- Case Diameter: 45mm (including crown)
- Case Diameter: 43mm (excluding crown)

Omega Speedmaster Mark II ST 145.0014

jiehong — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:39:04 +0000

Just join the Speedmaster club I wasn’t really keen on one till I saw the Mark II, love the case. Bigger, thicker and hefty.

The Omega Speedmaster Mark II also known as ST 145.0014.

Reference

ST 145.0014
International collection: 1969
Movement: Type: Manual winding (mechanical); Caliber number: 861; Created in 1968
17 jewels
Formerly called “27 CHRO C12 PC”
Used on second generation “moon watches”.
Functions: Tachymeter, Chronograph
Case: Stainless steel
Case back: Screw-in
Dial: Mat black (or luminous grey with burgundy/orange scale), with luminous hour markers, white luminous hands, and inside tachometer scale.
Crystal: Mineral (flat)
Bracelet: Stainless steel (attached)
Water resistance: 60 meters

The condition is really great, lines well defined, could be refinish or polish at some point.

Face, dial and hands are in very good condition.

I haven’t figure this out yet. Most of the Mark II I checked is “T Swiss Made T”, usually meant that Tritium is used for the lume. “Swiss Made” is on my dial instead.

Signed crown.

Case back, I accidentally introduced some scratches.

Saw a few service markings, including 1 in 1981.

The manual winding movement that went to the Moon, Caliber 861 with 18 jewels.

Parting shot with the Omega Mesh.

Any other info: http://www.chronomaddox.com/MarkSeries.html

Poljot International – Nights Of Petersburg

jiehong — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:35:44 +0000

During our last Seiko Club Singapore gathering, a Russian piece from Poljot International – Nights Of Petersburg appear among one of the collectors and he decided to let it go, so I took over this lovely piece.

Side by side with another Poljot International model that I have.

Quoting from PI.

In 1703, by order of Russian tsar Peter The Great the building of the first European and, at the same time, the first Russian town began. On the banks of the river Neva in Russia one of the most beautiful towns of the world – St. Petersburg – was erected, The “figurehead” of this town are the “White Nights”, to be seen every year from the middle of May until mid-July. In this period, the town never sleeps. Thousands of tourists and inhabitants of St. Petersburg themselves relish a stunning view – the silhouettes of the drawbridges, the “admiralty” and the Isaac-Cathedral stand out mystically against the backdrop of a sky exploding in mother-of-pearl colours.The MOP-dials of the watches named “Nights of St. Petersburg” shimmer like pieces of the city’s spring sky. Thanks to the distinct large lettering one cannot, night or day, lose track of time. The refined and gold plated movement under the glass back completes the magic appeal of this model.

A period during May – July where there’s midnight sun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Nights_Festival

Beautiful Mother of Pearl dial

Poljot International

Nights of Petersburg

Signed crown

Display back

The newer Molnija 3603 with shock proof

As there’s no more Molnija movements left, they have to switch to altenatives, the newer models comes with Hangzhou 9011 movement based on the Unitas 6497.

http://www.poljot-international.com/?id=uhrdet&koll=60&uhr=30

Poljot Amphibian Diver

jiehong — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:32:09 +0000

Finally found this diver from Poljot. Poljot watches are mainly dress, chronographs but never a diver except this piece.

The condition is consider pretty good as the bezel is plastic, the markers are usually worn off and the second hand often replaced.

Most Russian has 2 piece case back, in theory, when you screw a 1 piece case back, there may be instances where you are distorting the gasket as you screw down.

Poljot 2627.H movement

23 jewels on the rotor

DOXA SUB 750T GMT DivingStar

jiehong — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:27:14 +0000

I always wanted to add a DOXA SUB to my collection, I finally found one that meets my needs, 1 with a GMT function.

For the DOXA SUB 750T GMT DivingStar, it has the ability to track 3 time zones !

Yellow dial is very refreshing for me.

Signed crowns

Solid beads of rice bracelet

Sandoz Typhoon 1000m

jiehong — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 01:19:13 +0000

Sandoz could be the first watch company to develop a monobloc watch case that could meet the water resistance of 1000m.

Of course this are just based on information I got from this site: http://www.rruegger.ch/sandoz_typhoon.htm
http://www.rruegger.ch/first_1000m_dive_watch.htm

Whether it’s Jenny or Sandoz, they are part of my collection now, part of the monobloc case theme.

Sadly, the dial is most probably a re-dial :( The hands look fishy too.

But I just love the super dome crystal

The reason why it’s in my collection, a monobloc case.

An ad for the Sandoz on eBay.