Thursday, October 31, 2013

Casio MTP-1350CD

I need to get out more. As of late, I seem to be seeing aviation based watches in things I see. The latest is this watch from Casio. It is the Casio MTP-1350Cd watch. There are two models.

Reference MTP-1350CD-8A1.


Reference MTP-1350CD-8A2.


Photographs: Casio

I like the 8A2.... 

The basic specs:

Functions: hours, minutes, seconds and date
Crystal: Mineral
Size: 51 x 44 x 9 mm
Movement: Quartz

It seems the case is ion plated black and I do like the mesh bracelet. The watch retails for around USD90. Emmmmmm.......

For more information:


Wednesday, October 30, 2013

1Face Watch review

This is a photographic review of the 1Face Watch I got recently. I wrote about the watches here.


I opted for the black version which supports cancer research for personal reasons. Anyway, after a 2 weeks wait, I got the watch. 

I don't normally do the unboxing thing but I like to show the box the watch came in. 


Each black watch supports eight cancer patients. 


The watch itself. 


The watch is made in China, it is stated on the website. But some work have been done to the watch and it is not a generic piece coming out of China. At least it is signed. 


The 1Face Watch.


The watch is not square, coming in at 42mm across and 40 mm top to bottom. The case, I have doubts it is stainless steel with a black coating, research shows that it is some zinc alloy with black electrostatic coating. The watch or case looks well made and has a polished finish. No tool marks are evident. 


There are four buttons, two on each side. I don't see the need for that many buttons, but I guess it is to makes the watch look more balanced. The button are large (3.5mm diameter) and sits in a ring (4mm diameter). The button are easy to use, but lack a positive click when pressed. The buttons are starting to blemish. 


The case back I suspect is stainless steel. It has a brushed finish in the centre and a polished finish along the edge and it is signed with the 1Face logo. Here you can see the lip to facilitate opening the case back for battery replacement. 


The case back with the 1Face logo in the center. 


The smiling face of the logo. 


The watch face is mineral crystal. It makes the face of the watch. It has a mirror finish and yes, you can use it as a mirror. The face is void of any markings except the 1Face logo at the bottom right corner. The crystal sits flush to the case.


Although the strap looks integral to the watch, it is not. The strap is made of rubber (jelly PU?) and it is black as the watch. It is soft and comfortable. 


The strap can be removed and changed. Access is from the back, but the design of the strap is unique as you can access the spring bar only from one side of the strap. 


You can see the access in the picture below. At the top, the access is on the right of the strap and at the bottom, the access is at the left of the strap. 


The top part of the strap with the holes. Well made and soft. Very comfortable. 


Closer view. 


The inside of the strap or bottom of the strap. The indentations help makes the strap comfortable as it does provide some cooling and perhaps act as a sweat trap. The strap is a magnet for dust and lint, sadly. 


More of the square indentations. Matches the overall design of the watch though. 


The way the strap is mounted and designed, prevents the watch from sitting flat on the table. Plus point, no scratches, minus, easy to topple over. Can't win them all....


The buckle. Simple stainless steel stamped piece. Polished top with indent for the tang to sit in and unpolished beneath. Does the job well but the issue is the gap or opening of the buckle and the width of the strap is very tight. Makes using the buckle a tad difficult. 



The single floating strap keeper is signed and the loop is large enough for ease of use. 


It is actually difficult to capture the LED display. 


Finally....


The watch is powered by a LED Display Chip-set (CR2032 battery). You have to push the top right button to display the time. The battery life is about 2 years if you check the time 6 times a day. The display will go off after 3 seconds. 


The display is made up of 27 LED blocks, with a 'P" and two blinking LED in the center. Pressing the top or bottom left button will make the entire display light up. Easy way to check if all the blocks work. You can also use this button as a 'wake up' button. The display will show the time after the all full display stops. 



The watch have the following functions: Time (hours and minutes), calendar (month and date) and seconds. You cycle through the display by pressing the top right button. 


The seconds display. 


The bottom right hand button is used to set the time and calendar function. 

In conclusion, this is a simple watch. It is comfortable and it is water resistant (3 ATM?) and fun to use. It is like watches of old where one has to press a button to get the time (before LCD were developed). It is also for a good cause. What more can you ask for. 

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Pulsar Sports watch

So what was it that I was looking for when I found the Seiko website (refer Seiko Caliber Operation)? Well I saw this on a magazine recently and found it very interesting. Yes, I have a weakness for aviation based or inspired watches. 


So I was looking for any information on the watch. Found it ..... :)

It is a watch from the Pulsar Sports collection. The reference from Pulsar UK website is PS9201X1. It is a quartz powered watch and comes in at 44mm. Nice. It has a black coated stainless steel case and the case back is of the screw down design. Not sure about the crown. The crystal is mineral. It is water resistant to 10 ATM. I like. The watch retails for about 85 quid. Sadly I don't think it is available in Taiwan. 

The watch....


It has two other models in the collection...

The reference PS9203X1.


The reference PS9195X1.


Photographs: Pulsar

For more information:


Seiko Caliber Operation

I was looking for some information on a particular Pulsar watch when I stumbled onto this website by Seiko. It is a very interesting website. On this site you can see and learn about some of Seiko Caliber and see how to operate the caliber or watch. It does not have all the caliber Seiko produces but just a selection. Regardless, it is super cool. 

The website: 


Here are some screen shots of the website. 



Photographs: Seiko

Ivory....

This is the final part of the review on exotic buckles from Fine Watch Buckles from Germany. Talk about saving the best for last. Ivory. Not just any ivory but vintage ivory... no, ancient would be a better word. 

The buckles below are all made from ivory that is more then 10,000 years old. Yes, 10,000 years old. These would not be from elephants but its ancestors, the mammoth. Wow. 

Blue mineralised mammoth ivory fossil. Very rare.



The inside.



A sample buckle made from this material. 


As with other buckles from Fine Watch Buckles, this buckle is well made. It has a polished finish. Smooth to the touch. 


You can see the texture on the top of the buckle. 


The spring bar holes. 


The trademark tapered underside. Very smooth and well finished. 


No tool marks evident. 


Other buckles made from 10,000 year old ivory...

This has a dark brown finish. I like this buckle. 



Again well made with a beautiful finish. 



The buckle maintains the curved nature of the ivory. 


This buckle is unique as it does not have the smooth finish. You can actually feel the grooves of the strips. 




This is the same in that you can feel the grooves or indentation on the buckle. 


Again, very beautiful buckle. 


The smooth tapering. 



The deep grooves. 


For more information: