Sunday, October 18, 2020

Responding to comments....

I have to apologize to everyone who have posted on the comments section of my posting as I have not responded to them. I am not the best when it comes to computers and stuff and I don't seem to be able to post responses to the comments. It does not help either that I have not been active on my blog. The same can be said with regards to my email related to this blog. 

Once again, I apologize to everyone. I will try harder. 

Saturday, October 10, 2020

Magrette Timepieces Launches Moana Pacific Waterman Vintage

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — October 9, 2020 — Magrette Timepieces launches today the 2nd Edition of the popular Moana Pacific Waterman Bronze and the new Waterman Vintage in steel.


The original Waterman arrived in 2016, integrating classic styling and vintage cues in a 42mm case that was quickly embraced by watch enthusiasts. In 2019 the Waterman Bronze expanded the lineup with a cool blue dial set against the warmth of CuSn8 bronze; this first release quickly sold out. The second edition addresses built-up demand while adding a new colourway with “velvet black” dial and black ceramic bezel, complemented by the warmth of Old Radium Super-LumiNova®. Both offer a practical dual-time rotating bezel.

The list of quality components includes a box-style sapphire crystal, engraved ceramic bezel fully lumed with Swiss Super-LumiNova®, and screw-down crown with water resistance rated to 500M. Under the hood beats the ETA Caliber 2824-2, a proven and highly regarded Swiss automatic movement widely used throughout the industry. Both timepieces ship with textured rubber strap (blue or black) and vintage minimal-stitch leather with custom buckles. Each presented in Magrette’s custom leather travel case.


Photographs: Magrette Watches

For more information:

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Rolex spotted...

I have always liked the 3 guys from Top Gear (ex), currently The Grand Tour and I do like other shows and documentaries with them as the host. Recently I was watching Richard Hammond's Big. It is his new documentary on Discovery. It is a pretty cool documentary. 

Anyway...spotted this on the episode on US Air Force Super Plane (Episode 2 if I am not mistaken). I don't think I have seen Hamster wearing this before, so it must be new. 


Photograph: lifted from Richard Hammond's Big

It is the Rolex GMT-Master II reference 116710LN. Looks like the Hamster is adding to his collection of Rolex watches. Cool....

Friday, June 05, 2020

Panerai 2020 Exhibition...

Yesterday I got invited to an exhibition. It was an exhibition held by Panerai and it was held at Wotancraft. It was not a big gathering but it was an interesting exhibition. 

Sadly I did not manage to take any photographs of watches as some of the watches on exhibit were prototypes and we were not allowed to take photographs of the watches.

However I did get a couple of photographs showing how some of the new cases from Panerai is made and the technology that goes behind making those cases. I do have to say it was very interesting.

Here goes....



DMLS Carbotech



BMG-Tech



Fibratech



Carbotech

Apologies for no photographs of watches but I have to say that from what I saw, I have to say that Panerai have indeed step up their game and the overall quality and finish of the watches have indeed improved from the days when I was collecting Panerai. Who knows, maybe one day I will get back into collecting Panerai again. 

Tuesday, June 02, 2020

Seiko 5 watches Update...

Yesterday I posted on the new Seiko 5 watches that was released recently. Here are some updates...



The watches comes in at 40mm in diameter and is 11.5 mm thin. The lug to lug is 44mm and the lug width is 20mm. The watch does have a display back and like other watches in the new Seiko 5 range (thus far) does not have a screw down crown. The watch is rated to 100M water resistance.

And best of all?


It has lug holes and it has shoulder-less spring bars. I like. 

Anyway that is all I have at the moment. Do look out for a review of the watch soon. :)

Monday, June 01, 2020

New Seiko 5 watches

This is my attempt (too many to count) to revive my much comatose blog. Please bear with me.... :)

Anyway Seiko have released these watches under the Seiko 5 branding. Not much is known about these watches but I will update once I have more information.

The watches....


SRPE69K


SRPE65K


SRPE61K


SRPE55K


SRPE60K

Photographs: Seiko

All the watches comes with the 4R36 movement fitted. It is water resistant to 100M and has the Seiko Hardlex crystal fitted. Price is expected to be between USD 280 to 330. 

Thursday, January 02, 2020

A strap review...

This is a review of a custom made leather strap for the MDM Geneve Hublot Modele Depose. The Model Depose comes with a natural rubber strap that MDM Geneve is well known for but it is rather slim at 17 mm wide and 1 mm thin. As such, the decision was made to get a leather strap made for the watch to add some 'bulk' to the watch. 


The MDM Geneve Modele Depose with the original rubber strap. The strap comes with a butterfly deployant clasp. 


The rubber strap, removed from the watch. The unique aspect of the rubber strap is that it comes in fixed length and you have to go to Hublot to get longer or shorter straps to fit your wrist. And if I am not mistaken, the straps comes in at 2 mm size difference, i.e. 68, 70, 72 mm.


The strap is held in place by screws (2 off each) at the lugs and at the deployant clasp. The holes are reinforced with a metal plate (?) inside the rubber strap. 

Anyway, on to the strap that was custom made for the watch. The strap is from Wotancraft, one of my favourite strap makers. They are based in Taiwan and I have been dealing with them for the past decade. 


The strap mounted on the watch. As you can see, there is a bund pad or cuff watch band with the leather strap. This was a conscious choice made to further add 'bulk' to the watch, making it larger then it is looks. 


The back part of the strap and the bund pad. 

The leather chosen for the strap is a simple black leather strap with minimal stitching. It does not even come with a backing liner and has a raw finish on the back of the strap. This was done to maintain the slimness of the strap at 1 mm so that it can be mounted on the rather unique design strap mounting points at the lugs. 


Lets have a closer look at the mount points of the leather strap. As you can see from the photograph above, the strap is mounted inside the metal 'lips' and is held by two screws. The photograph below shows the mounting points with the bund pad removed.


The strap is 20 mm wide along the length of the strap. It is wider then the original. This was made so that the outer edges of the strap lines up with the outer edge of the lugs, giving it a smoother look when transitioning from the watch to the strap. Additionally, it helps to give some 'bulk' to the strap. 


Another view of the mounting points, with the screws removed. 


The screws that holds the strap in place. 


The holes on the strap for the screws to go through. Sadly there is no metal plate inside the leather strap and that is a downside of the strap design as it is not as robust as the original rubber strap. 


Lets look at the buckle side of the strap. The buckle side is 80 mm in length (minus the buckle). There are no stitching save for the ones to hold the strap keeper and buckle spring-bars in place. 


The strap comes with two strap keepers, one fixed and the other floating. Each keeper is 7 mm wide and has no lining as well. It is stitched at the joins (butt ends), unlike some straps that are just glued (overlap). 


The stitching is very well executed and uses a vintage coloured (ecru) thread, which I like. The stitching for the spring-bars is simple and is only at the edge of the strap unlike the stitching at the termination of the strap. Nice details. 


The buckle is a simple stainless steel pin buckle. The design of the buckle is similar to the pin buckle used on IWC straps. It has a brushed finish at the top of the buckle and is polished along the edge bevelling. It is easy to use. 


The inside of the buckle has a polished finish. There are no tool marks that I can see on the buckle. 


Another view of the inside of the buckle. The only failing point of the buckle is that the tang may not sit properly in the notch on the top of the buckle and the inside edge of the buckle can be sharp. This was the case of the buckle on this strap. 


Lets look at the other half of the strap, the side with the holes. It is 130mm long and is 20mm along the length of the strap. This side of the strap is totally void of any stitching. The strap is well made and the edges are well sealed. The strap is very soft. 


The underside of the strap. You can see that raw finish of the strap. It is actually smooth to the touch and does not itch when worn. 


Since this is a custom strap, the holes were made to measure. There are 3 holes, the middle one giving the perfect size. The other two holes? One for weight gain and the other for weight loss (?). The holes are 5 mm apart, giving a total of 10 mm adjustment. 


You can see some stretch marks on the hole. This is exaggerated due to the slimness of the strap. 



The tip of the strap. 

Now lets look at the cuff or Bund pad. 


The bund pad is 85 mm long, 42 mm wide and 2.5 mm thick (not including the loops). The pad is very soft and is made of two pieces of leather stitched together. The stitching on the top of the pad is the same colour as on the strap but at the back, it is black. 

The loops are 10 mm wide and is attached to the pad.


The back of the pad. Lovely. 


The edge finish of the bund pad where the loops terminate. It is good as you can hardly see where the loop finish and where the pad starts. 


Edge sealing along the pad is just awesome. Let you in on a little secret, Wotancraft use to design the Bund Pad for Zenith Pilot watches. 


The strap on the bund pad, minus the watch. You can see that the strap fits into the loop with minimal gaps. 

Overall, I have to say that I am happy with the strap. I have been Wotancraft customer for a long time and the quality of their products, be it straps or bags, have never failed me and this strap is a testament to their quality. 

If you want to check out their products...