Praesto Watch competition

The people at Praesto are indeed busy after the success of their first watch. They are currently working on a DLC Tourbillon. I expect to see this watch soon. Attached is a picture of what the watch may look like. I have to say that it looks interesting. Will bring more information once I have more.

The watch.

Photograph: Praesto

They are also working on a dive watch and a driving watch. In fact they are having a competition on the design of the watches. The rules and regulation and what you get as a winner:

Rules:

1. Design must be modern and straightforward

2. Design must be original

3. Design must be pratical and legible

4. Design must be given a name, other than the Praesto name logo

5. Design must be presented with specification

Submission deadline: March 31, 2010

The winner will get 3% of the total quantity produced and the designers name will be engraved on the case back. The winner can chose what they want to do with the 3% watches won.

For more information:

The Driver Watch:

http://watchandclockforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=122&t=5871

The Diver Watch:

http://watchandclockforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=122&t=5870

Casio GW-200Z-1 (Taiwan specific news)

Just got a message from Casio Taiwan, it is finally here. It is the GW-200Z-1, aka The Last Frogman. It is the 'last' Frogman from Casio in it current guise. It is being replace by the new GWF-1000-1. I do not know the price as yet and have not seen it in person but will be seeing it tomorrow. Will bring you updates on it soon.

The watch.

Photograph: Casio

For more information:

http://www.casio.com.tw/g-shock/product_note.php?id=139

Happiness is...

Got this today. As happy as ..... errrr..... well happy. More on it tomorrow.

G-Shock Frank Booklet

I finally got the Casio G-Shock Frank collaboration booklet. This booklet is a collaboration between Frank 151 Media Group and Casio G-Shock. This booklet is important as it is one of the few English books on Casio G-Shock.

I got this book from the G-Factory in the Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) G-Shock Factory in Isetan. Unlike here in Taiwan, where you only get the booklet if you buy one of the collaboration watch, the G-Factory was just giving it away. For those in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur specific), there are still 5 more of the booklets at the G-Factory.

Anyway, on to the booklet. It is a small booklet, measuring at 107 x 140 mm. It is 5 mm thick. It has 64 pages (covers not included) and is packed with information. Inside the front and back covers you will find a sample of G-Shocks that Casio has produced since 1983 up to 2009. That in itself is pretty cool. There is also a 'History of G-Shock' and shows the development of the different series over the years.

The first few pages covers the technical aspect of the G-Shock watches, its design concept and the technology behind the watch. It is basic but informative.

The booklet is littered with pictures of the current G-Shock models, e.g. Riseman, Frogman, Gulfman and series like the Military and Metallic colour. Interspersed are interviews with people that Casio have collaborated with. The main interviews are with the 3 latest collaboration, Mr. Cartoon, Redman and Todd Jordan. Other interviewee includes Steve Williams, Gabe King, Union, Fight Club and Frank's Chop Shop.

Overall it is a nice booklet. The quality of the booklet can be seen. The front cover is especially nice, with the embossed DW-5600 splashed across the front and back of the booklet. On the back cover, you have the word 'Toughness' embossed, just below the Casio G-Shock logo. I like it.

Sewills of Liverpool lives.....

Well if only for a short time. This is the Sewills of Liverpool as we use to know from before they closed down in 2000/ 2001. Timefactors have managed to source some NOS parts from the company that use to manufacture the watches for Sewills. There are all together 85 movements and associated parts. The movement all have COSC certification (from 2001). The watches being offered by Timefactors are made in 2010 from these NOS parts. What happens to the Sewills brand once these 85 pieces are sold depends on the owners of Timefactors.

The watches offered are the Carmania and the Ark Royal. Both watches share the same specification. Both watches will be powered by the COSC Certified ETA 2895. The only difference between the series is the Carmania is available in both black and white dial, while the Ark Royal is only available in white. Both series offers the traditional ship chronometer style dial.

Basic specifications:

Functions: hours, minutes and seconds in sub-dial at 6 o'clock

Case: 316L stainless steel, 38.8 mm diameter, 9.5 mm thick, 20 mm lug width

Crystal: sapphire front and back

Movement: automatic, ETA 2895, 30 jewels

Water resistant: 5 ATM

The Carmania.

The Ark Royal.

Photographs: Timefactors

For more information:

http://www.timefactors.com/sewills.htm

I think it is also appropriate to add that the old Sewills does exist but it no longer produces watches or clock that Sewills is known for. This entity is made up of ex-employees of Sewills that have decided to go on their own. They are set-up as a service center for watches, clocks and other instruments manufactured by the then Sewills of Liverpool. They can be found still in Liverpool and their website:

http://www.sewills.com/301.html

Watch Shopping in Malaysia Part 4

I did a review on the mall called Bangsar Village in Watch Shopping in Malaysia Part 2. This is a review on Bangsar Village 2, which is across the road from Bangsar Village 1. Well there are only 3 watch shops in BV2. The first is the Guess Boutique. As the name suggest it carries the entire range of watches from Guess and also the high-end Guess Collection. The shop is located at the main entrance of BV2.

Somehow there is another Guess store in the mall. And this Guess store carries clothes from Guess. But it also carries Guess range of watches. It is limited to only Guess watches.

The last store is called H5. It is not really a watch shop, but more a urban lifestyle shop. It carries designer clothes, urban designers not fashion designers. It also carries limited edition caps, BearBricks and such items. In the watch section, it carries watches by Noon, Nooka, lip (great to see this French brand coming to Malaysia), s+ark and BLOC28 by Disney. They also carry limited edition Casio G-Shocks, but not much.

The BLOC28 by Disney watches.

Motor City Watch Works

We are back and now ad free. Well it was an interesting break for me. I got a couple of watches, straps, visited some watch shop and did a host of other things. I am also getting closer and closer to buying one of my dream watch. Anyway, lets start the new month with a new player in the industry.

I am talking about Motor City Watch Works. This is a new outfit based in America. The people there are a great bunch as I have spoken with them. They are very enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. Basically they work on watches. They offer the following services: modding, repair, movement servicing, refinishing, pressure testing, crystal replacement and a host of other services. If you visit their website, you can see the list of services provided by them.

The great thing about the people at Motor City Watch Works are they are WIS just like us. That is great as they will understand what we want and what the watches means to us. So I expect they will be more receptive to the demands of their customers as it would be what they themselves would expect.

One of the interesting services that they provide is the Cerakote Ceramic Coating. This is a baked on coating. It is different from PVD or ion-plating your watch. This coating is very durable. It is available in a number of colour; Graphite Black, Titanium, Sniper Grey are some of the colours available.

Cerakote Ceramic Coating - Armour Black.

Cerakote Ceramic Coating - Dark Earth.

They also sell parts (and install them). Most of the parts are for Seiko watches and ETA 28XX. The parts include hands, chapter rings and watch dials. More parts and services will be offered as they grow.

Sample of the hands.

Sample of the watch dials.

Blank dial.

Chapter rings.

The detail to which they go to produce their parts is just awesome. Below are some of their drawings for the parts they produce.

Photographs: Motor City Watch Works

For more information:

http://motorcitywatchworks.com/index.html

I wish them all the best.