My CWC military watch

One of the reason I like collecting watches is the feeling you get when you find that piece that you like and finally getting it. Sometimes you are lucky and you hit jackpot and sometimes you are not so lucky. Well I just found out that one of my military watches is not 100% kosher.

The watch is my CWC W10 mechanical watch. Evidently everything on the watch is correct save the case. The case is from a Hamilton. It is normal to find this happening, especially when the watch maker is not sure of the significance of the serial number and issue number of military watches. However as luck would have it, I managed to find a CWC case. With help from a friend, we managed to secure one from the popular auction site. I hope to pick up the case from him later this month.

Since I have to change the case of the watch, I decided to have the movement serviced and regulated. The movement is signed CWC and is basically an ETA 2750. You can see the movement in the series of photographs below.

The dial side. The hour wheel is in the trench at the 5 o'clock position.

I have to say that the finish of the movement is rather nice. You can see the ETA logo just below the balance.

It is signed 'CWC'. It has a 'honey comb' design on the bridge.

You can see that it has the 2 piece stem as this movement is access from the top.

No mistaken it as ETA 2750.

The parts enjoying a spa treatment.

A closer view.

Maitres du Temps Chapter One Red Gold Limited Edition watch

I have to say that this is one very nice looking watch. Which watch? It is the Chapter One Red Gold Limited Edition watch from Maitres du Temps. Maitres du Temps is of course the watch company founded by Steven Holtzman and is based in Switzerland. It is a place where independent master watchmakers can develop innovative, interesting and exclusive timepieces.

Here is one of the timepieces from them. The Chapter One, reference C1T.55.2E.12-5 is the product of two great watchmakers, Christophe Claret and Peter Speake-Marin. The most interesting aspect of the timepiece is the two display windows at the top and bottom of the timepiece. Within these windows, we find two rolling bars indicating the day of the week and moon-phase. These, on top of the following complications; tourbillon, mono-pusher chronograph, retrograde date and retrograde GMT (proper one with 24-hour scale). Additionally the watch is made up of 662 individual pieces, 558 pieces make up the movement and 104 pieces, the case.

From the photographs, we can see that the dial is very beautiful. We have the centrally mounted hour and minute hands. The red second hand is the 60 second counter. At the 6 o'clock position we have the one-minute tourbillon and the day of the week display (via a roller bar) below it. At the 12 o'clock position, we find the 60-minute chronograph counter and above it the moon phase (again via a roller bar). The retrograde GMT is at the 9 o'clock position and at 3 o'clock, the retrograde date display.

It may sound as if the dial would be very busy, but it is not. It is a brilliant idea to have the two roller displays in their own display windows above and below the main display. The red gold hands contrast beautifully against the black dial.

Powering this timepieces is the Maitres du Temps Calibre SHC02. This is a hand-wound movement beating at 21,600 A/h. It measures 51 x 32 mm and have 58 jewels. Power reserve is 60 hours. The tourbillon is a 60 second tourbillon.

The movement, dial side.

The movement.

Photographs: Maitres du Temps

The crown is a two position crown. Push the crown in to wind the timepiece and pull out to set the time. The chronograph pusher (mono) is centrally mounted within the crown. The other correctors (with integrated locking system) that you see, is used to adjust the complications;

date - corrector at 2 o'clock,

day of week - corrector at 4 o'clock,

moon-phase - corrector at 8 o'clock and

GMT - corrector at 10 o'clock

Finally the case. It is made of 18K 5N red gold. It comes in at 63 x 45 mm. It is 18 mm thick. All the crystals on the watch are made of sapphire crystal with double AR coating, except the crystal on the display back.

For more information:

http://www.maitresdutemps.com/

Time flies......

Time flies when you are having fun. Here we are at the start of a new month. The next few months will be a busy month for me and my family. We will be moving around a bit and such, I foresee that the amount of blog entry will be reduced. It will improve once we settle down again.

Also I would like to thank everyone for supporting me and my blog.

Remix X Allen Wes X G-Shock DW-6900 MS-1

Just got some information on the launch of this watch. It is a collaboration between Remix (a clothing store here in Taiwan), Allen Wes (a singer) and Casio. The watch, DW-6900 MS-1 is basically a DW-6900 MS with a embossed band and custom printed case back. The design on the band and case back is based on a tattoo from Allen Wes. The watch was launched yesterday (30/01/01) and it is a limited edition run of 150 pieces. The watch retails for NTD 4,000 or USD 125.

The watch can be purchased from the Remix store here in Taiwan. For more information:

http://www.remixtaipei.com/

The watch.

The case back with the Remix/ Allen Wes Tattoo.

The band.

The package. It will come with the custom outer box, tag and CD. The inner tin can is the same can as the 25th Anniversary gold colour can.

Photographs: Remix

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Diver

This is one cool watch. I have always like the Royal Oak series of watches from Audemars Piguet. I like the clean simple look of the Royal Oak and the Royal Oak chronograph because I like the tri-compax layout of the chronograph sub-dial. So when AP released the Offshore, I was very happy. A more robust Royal Oak. Sadly, I did not like the layout of the chronograph sub-dial.

This year however, AP has released the Royal Oak Offshore Diver, reference: 15703ST.OO.A002CA.01. This watch is, to me personally, very nice. Finally a 'true' diver watch from AP. The unique aspect of the watch is that the overall design of the watch has not changed. The bezel to show dive time has been moved and placed inside the watch. This inner bezel is operated by the crown at the 10 o'clock position. This crown has to be unscrewed before it can be used. I like the fact that AP has decided to maintain the overall design of the Royal Oak true to the original. AP could have gone with the 'super compressor' design adopted by JLC, Longines and IWC but did not. Time to start saving.

The case is still stainless steel. It measures 42 mm in diameter and is 13.75 mm thick. It's water resistance rating is now 30 ATM. AP has made changes to the gaskets, thickness of the case back and the front crystal to ensure the watch is guaranteed to be water resistant to 30 ATM. In addition to the increased water resistant rating, the watch is also design to meet the standards for anti-magnetic, shock and thermal variation resistance.

The other interesting aspect of this watch is the dial and hands of the watch. The Swiss dive watch 92-11 norm requires the watch to be readable in the dark from a distance of 25 cm/ 10 inches. The watch achieves this with the faceted luminescent hour marker and hands. In fact if you look closely, the hour hand actually have 3 luminescent bars as opposed to the standard one. Even the sweep second hand is luminescent. This is important as it indicates that the watch is still working.

The design of the dial further accentuates the readability of the watch. The dial has the black 'Mega Tapisserie' motif. This looks like the hob-nail dial design. The date window is at the 3 o'clock position.

AP has chosen the Manufacture Audemars Piguet automatic winding calibre 3120 movement to power the watch. It is good that AP has decided to do away with unnecessary complications and only offer the date complication. This movement offers a 60 hour power reserve, quick-set date display, hacking second and beats at 21,600 A/h. This movement is hand assembled in AP facilities in Le Brassus.

The watch will come with a rubber strap. Even the strap has been redone by AP and now offers the ability to withstand forces up to 200 N. This has been achieved by redesigning and resizing the pin buckle. Even the studs and the rubber strap have been reworked to guarantee a secure hold.

Photographs: Audemars Piguet

6325 update

If you remember, some time ago I disassembled my Unitas 6325. Well I decided to get it professionally cleaned and lubricated.

The movement in pieces....

I am glad I made the decision to go professional. The finish product. We missed out the hour wheel.

Another view.

Very happy with the result. Now to look for a case and dial for the movement. Anybody?

Casio G-Man, a bit OT.

I got this in the mail today. It was given out in the recent Casio G-Shock Party held here in Taiwan. I understand about 200 of these were given out. So keep a look out for these at the popular auction sites if you want one.

The box.

Opening the box.

And what's inside?

The base where the G-Man stands on.

The DW-6900 G-Man. It is the same size as the one that comes with the Limited Edition DW-6900 Toy Series, the purple G-Man. The G-Man is 8 cm tall. It is black instead of purple. The position or pose of the G-Man is different. I wonder what other G-Man were given out.

Close-up view of the face. There is a plastic crystal over the 3-D face.

The G-Man, posing.

The back of the G-Man. The overall finish is pretty good. The G-Man is made in China.

Unlike the larger G-Man, the smaller G-Man does not wear a watch.

And a couple of close-up shots.

A big Thank You goes to Casio Taiwan.