My other watch hobby

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You know what is fun, really does not cost money, and is watch related at the same time?  Collecting watch catalogs!

All you really need to do is dress decently and carry yourself with some confidence and live close to some high end retailers, and you too can collect some watch catalogs.  There are some really beautiful pieces in these catalogs.  With the exception of Swatch, I don’t think I would want to pay for any of them 🙂

First off we have the Swatch catalog. It is a pretty strait forward affair with minimal text and a soft cover. There are some fluff photos, see above, but the photos are well taken, especially for the newest pieces. The core collection has much smaller photos, but at least the catalog is pretty complete. If it is in the store, it is probably in this catalog. It was offered freely at the Swatch store in Oak Brook. That reminds me, time to pick up a Spring/Summer 2010 catalog one of these days.

How it was acquired:  Picked up at the Swatch store, Oakbrook, IL.  Freely available on counter.

Next up, we have Omega catalog. It is also a soft bound affair, but printed very well. Most photos are true to real size, so it makes guesstimating how the watch will look on your wrist pretty easy. There are some fluff celebrity photos and some explanation text explaining Omega and the movements they use. The speedmaster is my personal favorite, followed by the new professional divers.

How it was acquired:  Freely available on table in entrance at Merry Richards Jewelers, Oakbrook, IL.

Next we have a really stunning quality catalog from Mont Blanc. You usually don’t think of Mont Blanc for watches, but they have some decent pieces, at prices that are very competitive. The catalog is hard bound and looks like a quality coffee table book. The photos are well taken, but most are not true to size.  There is some text detailing the manufacture and design of their pieces.  Thankfully, there are no celebrities in there either, which is probably why their time pieces cost thousands less than the competition.

How it was acquired:   Offered by sales person at Mont Blanc store, Oakbrook, IL.

Weighing in at around 200 pages we have the Breitling catalog.  Slickly produced with amazing photos, I am still surprised they don’t charge for their catalogs.  The book, I mean catalog, details the entire history of Breitling.  Their complete line is included in this thick tome.  I sure hope most of the photos are larger than real life, otherwise these are some seriously large timepieces.  About half the catalog is photos of aircraft, tying their history to the history of flight.  It takes a couple of days to get through this catalog.

How it was acquired:  Offered by sales person at Baily, Banks, and Biddle, Oak Brook, IL.  (Store out of business).

Finally, we have the Piaget Polo 45 catalog, well, more of a pamphlet at about 8 pages long.  The photos are well taken and the watches are unique looking, without being gaudy.  Only four models are detailed in this Forty Five catalog (45mm watches).  The text deals entirely with the features of the watches, so no fluff in here.

How it was acquired:  Freely available on table in entrance at Merry Richards Jewelers, Oakbrook, IL.

So, head on down to your local, high end jewelry store and you may be able to snag a few catalogs yourself.  I had a few Rolex catalogs, but they were more fluff than substance.  They look like golf or sailing magazines, but they are actually 100 page long Rolex ads.  The key is, don’t be pushy and don’t look like a slob, and act like you are interested.  Maybe, some day, you may actually pick up one of their time pieces.

All photos are copyright of their respective owners.  Used to review purposes only.

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Oh so tempting panda

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I don’t usually look at vintage pieces, but this one is just calling me:

It is a Seiko 6138-8020 “panda’ automatic chronograph.  It has nice, clean lines, a 12 hour chronograph and day and date.  To get these features in a new watch would cost you thousands.  On e-bay, examples are going for less than $500.  It looks really sharp on a leather band with white stitching.  It is 40mm across as well, so a modern, but not too big size.  I really like the 6138 movement.  It is as good or better than any modern movement.

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My new watch, the Orient 2ER00004D

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2ER00004D

This is my second Orient watch, and I must say, I am very pleased with it.  It very obvious homage to the Rolex 16613, which is probably my favorite Rolex ever made.  That being said, the real deal costs as much as a good used car.  So, what do you do when you love the look of a watch, but hate the thought of buying a fake?  Get an homage from one of the most respected watch makers outside of Switzerland,  Orient Japan.

Now, off to the actual review:

The case is solid stainless steel with a solid case back.  The edges are crisp, but not scratch you sharp.  The sides and bottom are buffed to a perfect mirror finish and the top is brushed.   The overall workmanship is exceptional for a watch in this price point, around $110-$120.   It is not an exceptionally heavy watch and wears easily.

The crown is large and easy to grasp.  It turns with ease and has a good 5 to 6 threads of engagement on the stem.  I am really impressed how well the screw down crown works.  It is buttery smooth to screw and unscrew and is probably the smoothest screw down crown I have ever experienced, at any price.  The crown is unsigned.

The bezel is a 60 click bezel is unidirectional and easy to turn.  It clicks precisely to the 1 minute marks.  There is very little sloppiness that is often seen of inexpensive pieces.  Again, much better than would be expected for this price point.  The gold plating is even and matches other parts of the watch.

The face is a deep blue, with a hint of purple radial sunburst pattern that shifts and changes with lighting.  The markers are the classic Submariner style are have luminous paint applied.  Under a 10X jeweler’s loupe, the face is flawless with no dust or debris.  The luminous paint is evenly applied to each marker, perfectly on center.  The gold plating is very consistent over the whole watch, with the markers, hands, bezel, crown, and band all the same yellow gold color.  The lume is adequate, but not exceptional, on par with my Seiko 5’s, but not with my true divers.  The date wheel has a silver/champagne look to better match the dial markers.

The hands are also the classic submariner Mercedes style with even gold plating and lume.  The second hand has a large lume pip.  It is easy to time with a simple glance.  The crystal is mineral glass with a very effective magnifier, which I would guess is 2X.

The band is solid stainless steel with gold plating down the center of the links.  It is well made, but a little light.  There are no squeaks or rattles.   The clasp is a simple flip over with safety lock.  It is stamped with Orient and their two lion logo.  There are 6 mirco adjustment holes, so an perfect fit is very easy.  I had to remove 3 links for my wrist.  I like a small feature, a little rubber retaining sleeve that holds in the spring pin for the micro adjustment holes.  This particular spring pin just loves to get away from you on every other watch I own,  so, thank you Orient for that little feature.

The movement is an Orient 21 jewel, ER aka 487 movement.  The movement automatically winds quickly and quietly.  It sounds like it has a variation of the Magic Lever winding system, but is quieter than Seiko’s implementation.  Accuracy is excellent so far, +1 second in 24 hours and +3 seconds in 72 hours!  This exceeds COSC specifications, and probably my most accurate mechanical watch so far.

Conclusion:

Overall I am very happy with this watch.  It has the look I really wanted, feels and looks great on the wrist.   It is just a little flashy, but it really works.

Features:
Case: 39.5mm diameter, stainless steel, 10ATM water resistance.
Back: Stainless Steel, screw down, Orient Hologram sticker.
Crystal: Hardlex, flat with 2x cyclops magnifier over date.
Movement: Automatic,  ER00,487,  Orient In house design and manufacture, Japan Made .
Complications:  Date.
Other: Solid, stainless steel bracelet with gold plating, 60 click Unidirectional Rotating Bezel, Screw Down Crown, Luminous Hands and Markers.

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New photo of photo setup

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I finally made myself a light box (also known as a light tent)  for taking some better photos of small objects, particularly watches.  I would rather spend money on watches than photographic equipment, so I followed these instructions.

So, I finally took some photos of my setup.  I have the light box, a swing arm lamp and my camera on a tripod.  If you ever want to take really sharp photos, you really have to have a tripod AND a remote shutter release.  Why a remote shutter release?  Even the act of pressing the shutter button sets up vibrations in the camera which can last a second or two.  This is just long enough to mess up your photos.   The total cost of the setup is follows:

Florescent swing arm lamp, Ikea: $19.99

Box: Free

Paper: $0.25

Velbon T-3500 Tripod: $25

So, overall less than $50 without the camera.  Considering most people already have these items, the cost is almost nil.

The results, however, are pretty amazing.  You can take photos of small objects and get very professional looking results.

Everything is very evenly lit and glare can be controlled easily.  Considering a professional light tent can cost well into the $100’s, this jury rigged setup works just fine for me.

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5 for less than $500

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Here are 5 watches under $500 that I really like (and don’t own):

Orient 2ER00004D

This one is just calling to me. I know it is a Rolex Submariner homage, but it is a pretty one.

Pic054-3

It is an Orient 2ER00004D, a hair over $100, just $110 on Amazon.  It looks remarkably like the Rolex 16613.

16613wrist

Pic062-1

As you can see, on the wrist, they look almost identical.  For your bank account, the Rolex list price is $9300, on-line price is $7626.  The list price for the Orient is $220, most on-line sellers have it for $120 to $130, saving you about $7500.  Both have in house movements.  The Rolex is a true diver’s the Orient, just 100M water resistance.  It is about as close an homage can be without being a ‘replica’ aka fake watch.  It has a bit of bling, but I like two tone watches.

By the way, the photos of the Orient are from this site.  Very nice blog about Orient watches.

Alba Riki AAAA101

It’s the Riki AAAA101.   The lines are so simple, yet elegant.  It is also powered by Seiko’s 7S26m which really makes it a very fancy Seiko 5.  Modern, but not to big 37.5mm across.  It is modeled after Riki’s industrial clock designs, with rectangular hands and easy to see across a room markers.  It also comes in black and a rose gold face.  About $200.

Seiko Alpinst SARB017

sarb017px4.jpg

The Green Seiko Alpinist

Just an amazing looking watch in my opinion. Looks much more expensive than the $425 asking price. It has the 6R15 movement. The 6R15 is a cousin of the bullet proof 7S26, but it can be hand wound and it hacks. The power reserve is rated at 50 hours vs. 40 the 7s26. Though, it is probably better than that. My 7S26’s usually get about 44 hours. This model comes on a dark, leather strap. It also has a compass feature like the Land Shark, but much less obtrusive. A 200m water resistance rating is nothing to sneeze at either. Dress looks with diver’s type water resistance.

This is my grail watch. Someday I will have this pretty.

It also comes in Black and White, but none are as stunning as the emerald green.


Seiko SRP017K1

SRP017K1
Simple, easy to read design combined with a reasonable 38mm diameter case.  It has the new 4R16 movement, which is a decorated version of the 7S26 with one more jewel. All three have a display back to show off the finished movement. About $170 on eBay, almost $250 elsewhere.

Orient CEX0P002

CEX0P002D0CEX0P002DIt’s an Orient CEX0P002, automatic with power reserve indicator.  It has a nice, classic look, 39mm across (not too big) and even comes on a nice leather strap with a signed deployant clasp!  It has a tachymeter scale as the chapter ring, which is a little pointless, but I think it adds to the overall look.  Prices seem to range from $100 to $150 on eBay, which is quite a spread.  It also comes in black or white,  with a brown leather strap.

his one is just calling to me. I know it is a Rolex Submariner homage, but it is a pretty one.Pic054-3

It is an Orient 2ER00004D, a hair over $100, just $110 on Amazon.  It looks remarkably like the Rolex 16613.

16613wrist

Pic062-1

As you can see, on the wrist, they look almost identical.  For your bank account, the Rolex list price is $9300, on-line price is $7626.  The list price for the Orient is $220, most on-line sellers have it for $120 to $130, saving you about $7500.  Both have in house movements.  The Rolex is a true diver’s the Orient, just 100M water resistance.  It is about as close an homage can be without being a ‘replica’ aka fake watch.  It has a bit of bling, but I like two tone watches.

By the way, the photos of the Orient are from this site.  Very nice blog about Orient watches.

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Industrial Designer + Seiko = Cool looking watch

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Riki Watanabe is one of the most famous industrial designers in Japan.  He worked with Seiko/ALBA (yet another division of Seiko) to create this watch:

It’s the Riki AAAA101.   The lines are so simple, yet elegant.  It is also powered by Seiko’s 7S26m which really makes it a very fancy Seiko 5.  Modern, but not to big 37.5mm across.  It is modeled after Riki’s industrial clock designs, with rectangular hands and easy to see across a room markers.  It also comes in black and a rose gold face.  About $200.

Thanks Riki for a tempting timepiece.

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Alternatives

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Although the 2 or 3 handed watch/clock on a center pivot is the most commonly accepted form of time keeping, this was not always the case.  There are other ways to tell time.  My wife, Tiffany, and my older brother got me thinking about what else is out there.  Here are a few interesting examples.

This is an automatic, mechanical watch with a digital display, including seconds and date!  It has wild, funky looks for less than $75.

This interesting piece is one my wife Tiffany brought to my attention.  It is called “The Infection”   I really don’t quite get how you read it without really fuzzy timekeeping, but it sure looks cool. I wonder what the battery life is like? $183 from Japan.


This is a binary watch.  A true geek tool.   One of my Co-workers actually spotted one in the wild (he is a watch geek as well) and was impressed by how it looks.  A rather reasonable $69.99 on ThinkGeek.com.

Another ThinkGeek watch. This one goes all out, you can do digital, binary, octal or hex.   Only 200 were made and the quality looks pretty nice for $149.99.

This is a classic Casio Mudman with an integrated chronograph.  They are shock resistant, and can have more features than a Swiss Army knife.   It is a simple, low power LCD with backlight.   It is also very much a tool watch.  It tells time and does not look pretty doing it.  They can cost into the hundreds, with all the bells and whistles.

Finally, we have retrograde watches.  There are some which are quite reasonably priced (less than $150.) to well into the $1000’s to $100,000+ range.    Not a huge fan of retrogrades myself, but some do like the look.      The Alpina take on retrograde is my favorite.

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Lightbox

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I finally made myself a light box (also known as a light tent)  for taking some better photos of small objects, particularly watches.  I would rather spend money on watches than photographic equipment, so I followed these instructions.

Ironically, I have not taken a photo of my light box yet, but here are some of the resulting photos.   These are very quick and dirty, but I like the results so far.  What do you think?

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